Saint Patrick's Day in Ireland

Here is the Carna St. Patrick's Day Parade, the second half of this blog is the parade in Galway.

St Patrick's Day Parade, Carna

Orla Leavy, age 10

Sign: Leprechauns are poor because of recession

Float celebrating new playground coming to Kilkerran

Aspiring young politicians

Days past- shoe cobbler and churning butter

Musicians spoof

Burning turf

  

                              Below- St. Patricks Day in Galway: (photos by Paris!)

Exaggerated hurling stick

Tin whistle players

   St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is a national holiday, celebrating the patron Saint. The celebrations tend to  promote activities of Irish culture. The Church probably wishes booze was not so ingrained with this day.  Well, I was on medical call, so I stuck around Carna, while the girls and Justine took off to Galway and then Dublin. They enjoyed a big parade in Galway. Stephen and I saw the local Carna parade, in which many kids and parents that we knew participated. 

 We gathered in front of Leavy's, a small grocery store (where we go almost daily) and a Pub, which is quite traditional appearing, which has good Irish music. There were a couple hundred spectators, who drove or walked from their houses. We have had some great weather, and now the cows have calves  and the lambs have babies and the daffodils are blooming.

The parade started with the local priest, and some young children dressed in green garb. Then there were home made floats, with eclectic themes. One celebrated a new community playground and another depicted life before modern amenities. There were children on floats with their own themes,  as young political candidates and as poor leprechauns.

The new leader of Ireland, Taosech Edna Kenny, met President Obama on St. Patrick's Day, and scored a coup when it was announced that Obama would be coming to Ireland, a country of 4 million people. One of his 4th generation grandparents was Irish. Everyone is quite excited about this visit.

Justine, Paris and Summer took the bus to Galway, where they caught the parade there. Paris took some great pictures of the parade, which had a big audience. There were a lot of children playing the tin whistle. Also, there was a group of Travellers (tinkers)in the parade. These families literally travel around Ireland, living outside. There are over twenty thousand in Ireland. They are poor, and the communities they visit have mixed feelings about their presence. They speak a separate language.There can be illegal activities. Historically, they would tinker,  fixing pots and pans. There are some famous Travellers, in boxing and musical circles.

The kids will have some good memories from the St. Patrick's Day parades they saw here in Ireland.