Top 10 things to DO & NOT DO on St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland

By: Wondering Woman

Top 10 things to DO and NOT DO on St. Patrick ’s Day in IRELAND (or any other day you may be in Ireland).
céad míle fáilte (a hundred thousand welcomes)
Irish are very welcoming and warm people and love tourists, even those that never go home.

DO

1. Go to the St. Patrick’s Day festival in Dublin it’s bigger than any other town, but never on the size of New York.


2. Take the Hop on Hop off Bus tour around the city of Dublin, twice – the first time to get a view of the city and the 2nd time to hop off.


3. Take a trip to Blarney Castle in Cork to kiss the “Blarney Stone” if only to say you did it.




Molly Malone Statue



4. Get your photo taken next to the “Molly Malone” statue just off Grafton Street in Dublin and also next to the statue of “Phil Lynott” also off Grafton Street on Harry Street.


5. Pay a visit to Trinity College to see “The Book of Kells” and if you don’t know what “The Book of Kells” is, you can read about it here: www.tcd.ie/Library/manuscripts/book-of-kells.php and while you are there, take a walk around Trinity College, where many famous individuals attended such as Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Jonathan Swift and Oliver Goldsmith to name a few.


6. Take a day trip to Glendalough in County Wicklow; south of Dublin, a site of maonastic ruins, steeped in history, there are beautiful walks and a peaceful place to chill out for the day. You may just bump into one famous celebrity “Daniel Day-Lewis” who resides in county Wicklow.


7. Go to “Temple Bar”, you haven’t been to Dublin if you haven’t been to “Temple Bar” especially at night. You are bound to stumble across a group of rowdy men having a “Stag” or boisterous females on a “Hen” night out.


8. The Giants Causeway at the top of the Island of Ireland or Northern Ireland, odd basalt columns point the way towards Scotland, on a clear day you can see the Mull of Kintyre on the horizon, and strangely enough Rod Stewarts song has just popped into mind (that’s of course you are older than 35 and reading this).


9. Go to Westport - one of the prettiest towns in the world, so peaceful you can read all about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westport,_County_Mayo - Tamasin Day Lewis sister of famous brother Daniel spends her summers in “Louisburgh” next to Westport.


10. The Ring of Kerry, on a clear sunny day, you would think you were on the Mediterranean in Greece or Spain or somewhere, so many beautiful little towns worth spending so time here.

It wouldn’t be uncommon to bump into a celebrity anywhere in Ireland, Irish don’t fuss over famous people, so more and more famous people are holidaying in Ireland. You often hear stories from Taxi drivers and the general public of how they rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous.

One story the other day was how “Bruce Springsteen” who tends to do a concert in Dublin every year, puts on a cap and just strolls around Dublin without anyone recognising him, and has been known to pop into a pub or two for a pint of the old black stuff.
In fact this year he is not doing a concert in Dublin but Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny and Belfast you can get your ticket here: www.premiertickets.ie/events/580/Bruce-Springsteen-Tickets.html

DO NOT

1. Drive into any city centre from Sunrise to Sunset on St. Patrick’s Day as there is bound to be a parade of some sort, even in the tiny villages! (This poses potential problems anyway as the sun may not rise or set).


2. Drive on the right hand side of the road, as with most countries that were once occupied by the British they drive on the left. Just look at Australia, South Africa, Jamaica, New Zealand and India to name a few.


3. Mention the occupation – when Ireland was under British rule for 800 years, still a very sore point with the Irish and they never mention it, or the fact that they dislike anything British.


4. Mention Bono – The Irish have little time for this famous Irishman.


5. Expect to see Leprechauns – They don’t like people, in fact they eat people so stay away from them.


6. Rush, you have to take your time to find the real Ireland, and tomorrow really is another day, so just take your time.


7. Compare Ireland to anywhere else in the world, because honestly it’s like no place you have ever been to, you can be sure of that.


8. Think you can pronounce Irish names especially ones like the town of “Dun Laoghaire” pronounced “Dun Leery” there is no hard “g” like the Germans have. Or “Youghal” which is pronounced “Yawl” or as the Texans say “y’all”.


9. Worry about “Street Names” when asking for directions, all references are given by names of pubs, example – Directions to anywhere, walk down 3 block’s when you get Murphy’s pub hit a right, then past the big church with the steeple and you will get to O’Tooles Pub, turn left and it’s right next door to Mulligan’s pub, if you get to the old Church that is now a pub called “The Church” then you’ve gone too far.


10. Mention the troubles in the North or the IRA – Nobody wants to talk about it and they have very good reasons, you never know whose listening, Ireland is a very very small place.

It was harder to think of the DO NOT’s than the DO’s either way you will love Ireland and especially Dublin come for the craic (that’s pronounced crack by the way and has no reference to the drug), the criac is anything enjoyable. An Irishman will start off a conversation with “Hiya, so what’s the craic?”
Best times to visit are early Spring “St. Patrick’s Day” through to May / June – weather is changeable, but then NOBODY comes to Ireland for the weather, expect 4 seasons in one day and dress for them.
Months that have been drier than others recently are March, April, May, September, October and even November.
Halloween originated in Ireland, so the Irish go all out for Halloween.
In fact I can’t think of a month that you shouldn’t come to Ireland except maybe January and February, they are dark and bleak.