Paddy's day memories ~ Nearly Irish?

A Cead Mile Failte in Dublin Airport

Believe it or not but my first St Patrick's day celebration wasn't in Ireland. I must have been around 16 or 17 and my village organised a Paddy's day ceili so I went along with friends. There was Guinness, salt & vinegar crisps (I don't remember if they were Tayto's though...) and we even learned Irish set dancing.

A few years later, I landed in Ireland and 17th of March was of course the day I was looking forward to the most. Except I got a job in a call centre, working in the French operation, so I was off on French bank holidays, but not on Irish ones. And for the first 4 years, I never got to see the parade or even celebrate.

Then there were the years I wasn't even in Ireland on Paddy's day. Once I was on a plane going on holidays, another time I was on the other side of the world in Mauritius (not that I would ever complain about that!).

I think we spent most of the day in a bar next to the beach

Then finally, after 10 years in Ireland, I managed to make it to Dublin with my sister and her friends.

Just a piece of advice if you're going to the parade in Dublin tomorrow: Arrive EARLY if you want to see something without having to climb on a fence, O'Connell statue or a friend...

I actually couldn't find any pictures of the parade itself. I don't remember what happened (and no, drink wasn't involved yet at that time of the day), but I suspect I didn't have a great view so there was no point...

Another reason might be I was a bit disappointed with the show itself. You see, in Ireland, Paddy's day parade is a celebration of the community. In smaller towns, local groups (scouts, karate, dancing...) would walk alongside firemen, coast guards, even tractors... You might have a few music bands as well. And no parade would be complete without a local personality acting as the "Grand Marshall".

I was brought up in a region where we celebrate our Celtic heritage, where people parade in traditional costumes, play breton music and demonstrate dances. I guess I was just a bit disappointed by the lack of "traditional" Irish culture on St Patrick's day.

This doesn't mean I didn't have fun the day I went to Dublin. We took the compulsory picture with the Garda, we went to the pub and celebrated Ireland's national day with pride.