Paddy’s Day

This post is a bit delayed but I just could not leave out the biggest celebration I would experience here in Ireland.

My roommate had a friend over from Spain. They both attend the same school back in the US and she wanted to witness st. Patricks here in Dublin. She planned to see a bit of the celebration here and return to spain in time for the celebration they were having there, Fallas de San Jose.

According to Spain.info.com,

“This Fiesta dates from the Middle Ages, but it did not acquire the personality we know today until the middle of the last century. The festivites include a nighttime parade; a procession of the old towns of Valencia; the offerings of flowers to Nuestra Senora de los Desamparados (Our Lady of the Forsaken), patroness of the city; and the famous "Nit del Foc" (Night of the Fire), on which all the "fallas" (grotesque and humorous scenes made up of carboard figures) are burned.”

Back to Ireland though, my roommates and the rest of the more social exchange students went out to pubs on Tuesday night to celebrate. They got back in at like 4 am and were the first to get up in the Irish spirit when a bagpiper came into the black hall place courtyard to play some tunes for us. Everyone got dressed and headed into town. I figured I could catch just a little more sleep but it turned out “a little” became some hours.

I woke up just in time to get a quick shower and head to the Luas (the Dublin tram) only to find out that my neighbourhood was the last stop for all trams because the city transportation systems were all temporarily shut down for the parade. I had to high tail it to town in order to meet the rest of the FIE group. When I got to O’Connor street, it was a sea of green white and orange. A ton of people were in the streets staring in the same direction but no one could see anything. I am only 5 feet 2 so it was quite a sight seeing me navigate through the crowd as fast as they would let me through. When I finally made it to the front of the parade, I had to wait till there was a pause in the march and the Garda let us cross.

That was my only view of the parade. I was able to meet with the group and follow them to Croke Park where we enjoyed watching gaelic football and hurling matches for free.It was quite chilly but it was still lovely.

That night, everyone went out to the pubs for round two of the fun nights out. Unfortunately, due to miscommunication with my friends, I just had a quiet night in. All in all, it was a great celebration that I am glad I was here in Ireland for.