As you all know, Saint Patrick's Day was on Tuesday. March 17th is always a big deal in America because all of the Irish-Americans celebrate their heritage and everyone else celebrates the Irish tradition of getting drunk. Before coming here, I was warned that Saint Patrick's Day isn't the same in Ireland.
River Corrib may not have been dyed green, but 'Paddy's Day' is still a BIG day here in Ireland. (I've been told that you would say 'Saint Patrick's Day,' but never 'Saint Paddy's Day.' If you want to shorten it, say 'Paddy's Day.') It's a bank holiday so all classes at college are cancelled and everyone celebrates at the pubs.
We watched the parade in the city center in the morning. It was very much geared towards little kids and most of the people marching in the parade were under the age of 14, but some of the characters and people wearing masks were a little creepy. If I had watched it as a child, I definitely would've been creeped out! But it was still a fun morning, especially because the sun was shining and it was warm!
I assumed that the parade would be all traditional music and lots of green, but every minority in Ireland was represented. Marching bands, Salsa dancing groups, and Polish societies all passed by us. It was interesting that in Ireland they celebrate other cultures as well as their own, yet in America the day is based totally on Irish stereotypes.
After the parade, we headed to Taaffe's for some trad music. Since Taaffe's is famous for their live trad music, it was packed, but we still had a great time dancing and singing along to these guys. They were awesome and even played some SawDoctors!
We then met up with our Irish friends and continued to pub-hop for the rest of the afternoon. Since it was too nice to stay inside dark pubs all day, we found places with outdoor beer gardens and enjoyed the sun.
All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better Saint Patrick's Day and it's a really cool thing to be able to say that I was in Ireland for it!
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