Hello and happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
In Ireland, St. Paddy’s Day is a bank holiday, so government buildings are closed, schools have the day off, and locals and tourists alike line the streets of Galway for celebration, myself among them.
The main attraction of the day was the parade, an hour and a half long affair winding down the streets of Galway. I managed to snag a spot near the courthouse, which gave a pretty good view of all the parade entries. The parade had loads of different entries, such as sports clubs, performing arts groups, local businesses, schools, and multicultural groups. What started as a rainy day turned sunny as soon as the parade started, and it started raining again as soon as the parade ended. Even the weather here knows not to ruin a good St. Paddy’s Day celebration.
After the day’s main festivity, I wandered downtown for some lunch, and it was by far the busiest I had ever seen the Latin Quarter. Most restaurants and pubs had set up extra seating outside to accommodate this increase, which also made things a bit more crowded.
I finished my celebrating by watching some live Irish figure dancing in Eyre Square as an attempt to wait out the rain before walking home.
Ireland spares no expense at celebrating this holiday, and there are more community events throughout the weekend that I hope to check out!
Talk soon! 🇮🇪☘️
Katie