Tag / St. Patrick’s Day

by shannonchance

Learning London: Celebrating St. Patrick

We’ve had a lovely St. Patrick’s weekend here in central London.

Yesterday, we visited the National Portrait Gallery to see “Only Human” by photographer Martin Parr. After lunch at Chipotle, some gelato and hot chocolate to honour my dad, and a quick break at The Courthouse Hotel, we got to the Photographers’ Gallery for the last hour (for free entry!) to view a show I’d found don Time Out and another to boot.

We ended Saturday at Backyard Comedy with four hilarious comedians.

Our Art Fund pass and memberships with Tate and Backyard are really paying off!

We learned a lot this weekend about being British, thanks in no small part to Martin Parr. Here’s a selection of photos from yesterday:

Thanks fo the ideas, Time Out!
Martin Parr!
Grayson Perry and family
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Gelato and hot chocolate in honour of my dad.
Protests left and right yesterday

Today, we breakfasted beside Whitechapel Gallery, walked to the Tower of London, took the boat down to Embankment and walked to Tate Britain. We visited two photographers’ exhibitions–seeing the second half of photojournalist Don McCullin’s show (we hadn’t allotted enough time in our first visit). Then we took a double decker bus over to Trafalgar Square, enjoyed lunch at Thai Spice, and took in the last hour of the city-sponsored St. Patrick’s Day music festival.

While it feels surreal to sing Irish Republican songs in Trafalgar Square, particularly because it’s not considered entirely kosher to sing such songs in Dublin these days, we truly felt our love for Ireland by singing along–without having to love London any less!

Ireland’s Call by Phil Coulter 

Come the day and come the hour

Come the power and the glory

We have come to answer Our Country’s call

From the four proud provinces of Ireland

CHORUS

Ireland, Ireland

Together standing tall

Shoulder to shoulder

We’ll answer Ireland’s call

From the mighty Glens of Antrim

From the rugged hills of Galway

From the walls of Limerick And Dublin Bay

From the four proud provinces of Ireland

CHORUS

Hearts of steel, and heads unbowing

Vowing never to be broken

We will fight, until We can fight no more

From the four proud provinces of Ireland

Aongus and I were making the most of our last day together for a while. I’m heading home to Virginia help my Dad who hasn’t been well.

We ended the day at the Blind Beggar, site of a notorious gang murder long ago (see the plaque for further explanation). I’d not been there before, despite it being just blocks from our London home.

Photos from today:

 

by shannonchance

St. Patrick’s Day, Academic Style!

What a phenomenally Irish weekend!

I didn’t do the things a tourist to Dublin normally does on St. Patrick’s Day (which seems to include a lot of roaming the streets while intoxicated).  Instead, I packed my schedule full of St. Patrick’s Day Festival events.  My friends an I pooled out ticket allotment so we could see many shows.

I’ve pictured some of the events below (I didn’t even take photos at every event, believe it or not).  The photos show how academics enjoy St. Paddy’s!  You can see my brainy friends and me enjoying short films in the Examination Hall of Trinity, for instance.

The group that coordinates the St. Patrick’s Day Festival did a fabulous job!  I send my heartfelt thanks to them!

Incidentally, you’d be amazed to see the streets of Temple Bar on Sunday night:  wall to wall people dressed in green velvet!?!!  I elbowed my way through at 7 PM  (I don’t even want to think what the place was like by midnight).  Even at 7, I was clutching my belongings so tight that I forgot to take a photo!

Turtle Bunbury presented “A Global History of the Irish Abroad.”
Turtle delivered his lecture at Marsh’s Library.
There was an event of short films about Dublin held in the Examination Hall in Trinity College. (I prefer film-watching to exam-talking any day of the week!)
I brought Toni Gray, Giuseppe Conte, and (former Fulbright scholar) Nancy Stenson along with me to the “I _ My City” film viewing.
Nancy and I enjoyed a tasty late-night dinner at Café en Seine on Dawson Street.
David Slattery (who is a full-time writer as well as an Associate Fellow at the Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media at The National College of Art and Design here in Dublin) read from his newest book “Poet Madmen Scoundrel: 189 Unusual IrishLives.”
David was introduced by a staff member from Marsh’s Library (this is a fascinating place to visit). I purchased David’s previous book “How to be Irish” and also a catalog of the Library’s current exhibition “Marvels of Science: Books that Changed the World.”
At the Chester Beatty Library, the show TEMPO fused Irish and Brazilian rhythms.
The show featured: Joe Doyle (Vocals & Percussion) Mick Donegan (Hard Shoe Dance) Kelly Baldonaldo (Samba Dance & Percussion) Maia Adelson (Capoeira dance & Percussion)
I finally visited the Smock Alley Theater, for performance art (film+clarinet solos) that brought the eclectic space to life.
I purchased a CD of “Zoë Conway Live” following this performance by the fillde player and her husband, John. She is a professional musician who plays with Riverdance (among other groups).
The show included performances by one of Riverdance’s lead dancers, Zara Curtis.
by shannonchance

Rolling Out the Green Carpets for St. Patrick’s Day

A past parade in Dublin, downloaded from Jim Small's ND Go Irish Blog.

A past parade in Dublin, downloaded from Jim Small’s ND Go Irish Blog.

Things are hectic here in Dublin.  Almost as soon as Pam flew out two new guests arrived, Toni Grey and Giuseppe Conte.  Unfortunately, plane tickets were so costly for travel to and from St. Patrick’s Day that they won’t be staying to partake in all the festivities.

St. Patrick’s Day falls on 17th March. Originally, the day of celebration marked the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. That happened way back in 432. Today St. Patrick’s Day is a big party that celebrates all things Irish.

This will be my first St. Patrick’s in Ireland and I’m excited to be a part of it all. I’ve been lucky to get some tickets for the St. Patrick’s Festival, thanks to the diligence of Tess who handled all the on-line reservations.

The high point of the 17th will be the People’s Parade. It’s to have hundreds of carnival-type floats with people from the area on board.  The parade will pass right by my apartment block.

Stay tuned for pictures of this year’s events as they unfold….