After a nine year absence, the Dublin Blarney Bash returned last year, and it aims to be back once again in 2016.
Last year, the Bash hosted more than 3,000 people and featured live bands, Irish dancing, Irish beer, food vendors, and a Wee Folk area for kids. And while this year is sure to be even bigger – the event is moving to the Metro Center to accommodate more guests – it’s more than a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. This year, the bash will take place March 12.
The Blarney Bash also serves as a major fundraiser for the Dublin AM Rotary Club.
“We resurrected it after nine years. We wanted to replace that revenue,” says club President Wolf Lant.
All proceeds from the Blarney Bash go to the 30-plus charities supported by the Rotary. Charities the Rotary supports include Dublin Robotics, the Salvation Army, Mobile Canteen, Strides for Sobriety and the Dublin Food Pantry.
Of special note is the Miracle League baseball park, designed to allow kids with handicaps to play on a baseball team. Rotary donated funds to build the park and also provides volunteers to act as “buddies” and run the park in the summer.
The proceeds from Blarney Bash also have a global impact. One international charity the Rotary supports is the LN-4 project, which provides inexpensive artificial hands for people in third-world countries who don’t have access to prostheses.
“We had one guy come from Rwanda. With these artificial hands, he was able to start living a normal life,” Lant says. “He was an artist before. He said it was life-changing to be able to draw and pick up a pencil again.”
Another Rotary member approached the club with an idea for funding water treatment plants in India. Since then, the Dublin Rotary has funded five or six plants and plans to add another each year.
“That generates out of one person’s interest in the club. They see a need and say, ‘How can we help?’” Lant says.
While last year’s Blarney Bash came with a few bumps, Lant is encouraged by the effort displayed by volunteers.
“There were so many things that came together at the last minute to help make the event happen,” he says. “It had rained for 24-36 hours before. Everything was a big soupy mess. We had an access route by the stage that had been a dirt road with big ruts. The Ladies of Longford were an afternoon act, and this poor lady got her car stuck in the mud on the way to the event. She jumped out of the car, threw us the keys, and said she’d be back after she was done. Six to eight people went back to figure out how to get her car out and fix the road. It really illustrated the camaraderie.”
And, he says, the Blarney Bash is uniquely Dublin.
“It helps the entire community celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and celebrate our heritage,” Lant says. “It’s the perfect way for the community to express that.”
Jaya Pillai is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
