I was lucky enough to be in Ireland for one of the most quintessentially Irish days of the entire year. That’s right, March 17th, known through the world as… St. Patrick’s Day! To start this week of green shamrocky shenanigans I went with two of my friends Tara and Kelsey to see Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance” in 3D at the movies. Let me say two things about that movie, #1 Michael Flatley is incredibly talented. His feet move faster than my eyes can even comprehend. #2. Michael Flatley is also incredibly egotistical. “Lord of the Dance” is this man’s way of petting his ego: the storyline has him as the twinkle-toed hero saving the world and the art of dance itself from an evil army. Yeah…it was a bit much. Not grounded in reality at all. I love his previous work at Riverdance…he should go back to his roots.
Anyways, St. Paddy’s…this day has been forever associated in my mind with my younger brother, appropriately named…Patrick of course! But now that I’ve celebrated it in Ireland believe me it has taken on new meaning. Before I get into the day’s events I’ll give everyone some background on Ireland’s Patron Saint!
To start with, St. Patrick was actually NOT Irish! He was actually kidnapped from Wales by the Romans and was thrust into slavery for 6 years in Ireland before he escaped. After his escape from slavery in Ireland, Patrick joined a monastery in France. From here it becomes the well-known refrain. After his sojourn in the monastery, Patrick returned as a priest to his captors’ country in order to convert the Irish to Christianity. He described the Holy Trinity to the Irish using the shamrock, which subsequently became one of Ireland’s symbol. Each leaf of the shamrock stood for a member of the trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. With this visual, the Irish people were able to understand Catholicism and accept it within the land. It is from this history, and the subsequent legends that created St. Patrick’s Day (or St. Paddy’s Day for the Irish name Padraig).
To start with, St. Patrick was actually NOT Irish! He was actually kidnapped from Wales by the Romans and was thrust into slavery for 6 years in Ireland before he escaped. After his escape from slavery in Ireland, Patrick joined a monastery in France. From here it becomes the well-known refrain. After his sojourn in the monastery, Patrick returned as a priest to his captors’ country in order to convert the Irish to Christianity. He described the Holy Trinity to the Irish using the shamrock, which subsequently became one of Ireland’s symbol. Each leaf of the shamrock stood for a member of the trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. With this visual, the Irish people were able to understand Catholicism and accept it within the land. It is from this history, and the subsequent legends that created St. Patrick’s Day (or St. Paddy’s Day for the Irish name Padraig).
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| Mary, Bobby, and Caitlin |
So anyways, my roommate Caitlin and I took a bus to Dublin on the Wednesday before St. Patrick’s Day (a National holiday and a day off from school) where we then got off of the bus and wandered around for about an hour until we found the bus that took us to her great-aunt Mary Judge’s house. Well, Mary isn’t actually Caitlin’s great-aunt, but we don’t know what else to call her, because she is Caitlin’s grandmother’s cousin. So yeah, we stayed with Mary for the weekend, and boy was it a blast! First of all, I felt like I was walking into my own grandmother’s house. One weekend two years ago I brought a friend to visit my grandparents and my grandma just automatically handed me the keys to her car and told us to go have a good time. Mary handed us her house key and told us to be careful, but to feel free to come and go as we please. AND she made a full Irish breakfast each day we were there: sausage, eggs, tomatoes, black and white pudding, brown bread & butter, and tea! After getting settled and eating dinner with Mary and Caitlin’s cousin Bobby (who even knows how they’re actually related), Caitlin and I decided to go and look around Dublin. We wandered across the river over to the popular destination for college students in Dublin—Temple Bar. There we met up with our friend Jason who was also in Dublin for the parade, and we walked around together. However, none of us were quite ready to hit the pub scene. Instead Caitlin and I hit the hay early so that we could make sure we were up early enough to actually be able to see the parade!
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| One of the floats! |
The next morning after being force fed a HUGE and delicious full Irish breakfast complete with my favorite pork sausages and eggs, we set off on the bus to the parade route. We met up with a huge group of Galway friends on O’Connell Street (the main street in Dublin—the one with the huge needle looking thing). It was CROWDED!!! It was like the Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC. Little girls sat on their daddy’s shoulders, small boys’ faces were pressed against apartment building windows above the parade route, and the energy was incredible. Suddenly a figure in a long robe, with a staff, and traditional Catholic priest garb was seen walking down the street—this man in green robes was the chosen 2011 St. Patrick himself. The parade had begun! Each of the island’s 32 counties were represented, regardless of national allegiance. It was a true bringing together of the Irish people. School children chosen from each county wore costumes that seemed more akin to Carnival or Mardi Gras than to anything Irish pranced and danced up the street, waving and throwing flowers to the enthralled crowds. Of course, my favorite presentation was the Galway group. Those kids glowed! I felt like a real Galwegian proudly beaming at them.
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| A group of Australian Leprechauns we found at "The Living Room" |
After the festivities on O’Connell Street ended at about noon, our large group decided to find a mellow pub and celebrate the day the way the Irish do—with green beer! We found a pub called “The Living Room” right off of the street and I got myself a green Heineken. It looked a bit strange, but the dye doesn’t change the yummy taste. The place was sheer madness…there was a bbq for those who wanted to pay for it and kids were running EVERYWHERE! That’s right you read right…kids. In a pub. Kids are allowed in Irish pubs until 7pm, so parents were definitely taking advantage of that fact- I nearly got run over by a particularly jubilant gang of hide-and-go-seekers.
After “The Living Room” the group kind of split up and me and a few friends wandered to Temple Bar. Ok, the only way to describe this is INSANITY. This was beer everywhere- on the sidewalk, in the road, on cars, and even spritzing through the air. The pubs were crawling with people, we literally couldn’t find a single place to comfortably sit down. So, we ended up meeting up with a friend of a friend who was studying at Trinity College this semester. We went to his apartment and met up with all of his friends then headed to their favorite, more low-key, pub. After a few drinks and some good conversation again the group split and more wandering ensued until like midnight. At which point Caitlin and I were simply done. It was way too long a day!
After “The Living Room” the group kind of split up and me and a few friends wandered to Temple Bar. Ok, the only way to describe this is INSANITY. This was beer everywhere- on the sidewalk, in the road, on cars, and even spritzing through the air. The pubs were crawling with people, we literally couldn’t find a single place to comfortably sit down. So, we ended up meeting up with a friend of a friend who was studying at Trinity College this semester. We went to his apartment and met up with all of his friends then headed to their favorite, more low-key, pub. After a few drinks and some good conversation again the group split and more wandering ensued until like midnight. At which point Caitlin and I were simply done. It was way too long a day!
After the shenanigans of St. Paddy’s the next day we took it very easy. Caitlin and I went shopping in Dublin and explored a bit, but mostly we just relaxed. Then Mary took us out to dinner…she was too sweet! The next day we took a bus back to Galway and our St. Paddy’s adventure was complete. All in all, utter green, glittery, shamrocky glory was achieved.
A toast to all of you! <3
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