An irrigated tip electrode design includes a shell generally surrounding a plug which jointly define a chamber that is fed with fluid by a lumen. The fluid is distributed to the outer surface of the tip electrode through fluid passages. The chamber is advantageously isolated from a region of the tip electrode occupied by electrical and/or electromagnetic components in the tip electrode. Lumens occupied by the these components terminate in blind holes that have no communication with the chamber. A method of fabricating includes providing a shell configured from a rod to provide an open interior cavity, sealing and partially filling the cavity with a plug to form a chamber, then forming fluid passages between the cavity and an outer surface of the tip electrode, and providing a lumen through which fluid can enter the chamber and exit therefrom through the fluid passages.