This year, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to Europe for my Spring Break. Something even more amazing: I was able to spend the ~Holiday of the Irish~ in nowhere other than Dublin, Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day has become a staple of the American college community in recent years. We look forward to it for weeks, stock up on tacky green embellishments…and prepare for a day full of bliss, beer, and people that are absolutely bonkers.
The years I spent celebrating St. Paddy’s in the United States did not prepare me for what was to come celebrating it real Irish individuals. Celebrations of the holiday began in the 1630s as a feast day to honor the Patron Saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. As the years went by, the holiday eventually turned into a day full of clinking together mugs of beer and wearing green.
As it spread to the United States, the holiday strayed away even more from honoring the saint and towards honoring the novelty of green beer. Traveling to St. Paddy’s land of origin, I assumed that the day would be ingrained in a bit more in tradition than it was in the United States. I could not have been more off on that one.
I arrived in Dublin on Thursday night and left Sunday morning. 3 nights, 60 hours, 1 word: w i l d. Words cannot describe the stamina of the Irish, the overwhelming love they have for the color green and the relentless thirst they have for the drink I was certain I’d never want to go near again: beer.
Friday, we took a visit to the Guinness Storehouse where you’re meant to learn the history of Guinness, as well as how the beverage is made. When you get to the top floor, you receive a tall glass of Ireland’s favorite drink. In my opinion, we paid 35 euro for a beer, but it was totally worth it. Regardless of the price tag…good times with good people and even better beer, can never come at too high a cost.
When the big day arrived Saturday, we got up at the crack of dawn to start the festivities. Around noon, we headed to Buskers Bar in the Temple Bar area; this is where the festivities were centered. Whether you were waiting for a cold one at the bar, trying to make sense of the thick Irish accent, or attempting to understand where the locals get their endurance from, you could always count on feeling the electricity of this very special city.