Great craic: A student’s guide to St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland

T his popular folk song is often considered ‘Dublin’s Unofficial anthem’ and a sculpture of the much-loved fishmonger can be found on Suffolk Street in Dublin’s fair city:

 

In Dublin’s fair city

Where the girls are so pretty

I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone

As she wheeled her wheelbarrow

Through streets broad and narrow

Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”

 

Molly is depicted in a revealing low-cut dress, hinting at her promiscuous nocturnal dealings, and touching her exposed bust is said to bring good luck. I am a sucker for superstitions, so of course I fell into this timeless tourist trap, as well as many others during my trip to the Emerald Isle. Ireland is a country full of traditions and folklore, the most prominent being that of St Patrick’s day.

 

The 17th of March commemorates the death of Saint Patrick, the country’s patron saint, who helped spread Christianity across Ireland. The favoured myth is that Saint Patrick drove out all the snakes, but whether this refers to actual limbless reptiles, or serves as an allegory for the Gaelic pagans is beside the point. This festive day is chock full of traditions, such as wearing green, sporting shamrocks, drinking Guinness and eating corned beef and cabbage. This year I was fortunate enough to partake in many of these, though thankfully not the last one. I have also seen with my own eyes how seriously these festivities are taken in their homeland. Today, these time-honoured traditions have been adopted by numerous other countries, because honestly who isn’t looking for an excuse to start drinking at 1pm!

 

I have also seen with my own eyes how seriously these festivities are taken

 

This is exactly what went down this Paddy’s Day: Most, if not all, the towns in Ireland, will have a parade on the day to mark the occasion, no matter how small. The parades are usually made up of an assortment of dancers, musicians, performers, soldiers, priests, floats, and children. There is no excuse for not getting involved! However, since I was there with a local who had seen too many parades to count, we decided to skip the hassle and head straight to the pub. As a non-local I had no choice but to follow along, not that I was complaining. We were not the only ones with this alcohol driven mentality, and all of the pubs we visited were full of university students and older adults alike. It seemed like everyone was feeling the need for an early start.

 

Throughout the afternoon/evening (it was a long day), we ventured into numerous pubs and bars across Cork’s city centre. All the pubs are Irish pubs, which means you are a guaranteed to have a good time! I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to have a perfectly poured Guinness, as well as other local Cork-brewed stouts like a Murphy’s or a Beamish. I tried unsuccessfully to split the G, but I made sure to rapidly call out anyone who dared to join the celebrations without wearing green!

 

I made sure to rapidly call out anyone who dared to join the celebrations without wearing green!

 

At the end of our unplanned pub crawl, we ended up at a bar with a DJ and dance floor. Cork is relatively small, with not that many nightclubs, and we were all exhausted from the day’s adventure.  As a result, we just looked for the place with the shortest queue. We got home at around 1am ,not that late for a night out, but considering we had started twelve hours earlier, it felt long enough! On the whole we had a great time though, and everyone I met was super friendly and welcoming. I never felt excluded for not being Irish. All the locals were more than happy to indulge me in my questions and take the chance to boast about their beloved country on its national day. And what a day it was indeed!