“Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a country without a soul.”
― Pádraig Pearse
Dearest Readers,
Here is my St. Patrick’s Day recap! I’m sorry for making you wait, this month was crazy!
To start, what a weekend! I have to be honest, I thought I was pretty adept at celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. It’s my mom’s and my favorite holiday and we always go all out! Oh boy was I wrong? No one, and I mean NO ONE does this holiday like the Irish. Think about the most outrageous St. Patrick’s parade and multiply that by a hundred. Now add some genuine community interaction and you have my favorite holiday!
We started the day with an adorable parade that consisted of mainly primary school children chanting their school spirit. The firemen from all over the county participated as well, along with a distinct group of cultural displays from each of the cultural minorities here in Galway. There were two Chinese dragons, a Bollywood dance display, and even a Cambodian singing group interspersed throughout the hour-long parade. It was a wonderful way to start the holiday, even if it was quite crowded.
By the end of the parade, we were famished and tried to find a pub to grab a pint and some delicious pub food. Unfortunately, we forgot to think about the insane crowds and were unable to find somewhere to eat in the city center. Instead, we went with the old faithful: Subway.
It so happened that the Saturday market that is present every week carried over to this magical Sunday. There were tons of food and art vendors, and I had some of the MOST divine cheese I’ve ever tasted from a local cheesemonger. Something about Irish dairy is just untouchable compared to the US. We browsed for about an hour and perused the streets taking in the decorations and overall spirit of the day. Eventually, we decided to listen to some music and managed to squeeze into our favorite pub, Tig Coili (Tih-coilee).
As per usual, the music was mind-blowing. There was only standing room, but that meant that we got to dance and sway to the lively trad session. We ended our night by going to a dance club that is normally cowboy-themed. Instead of being for one day only, it was decked out in gold, green, and white making us feel very patriotic.
I feel so incredibly lucky to have been living in Ireland during this holiday. These memories will always stay with me. Stay tuned for some day trips that I will be sharing soon! Do me a favor and listen to the band Celtic Women, there are songs in Irish and English and it’s breathtaking!
Until next time!
Abigael LaBuhn