St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin
I was fortunate enough to do a study abroad in Dublin, Ireland for a semester during my college days. I spent it in the spring semester which meant, you guessed it, I was there on March 17, which happens to be St. Patrick’s Day. On an international scale, St. Paddy’s is one of the top known holidays from this Irish country. It attracts hundreds of thousands of international visitors to the island and is celebrated throughout the country. All across the world, especially the States, St. Patrick’s day is a major celebration in major cities to small towns.
Being a bucket list travel destination for most, I would recommend St. Patrick’s Day to anyone. Whether you drink or not, you can explore the world famous day with a town full of parades, bars and restaurants at full capacity, and lots of happy Irish residents enjoying their bank holiday. Here is what I got out of my experience.
Downtown parade : The most famous part of St. Patrick’s Day is the parade downtown Dublin. It travels right through the heart of town and is very easy to access. Small children were on their parents shoulders waving to the passing floats, groups of friends drank casually from a concrete porch to pass the time, and others were stopping in to see the parade before heading off to eat/drink for the remainder of the day. Just like any other parade, you will see tons of people dressed for the occasion and meet people from across the world that have come to experience the same thing as you!
Go to a pub : The pub is a local hangout/meet-up place for the Irish. Often, this is where we would go after class to hangout with classmates or kill time on the weekend. The same goes throughout Dublin so you can imagine there is a lot of pubs you can check-out. Temple Bar is the most famous bar and it has it’s own district in Dublin. Here is the more touristy bars but defiantly worth stopping by. Our favorite was always Oliver St. John Gogartys which was our local hangout. We would go and watch live music all night, get the best Guinness on tap, and meet tons of people both locals and tourists.
Enjoy the music : If there are two things that come to mind with Ireland, it is often drinking and Irish music. For the entirety of my stay in Dublin, there was not often a time you couldn't go to a pub and there would not be live music with traditional Irish tunes playing. The sound of a couple instruments and a 3-4 person band on a small pub stage brings the image to life for me. Stop in at any pub and enjoy the great music and a tall Guinness.
Grab some local cuisine : Going hand in hand with visiting a pub, you can usually get food at any of these pubs or venture out to a more specialty restaurant. The warm, heavy meal of Shepard’s pie or fish and chips will quickly get you feeling good after watching the parade outside in the cooler weather. This is a good way to break up your walking and give you a chance to enjoy some food.
Visit some landmarks : There are too many places to visit in just a few days in Dublin but I will point out a few. Dublin is an extremely walkable city and is very easy to navigate.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral - Large cathedral named after St. Patrick
Trinity college - One of the oldest colleges in Europe
Ha-penny bridge - Famous bridge that crosses over the River Liffy
Guiness Storehouse - Huge skybar that gives you a tour of the brewing facility
Dublin Castle - Castle dating back to the 1200’s
Jameson Distillery - Distillery for the world famous whisky
St. Steven’s Green - Large park just South of downtown
There is so much to do in the Irish capital, especially during Paddy’s Day. You’ll find yourself among friends as you enjoy a pint at a local pub, navigate the cobblestone roads to reach your next destination, and soak up the Irish culture on the world-famous day. The music filling the streets will make you envy for extra days on this eventful day and will give you memories for the rest of your life. Cross off that bucket list item and visit the real St. Patrick’s day!
Don’t forget these!!