Before we left for Galway, I read a post on Facebook about how it should always be written 'St. Patty's Day' with 2 T's and not 'St. Paddy's Day" with 2 D's. Now, after having been to Ireland for the holiday, I feel confident in saying that it should be St. Paddy's Day. Patty is a woman's name and Paddy is a derivation of Patrick despite Patrick not having any 'D's' in it. Like Jim is short for James, though James doesn't have an 'I'. Stores and signs all over Ireland were consistent with the 'DD' spelling.
On to the parade...
Tracy and I staked our a good spot at a turn in the route and were right up against the barricades...though we did get edged out from below by young kids. I was curious how touristy this would be, as I'd heard people were coming from Dublin for it and the day was going to be crazy. Turns out, it felt like a very local parade with all the normal groups:
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| Military |
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| Folk music and dance |
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| Cheerleaders (nice to see they didn't whore it up like so many in Charlotte) |
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| Marching bands (with a violin?, a first for me) |
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| Ummm.... |
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| Footballers |
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| Boy Scouts hauling a viking ship |
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| Judo club...OK |
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| Parade Queen |
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| Tribute to Pope John Paul II's visit...in 1979 |
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| Red-Headed bagpipers...gotta have 'em, but pretty rare in this parade actually |
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| Older cheerleaders |
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| The Philippine community |
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| Dancers in period dress |
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| Ponies |
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| Dancers |
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| The Polish community |
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| Jugglers |
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| More cheerleaders |
It was actually a quaint parade that felt like it was more small-town than Galway actually is. There were plenty of people in silly hats watching though.
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| Tracy in her super cute hat |
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| Me in my "Tall, Dark and Had Some!" hat (I hadn't 'had any' yet) and Jameson's scarf |
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| Cat and Tracy in their matching little hats |
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| These were Leprechaun heads, like the rock formation in my previous post |
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| Still hadn't "had any" yet...really |
Off to the pubs and they were busy well into the night. One thing I have to say about the Irish pubs, their beer taps are so much nicer than I've seen anywhere else. Here's one with an LCD screen, though I don't understand the poor quality American beers on tap.
Other scenes from Galway.
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| City Walls |
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| Home of the original Claddagh Ring |
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| Banners for the 13 Tribes of Galway |
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| Spanish Arch |
One more thing checked off the bucket list.
A few more shots if St. Paddy's Day silliness:
Slainte!
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