St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner! With great events happening in Dublin and, well, we all know about them, we decided to focus on what is going on in the rest of Ireland! From Wicklow to Cork and on the west coast, we came up with 10 best places in Ireland to go to for St. Patrick’s Day Parade!
1. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Wicklow
First stop: Wicklow! With two of our hostels there, Knockree and Glendalough, and at a small distance from Dublin, Wicklow comes with some of the best areas for having a good time on St. Patrick’s Day. In Wicklow, the parade will start at 3.15 pm. People will gather from all over Wicklow there, so make sure to get early and prepare for the show!
Music as well will be everywhere, but if you want more of that, with fireworks included, have a walk through Bray. Here you’ll get pre-parade party, after-parade party, music, photograph competition and many more!
2. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Waterford
If you stay at our Beach Haven Hostel in Tramore you are very lucky! Here you get one small parade in Tramore and a big one in Waterford! Sounds cool, doesn’t it? With the amazing beach that is in Tramore, staying there is definitely a right decision! Who wouldn’t like a St. Patrick’s Day on the beach? While here in Tramore it will be a more relaxed parade, up in Waterford you’ll get many more activities. Starting from Reptile Village and Treasure Hunts, they prepared a lot for young and young at heart, so be ready for an awesome craic over there!
3. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Cork
In Cork you will find the food and crafts festival as well, so prepare for lots of treats while you wait for the parade! The Festival Market is ready for families to come over. The parade starts at 1pm on 17th of March, so be sure to get the perfect spot! Cork Opera House has also something prepared for Paddy’s Night, while most of the attractions in Cork will have a special programme during the weekend. Be sure to check everything on the website and, if you’re staying at Sheila’s Hostel, ask at the reception for the best tips on where to be for Paddy’s Day!
4. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Limerick
Limerick is represented this year by the Kilfinane Parade. The theme in 2017 is “Music, Song and Dance”. The parade will start at 2pm in McCarthy’s yard and finish in the restored church with free music by Ballyhoura Comhalthas. This year you might also see Seamus and Teresa from Ballyhoura Luxury Hostel.
Séamus and Teresa from Ballyhoura Luxury Hostel
5. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ennis
Speaking of Ennis, near Limerick, you’ll get a nice parade, named “Ennis – A Multicultural Town” kicking off at 11am on the 17th. Staying in the beautiful Rowan Tree Hostel. Everything is prepared for St. Patrick’s Day there, so we are just waiting for you to come over!
6. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Galway
2017 marks the 114th anniversary of Galway’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade! This means a celebration of Galway’s rich culture and creative community! This year local heroes Macnas will have their youth ensemble in action while Galway Community Circus will be adding to the carnival atmosphere! Moreover, the amazing crew from Sleepzone Galway City Hostel will be more than glad to help you out and make sure you don’t miss anything!
7. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Connemara
In Connemara you have 3 choices: Roundstone at 2.30pm, Clifden at 12.30 and Oughterard. All of them are small and for sure you’ll get a lot of fun there, seeing how St. Patrick’s Day can be on a small scale. Three small towns, three small parades, two beautiful hostels in Connemara: Ben Lettery and Connemara. Lots of places to choose from and surely you’ll find a small pub somewhere where you can relax and have a chill-out session during a huge event, right? Connemara is a beautiful place, and while we are here, we have to tell you that in some places you can plant potatoes and have them delivered over to you in June. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
8. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Westport
In the shadow of Croagh Patrick, you’ll get to see ‘Patrick’ the hit theatre show in Westport Town Hall, an open-air traditional session at 1.00pm followed by the rejuvenated Westport250 themed parade culminating in open-air céilí and street musicians.The next day will see the animated street theatre Westport Story take off. Later on, the Harbour at Westport Quay is the location for Saturday’s festival programme featuring street performers including Arcana’s giant U2 heads and a spectacular fireworks extravaganza at dusk. For accommodation, check out the Old Mill Hostel. You could also climb a mountain!
9. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Donegal
One of our favourite places in Ireland, Donegal brings small beautiful surprises all the time. In Letterkenny, around 20 minutes away from our Errigal Hostel, the parade starts at 3pm on the 17th of March. Lots of colours and vibrant atmosphere are waiting for you there.
Moreover, in Gaoth Dobhair participants in the parade are all the local businesses, youth groups, marching bands and somebody dressed up as St. Patrick with a donkey in tow! Yeah, why not? A 2.5 miles parade waits for you and best thing to do, as recommended by our Errigal Hostel staff is to go outside Teach Hudaí Beags, enjoy the spectacle and drown the Shamrock!
10. St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dingle
We went so far up north that we forgot to mention Dingle! The wonderful Dingle peninsula with our Dun Chaoin Hostel at the end of it can be the perfect place for a quiet small St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The Dingle Fife & Drum Band are going to start the parade at 6 am in the morning!!! Which makes it the earliest parade to start in Ireland, doesn’t it? If you are able to wake up, they will start from the Old Hospital and stop at St. Mary’s Church at 6:30 am and finishing at 7:30! For late sleepers there is also a normal parade at lunchtime.
Bonus: Montserrat
Did you know that somewhere far away from here, in the Carribean (where the weather is, well, much better), there is a small island called Montserrat, nicknamed The Emerald Isle of the Carribean because of its resemblance to Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of its inhabitants? They are currently a British Overseas Territory but you’ll find a lot of shamrocks over there, especially for St. Patrick’s Day! The island is just 16 km long and 11 km wide, with 40 km of coastline. Now, who wouldn’t want to go to the Carribean for Paddy’s Weekend?
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As far as I know it has always been caleld the Church Hill Irish Festival because it is held in an area of Richmond known as Church Hill. Also a name like St Patrick’s Day Festival at St Patrick’s Church would be rather redundant and inadequate.The festival is much more than just a celebration of St Patrick’s Day. All aspects of Irish culture are exhibited and celebrated from authentic food and drink to live bands playing traditional and modern Irish music. Of course most of this is purely my opinion. You should come and see the event for yourself and come to your own conclusion.