As it is the City’s namesake, St. Patrick’s Day is an important day in Dublin.
And just like its counterpart across the pond, the City has its share of holiday traditions.
Dublin, Ireland
Ireland has been celebrating its patron saint with an annual feast since the Ninth or 10th Century, and additional traditions have been cropping up since.
The celebration always falls on March 17, which is believed to be the day St. Patrick died in approximately 461 A.D.
Since 1996, Dublin has hosted one of the world’s largest street carnivals in honor of the Irish saint who demonstrated the Holy Trinity’s three entities with a three-clovered shamrock.
Many Irish families celebrate with a roast chicken or bacon feast and a week of celebration before the actual holiday.
This year, the Dublin, Ireland St. Patrick’s Day Festival reflects the second installment of a three-year thematic journey, commemorating the country’s past, present and future. Beginning on March 14, Irish people far and near will honor their homeland’s current culture with a four- to five-day celebration.
Marching bands from the U.S., Germany and Ireland will perform in the festival’s parade on March 17, while a Festival Treasure Hunt on March 14, a St. Patrick’s Festival 5K Road Race on March 15 and nightly “Greening the City” events round off the weekend’s
merriment.
More information on the festival, including travel information for this year’s, can be found at www.stpatricksfestival.ie.
Dublin, Ohio
Like its namesake, the Dublin Community will kick off its own St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on March 14.
At 7 a.m., the Dublin Lions Club sponsors a pancake breakfast, famous for its shamrock-shaped pancakes and green syrup, at Sells Middle School. The Inflation Celebration, which sees giant helium parade balloons take shape, follows at 9 a.m. at Graeter’s Ice Cream.
The City-sponsored “Greenest, Grandest” St. Patrick’s Day Parade, starting at Metro Center and ending in Historic Dublin, begins at 11 a.m. The parade, led by the year’s designated Grand Leprechaun, usually consists of almost 100 units, including high school marching bands, equestrian teams and Irish dancers.
“The parade has become a tradition for many people here and elsewhere,” says Mary Jo DiSalvo, event marketing administrator for the City. “We like to welcome people to Dublin, Ohio, with the hospitality of the Irish.”
A former Dublin St. Patrick’s Day tradition will return this year as – at noon, following the parade – the Rotary Club of Dublin AM hosts the first Blarney Bash since 2006 at OCLC. Musical entertainment from Celtic rockers Homeland and 1980s throwback the Reaganomics highlights the bash.
The festivities for more than 3,000 of Dublin’s local businesses will start a little earlier, on March 6, with the City’s Business Appreciation Day. And on March 13, the day before the festivities, Brazenhead Irish Pub plays host to the sixth annual Best Legs in a Kilt contest, organized by Ha’penny Bridge Imports.
Bethany N. Bella is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
