48. Spend St Patrick’s Day in Ireland

St Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in Ireland so what better time to invite my Stepsister over for a true taste of the country I’ve called home for near on a year.

 

Dublin, however, is apparently not somewhere you want to be for this day or so I was warned by the locals here.  The underage drinking population are supposedly out in force, along with a  mess of overly inebriated American tourists.  The streets would be lined with every kind of bodily fluid with possibly some defecation thrown in for good measure.

Lucky for us,  an Irish friend (along with 20 or so friends) had booked a cottage in west coast town, Lahinch, and we decided to split our time between the charm of the country and the city’s drunken chaos.  We had to see it to believe it.

After arriving to a warm meal made by our new friends, we headed to the local pub, Kennys, for the best in live music and some great craic.  We called the night a success after being pushed out the door by the owners for starting a very rowdy sing-off between another group of punters. Build me up buttercup, With or Without You and Be with You all featured.

 

I was verging on tears of joy the following day, when my Husband, good friend and Stepsister all agreed to don wetsuits and partake in a surf lesson.

 

 

Then it was time for hot showers and a trek to Hags Head for a view of the Cliffs of Moher.

 

 

 

Achy and windswept, the night called for more than just a few pints, and we set up a smore station by the cottage’s fireplace…before heading back to Kennys for part 2.

 

 

The following day we hit the road back to Dublin and prepared ourselves for the mayhem of St Patricks in the city.

O’Donoghues, O’Briens and O’Neills were all stops on our pub crawl over the long weekend which proved to be jolly rather than the mess we had expected.

 

 

No dignity was lost that night, but a cellphone did go astray for a a few days at the club we headed to later in the night.

A St Patrick’s Day spread over the best of the country and the best of the city proved to be the best way to celebrate , of course with a full pint of Guinness in hand.