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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. Andrews chapter.

If you’ve ever found yourself in the center of Grafton Street on March 17th, you know that Irish people don’t really celebrate St. Patrick’s Day the same way a non-Irish person would. In the more traditional areas of Ireland, you’d see sean nós singing and dancing, horse racing, traditional music, and GAA matches. Nonetheless, it’s more of an excuse for Dubliners and non-Dubliners to drink all day. 

Being in Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day is something you must do at least once in your lifetime. Aside from the overpriced Ryanair or EasyJet tickets, the overwhelmingly packed airport with people flying in from every airport in Europe, and managing not to actually speak to a single Irish person during your stay, there’s a sort of magic in Dublin on this festive day. 


When I first arrived at the airport in Dublin City the day before St. Patrick’s Day, I was hit with a frenzy of people hurriedly moving towards the exit. People wearing flashing green suits with brightly colored wigs were pouring out of customs. The day-drinking began almost immediately to prepare for the biggest festivity of the year. 

Every year on March 17th, Dublin’s streets are overflowed with tourists, locals, and students for the grand St. Patrick’s Day parade. The parade lasts about two hours and barricades most of the main streets in the city center (I sincerely apologize to anyone who lives in Dublin between these hours). I’m going to be honest: out of all the times I have gone to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in the past 19 years, I have been too short to witness it in its total capacity. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see some heads bobbing in the distance. From heaps of marching bands to inflatable leprechauns, Dublin’s annual parade displays six large-scale pageants, 11 showpieces, and 14 marching bands from across Ireland, North America, and France. Despite the sea of people, it is truly an unmissable experience. 

As people began to disperse into pubs and bars after the parade, we sunk into the sticky seats of a hidden pub on Grafton. I can say that screaming Zombie by The Cranberries with a foamy glass of Guinness was a highlight of my weekend of celebrating St. Patrick’s. After about 3 hours of navigating through the crowded streets of Dublin, we were starved, our feet aching with blisters, and naturally, we were craving authentic Turkish food. We decided on a petite Turkish cuisine tucked in between Dame Street–Reyna–and with no surprise, it was packed with people scavenging for food after the parade, tipsy strangers waiting impatiently for their kebabs. 

Growing up in Dublin, I’ve spent most of my life celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland. Although most people who come to celebrate this day are visiting from around the world, every year, I find myself excited to return to the business of Grafton Street to experience it all over again. 

Rida Shahbaz

St. Andrews '27

I am a first-year at the University of St. Andrews, and this is my first year writing for Her Campus. I am majoring in Neuroscience but I love writing, whether poems, short stories, or articles. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to continue my passion for writing through Her Campus. I grew up in Dublin, Ireland, but now live in Canada in a small town an hour north of Toronto. Growing up, I moved houses and cities a lot, so my idea of ‘home’ was constantly changing. This sort of led me into an identity crisis where I’d often feel like I was in limbo–not particularly belonging to one place. Something that remained a constant for me was writing; it was a way for me to trap my thoughts in time. In all the impermanent aspects of my life, I could cage my words onto paper and create a home between the spaces of each sentence. Through my writing, I hope to make a difference, albeit it is as small as making someone laugh, cry, or both. I truly think there is something so beautiful about moving someone with words. Being a woman of colour and being raised in different parts of the world, I often sought comfort in reading and listening to the experiences of other women. Her Campus allows me to pay that forward and hopefully reach an audience that longs to feel understood.