Carnival in Rio, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Oktoberfest in Germany…St. Patty’s Day in Dublin joins these quintessential celebrations as a unique and once in a lifetime experience! We were excited to get to participate in our first Patty’s Day here in Ireland. There were 4 days of events — music, dance, fun fairs for kids — all leading up to March 17th with the huge parade and more partying.

Apparently, the holiday wasn’t always like this. It celebrates and honors the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland and used the 3-leaf shamrock to teach about the trinity. So originally, the holiday was more religious and church-based. A cab driver told me once that pubs used to be closed on Patty’s day but tourists were coming to Dublin expecting a party/pub scene and were disappointed, so it eventually evolved to become more of a festival and celebration. Now the Irish seem to really embrace the day as a celebration of national pride — almost like our 4th of July. Not only does everyone wear green, but also orange and white (the other colors of the Irish flag) as well. In fact, lots of people drape themselves in Irish flag capes and wave flags around.

We decided to check out the big parade in town, which half a million people turn out to watch as it winds its way through the streets of Dublin. My parents were really excited to be here for the celebrations too, but on the morning of Patty’s day, my dad woke up feeling ill and wasn’t able to come to the parade with us. 😦 So this was a big bummer, but he watched it on tv and probably had better views of it than we did! Still, we wished he could have been there with us.

We took the train into town and walked over to O’Connell Street, where we joined the crowds lining the street and craning to get a view. Many people were decked out in green, with funny hats, leprechaun costumes, and flags. The parade started and was filled with marching bands, dancers, horses, big floats, and even a Cinderella-like carriage from the 1700s bearing the Lord Mayor of Dublin inside. Here are some of the photos we took to capture the day. Isaac actually took a lot of them from atop Jeff’s shoulders, where he had a better view than any of us 🙂

After watching the parade outside for awhile, we all needed a bathroom and food break, so we popped into a Starbucks where we actually had a good view of some more of the floats. The Starbucks, like all the cafes and restaurants, were decorated with green balloons and banners.

Once the parade ended, we headed over to the fun fair where Isaac had a good time riding the rides! We didn’t hit the pub scene this St. Patrick’s day — instead opting for the tamer and more kid-friendly aspect of the day — but getting to experience the parade, the atmosphere, and the excited locals and visitors from around the world was definitely wonderful and very memorable!!