Saint Patricks Day Ireland 2011

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   theirishobserver.posted 13 years ago

   When I was growing up Saint Patrick was always somewhere to be seen or heard. Pictures of Saint Patrick hung in every Catholic House and his name was a regular feature of conversation, St Patricks School, St Patricks well, Saint Patricks Chair, Saint Patricks Church, Saint Patricks Monestary, Saint Patricks Day and so on. All I can say is that Saint Patrick was a very busy man while in Ireland.
   
   The pictures that I have posted with this Hub are pictures of a Round Tower that is built on the site of one of the many monestaries that Saint Patrick established while in Ireland. To be honest in recent years much that surrounds Saint Patrick has been commercialised, Saint Patrick's Day has become renowned the world over as a Day of Drinking and celebration, which is great, but I honestly like to focus on all the great works that Saint Patrick done when he was in Ireland. I love visiting the many sites where Saint Patrick established his churches and monestaries, most now lay in ruins but there is something spiritual about these sites, something mystical.
   
   In the summer time each year people from all over the world travel to Ireland to climb one of Ireland's highest Mountains in Wetsport, County Mayo. At the top of this mountain there is a small church that was built on the spot where Saint Patrick spent some days praying and reflecting on his ministery. Thousands of people come to this mountain each year to pray and pay their respects to the man who brought Christianity to Ireland.
   
   Saint Patrick is known the world over, and on the 17th of March 2010 the world will celebrate his special day. Also on Saint Patrick's Day political leaders from Ireland will attend the White House and present President Obama with a bowl of shamrock. This is a tradition that spans many decades, and setting aside politics for a moment, it is an important symbol of the relationship between Ireland and the USA. This relationship is covered more deeply in my Hub "Ireland's Love Affair With America", however, it is enough to say here that Ireland is an adopted American State.
   
   Ireland's relationship with America is unique, our forefathers went to America to seek a better life, our brothers and sisters today continue to go to America to seek a better life. President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who was murdered in 1963, was and remains one of our greatest gifts to the American people. JF Kennedy showed the Irish people that it was possible for Irish people to reach their full potential in the USA. I know his political out look did not suit every one, but this is about the symbol not the politics.
   
   Many Mothers and Fathers cried as their sons and daughters boarded the boat for America, but they knew in their hearts that America offered opportunities that Ireland as a small Island nation could not. Through out American society the Irish can be found, they did not all make it good, but those that did never forgot their people back home. Each year gifts of clothes and money would be sent back to family and friends, American brand names were often first seen in Ireland when they arrived in the post.
   
   During the recent economic success in Ireland (1997-2006) the American imprint is not hard to find. American companies invested heavily in Ireland, at one point during the peak of the economic boom, one in every ten people employed in industry in Ireland were employed by American companies. We are now in economic recession, however, thats how capitalism works, ups and downs, swings and round abouts. It is again to America that Ireland looks for investment and innovation. It should be said at this point that while we love America, we do not always agree with its foreign policy, we recently banned American planes from bringing prisoners or arms through our Shannon Airport, once we were told that was happening.
   
   Chuck Feeney and other successful Irish Americans have pumped hundreds of millions into our universities and research and development facilities. It is this type of investement and foresight that gives Ireland hope for the future. We love big macs, coke, KFC just as much as any New Yorker, during the summer months our Island is a wash with Irish Americans who return home to the mother land.
   
   Lá 'le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig
   
   Ireland. 
   Ireland. Lá 'le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig
   Many small busineses in Ireland depend on the trade generated by American tourism in Ireland, last year we seen a decline in visitors due to the weak dollar compared to the Euro, but hopefully that will change this year. The American Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, is a focal point for the Irish American axis, following 9/11 tens of thousands of Irish people queued up to sign a book of condolences for the victims of that cowardly attack. The vast majority of people in Ireland are not supportive of any acts of terrorism, whether that terrorism be carried out by a democratically elected government or a subversive organisation.
   
   The Irish people love America and for all the right reasons. The Irish people love the idea of the American dream, we know that that dream has been shattered for many in recent times, but tomorrow is another day. Saint Patrick offers the Irish and Irish Americans the opportunity to celebrate all that is good about the Irish people. The world will join in that celebration, I will take fresh shamrock from my garden and wear it proudly on the 17th of March, I will attend the local town parade and I will enjoy the company of those who love Ireland and our relationship with America.
   
   JF Kennedy 46 years after his brutal murder continues to hang on the walls of many Catholic homes here in Ireland, this shows the deepth of feeling that the Irish people have for our American cousins. Ireland is the adopted State of the USA and we wish everyone the world over a very happy Saint Patrick's Day.
   
