I have always loved the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. To me it was a fun day full of interesting traditions, entertaining parades, and yummy food….and the color green. As an adult I have learned that I have a little bit of Irish in my family heritage so it also became a day for me to understand more about the Irish history and traditions. A couple of years ago I had the chance to travel to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day. It was amazing.
In planning the trip I wondered, “Isn’t St. Patrick’s Day more of an Irish American thing?” Well I discovered that in 1995 Dublin established a parade that turned into a 4 day festival. To share the reason behind it I will quote the official website (www.stpatricksfestival.ie):
“The principal aim of St. Patrick’s Festival, since its inauguration, is to develop a major annual international festival around the national holiday over which the ‘owners’ of the festival, the Irish people, would stand proud. It sets out to reflect the talents and achievements of Irish people on many national and world stages, and it acts as an exciting showcase for the manifold skills of the people of Ireland, of every age and social background.
As the one national holiday that is celebrated in more countries around the world than any other, St. Patrick’s Day is the day when everyone wants to be Irish.
We set out to seize that opportunity, and completely transform the national and international perception of St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin. This country is bursting with the kind of creative energy, ideas and enthusiasm required to do the job. Our job has been to harness them, and make our national holiday an unforgettable experience for all.”
St. Kevin’s at Glendalough (Wicklow County)
Besides spending the morning of St. Patricks Day watching the big parade, we also spent our time there exploring the city, shopping, a little pub hopping, and even saw some of the countryside. You can read about my time in Wicklow County in my March 2015 calendar post. It was beautiful and I highly recommend a visit.
When we stayed in Dublin all the hotels in downtown were either booked or really expensive. We did some research and found out that the area of Tallaght was a close train ride in and a nice spot to stay in. It even had a mall for some great shopping. Not far from the train stop in the city there was also some great shopping.
Downtown Dublin
Downtown there was some great resturants and pubs especially near Grafton Street and Temple Bar Street. We had an amazing time while pub hopping. We stayed in this one pub that had a couple of men playing guitars and singing. Truly entertaining while enjoying a pint of Guinness (which must be tried in Ireland) or a coffee.
This was our favorite pub in Dublin
We also had the opportunity to eat dinner at the Jameson distillery in downtown Dublin. This was a really fun experience. We had a tour of the facility and got to see how they make it and the history of it. Then afterwords we had a tasting, always fun. When that was over we got to sit down to a delicious Irish dinner with a performance from traditional Irish step dancers and music.
Performers at the Jameson Distillery
To end our little trip we stopped by the Viking museum that was next to Christ Church Cathedral. It was a fun museum and an interesting visit to the cathedral as well. Not a bad way to spend a snowy afternoon.
Christ Church Cathedral Dublin
I would really love to go back and see more of Ireland but our trip to Dublin was so much fun. Dublin really hosts a great festival for St. Patrick’s Day. If you want to see more of my artwork from my trip to Ireland click here and scroll down to the Ireland section.
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