Dublin was perhaps the most highly anticipated trip of abroad. We planned it months in advance before we even left for Barcelona. Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin is a memory that I will never forget. There is really something about Ireland that completely captured my heart.
When we arrived on Friday morning, we immediately went to Lundy Foots Pub for lunch. My friends and I had been craving a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes in the days leading up to this trip, so we were more than eager to order. I ordered a Guinness and Beef Pie, and the first bite immediately transported me back home. This tasty dish served as the home-cooked meal I desperately needed. This pub gave us the warmest welcome to Dublin. The live music was great and Irish dancers even came out and performed. By the end of lunch, I just knew this was going to be one of my favorite cities.
After lunch, we found our AirBnB, located about ten minutes outside of the Temple Bar area. For students studying abroad, I really recommend trying to find living arrangements as close as you can to Temple Bar because it is where you’ll be spending most of the weekend.
We quickly got ready for our tour of the Guinness Factory. I really recommend getting tickets online to skip the long lines. It was a really cool experience; the factory has tons to see and lots of beer to sample. My friends and I tried all different flavors of Guinness while watching some incredible Irish dancing and singing along to live music. We were all pleasantly surprised by the beers, and even found ourselves voluntarily ordering Guinness throughout the weekend. The factory is also a great place to get authentic Guinness gifts and clothes to wear on St. Patrick’s Day.
After the Guinness Factory tour, we did some exploring around the Temple Bar area. You can just feel the excitement in the air when walking through the streets of Dublin. This weekend is absolutely packed with college kids and it was great to see so many familiar faces. On Friday night, we went to the famous Temple Bar for a few beers. I loved the energy of the bar, with great live music and all the people singing along to the guitar.
On Saturday, my friends and I got up so early for our tour of the Cliffs of Moher. This is truly an all-day affair, as you have to basically cross the entire country to get there from Dublin. The view from the cliffs is breathtaking and I am really happy we decided to dedicate time to see them. As you can imagine, this landmark was packed on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. After stopping at the Cliffs, we ate lunch in the small town of Doolin. After snacking on beef stew and french fries, we got back on the bus for another long, long bus ride back to Dublin.
When we arrived back in Dublin, we went to a few more bars. My favorite of the night was The Auld Dubliner Pub. All of my friends were there and we were having the absolute best time singing and dancing at the very front of the crowd. I can’t even tell you how many times I heard the songs Wonderwall, Galway Girl, and anything Ed Sheehan over the course of the weekend. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
On Sunday we woke up ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. We went out for burgers and milkshakes for an early lunch. The food in Ireland is really nothing special, so prepare to eat a lot of fried bar food. We stuck to McDonald’s, TGI Fridays, and some diners all weekend. There is a huge parade in Dublin for St. Patricks Day, making it quite difficult to make your way around and even harder to sneak in and out of the Temple Bar area. The streets were mobbed with people, young and old, decked out in green. I recommend getting to the Temple Bar area before the parade starts because otherwise, police will most likely have it blocked off.
I had the best time at the pubs in Ireland. I even pulled out my Irish step dancing moves from years ago. I am pretty sure my mom put up with all the screaming and crying about going to lessons for all those years, solely because she knew it would pay off in that moment. We spent a majority of Sunday at Buskers, a huge pub and pretty much never left the dance floor.
I simply cannot wait to come back to Ireland. I definitely want to come when it’s not as crowded and see more cities like Galway, Belfast, Kilkenny, and Cork. There’s really nothing like being Irish in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day. I will forever remember how happy I was throughout this whole trip. Experiences like these just remind me how lucky I am to have had the opportunities to see new places, meet new people, and make new memories.
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