   Lá 'le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig

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   SomewayOuttaHereposted 13 years ago

   ...it's a special day for me...my father was named Patrick and with a good ole Irish last name...he died March 17th.....so remembering him fondly this morning...and will have a 'toast' to him tonite when i get home from work...."luv you Dad"....

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   theirishobserver.posted 13 years ago

   Good to hear that, the day went well here, Happy St Patricks Day
   
   Hundreds of thousands of people have attended almost 120 St Patrick's Day parades of various shapes and sizes around the country.
   
   The largest, in Dublin, attracted an estimated 600,000 people along the route. It started at Parnell Square and finished at St Patrick’s Cathedral. World boxing champion Katie Taylor was the grand marshal for the day.
   
   The city centre was transformed into a sea of green leprechaun hats and tricolours for the two-hour spectacle of street theatre troupes, pageantry, dancers and marching bands. Moreover, to the crowd’s delight, the rain stayed away.
   
   Susan Kirby, St Patrick’s Festival chief executive, estimated half a million people turned out. “We were very, very pleased with it,” Ms Kirby said.
   
   “I think Dublin and its people looked very well. I would hope that if even for a short while we were putting our best foot forward and demonstrating what an optimistic country we are.”
   
   For the first time a short story was the inspiration behind the parade, with Brilliant  by Roddy Doyle chosen for the honour because of Dublin’s designation as a Unesco City of Literature.
   
   It tells the story of two children and the quest to banish the black dog of depression over the city - a reference to the financial woes facing the country.
   
   Pageant groups - including City Fusion, Brighter Futures, LUXe, Macnas, Artastic, Inishowen, Spraoi and Bui Bolg - interpreted different chapters of the story.
   
   Mr Doyle said he penned the piece while watching news reels of the International Monetary Fund arriving in Dublin last November. “It was a reaction to that really, that’s why I wrote the story,” he said.
   
   President Mary McAleese joined other dignitaries and watched the parade from a stand at the GPO on O’Connell Street. Dublin Lord Mayor Gerry Breen arrived in a restored, gilded horse-drawn carriage.
   
   International bands from as far afield as Spain, France and the United States wooed spectators, as Taylor led the parade through Dublin.
   
   Caoimhe Stack from Minnesota, in Dublin visiting relatives, was enthusiastic about the parade. “It was so colourful and cultural, not like anything back home,” the 19-year-old said. “I didn’t expect anything like this. There was no advertising, just music, culture, dance and colour. It was definitely worth coming to.”
   
   Nele Claes (30), from Luxembourg, said the parade "was very good, very nice, and they put a lot of work into it”.
   
   Selected buildings in Dublin, including the Guinness Storehouse, are also lighting up green for the festival. Last year the St Patrick’s Festival provided an estimated €50 million in additional revenue for the capital.
   
   Other events in Dublin today, as part of the five-day festival, include fun fairs at Merrion Square, Wolfe Tone Park, and Custom House Quay and music with the Kilfenora Céilí Band in the RDS.
   
   There are also walking tours and free traditional music sessions.
   
   Parades and events were also staged in cities and towns all over the country, including Cork, Waterford, Galway, and Belfast.
   
   St Patrick’s Day is also being marked throughout Northern Ireland, most notably in Belfast, Armagh and in Downpatrick, where the saint is reputedly buried.
   
   In Belfast, SDLP Lord Mayor Pat Convery led the city’s carnival parade at midday from City Hall to Custom House Square where a free outdoor concert and other festival events took place. The parade had the environment as its theme.
   
   The Cork parade was the central event in the city’s four-day festival. It started at 1pm on Parnell Bridge, continuing to South Mall and finished on Parnell Place.
   
   “Happiness” was the theme of the parade, which included arts group Spraoí, Cork Circus and Dowtcha puppets as well as over 2,000 community and voluntary groups.
   
   In Galway city, up to 60,000 people attended the “World of Wonder” parade, which began at 12.30pm on Father Burke Road and finished at Eyre Square. Traditional music is being provided in the city as part of the festival’s Trad Trail.
   
   An estimated 40,000 people attended the Waterford city parade, which was based on the theme of the return of the Tall Ships Race to Waterford.
   
   The Limerick parade had 4,600 participants, the largest outside Dublin, and an estimated 70,000 people lined the route. Its theme marked the city’s reign as European City of Sport 2011.
   
   St Patrick’s Day celebrations are also taking place in many cities in the United States, in England, in Australia, Europe and Asia.

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      prettydarkhorseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Happy St Patrick's Day Irish! Thanks for the update!

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   theirishobserver.posted 13 years ago

   Happy St Patricks Day to you Pretty

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