My first Saint Patrick to Dublin

A little history

St. Patrick's Day (sometimes called St. Patrick's Day in French, Patrick being the English equivalent of Patrice) is a Christian holiday that celebrates Ireland's patron saint on March 17.

Evangelizer of Ireland, St. Patrick would have explained the concept of the Holy Trinity to the Irish during a sermon at the Roc de Cashel with a clover, thus making it the symbol of Ireland (the official emblem of the country being the Celtic harp). Legend has it that it was at this time that he drove out all the snakes in the country, an action that symbolized the conversion of the Irish people: the snakes represented the polytheistic Celtic beliefs of the Irish, assimilated to Satan. Every year, Irish citizens put a clover in the buttonhole to remember this religious teaching.

St. Patrick's Day is a Christian holiday celebrated by the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Church of Ireland (Anglican). It was already celebrated by the Irish in the 19th and 20th centuries. March 17 is recognised as a legal holiday in the Irish calendar.

In 1903, St. Patrick's Day became an official holiday in Ireland. When St. Patrick's Day falls on a Sunday, the public holiday is moved to Monday, allowing Irish citizens to benefit from the full number of their government-recorded public holidays.

On the program, parades, concerts, trady sessions in the streets, and tastings of the best Irish gastronomic products including their famous beers. You don't have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. In Ireland, the inhabitants easily adopt the Irish "at heart".

The United States, which has a large number of Irish people following the Great Famine, is also celebrating. In particular, Chicago, which does not hesitate to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by tinting its river (the Chicago River) with a bright green color.

As for France, many Pubs are celebrating the event! Some concerts are also scheduled by some cities and municipalities: the opportunity to participate in the celebration without being in Ireland.

Our day

Being in Ireland for this occasion, we decided to go to Dublin on March 17, 2019.

When we arrived in the city, we decided to go and buy costumes, the people in the streets are all disguise. We wanted to be in the theme totally.

We attended the parade on O Connel Street, it is one of the largest streets in Dublin and above all very lively. The street was crowded. The parade starts at 12pm and ends at 1:30pm. This year the theme of the parade was "the narrative". For the opening of the parade, it is the people of the government who march and then it is various associations accompanied by many tanks. It was a very nice parade.

However, you have to arrive in advance in order to have a good place and to be able to see correctly.

Then we went for a walk in the Temple Bar area. It was very lively. There were many people, especially many young people, who were out on the streets drinking beer. We were into a pub to enjoy an Irish beer. It was a great time, people sang, danced, talked...

This St. Patrick's Day is a very friendly holiday. We met many Irish but also many foreigners from all over the world (Spain, Portugal, Mexico,...). Some people travel from far away to enjoy the many days of this event in Ireland. I am happy to have attended this celebration once in my life and I will remember it for a long time.