St. Patrick's Day in Ireland

I've been told that St. Patrick's Day is no big deal in Ireland, not like the huge celebrations that we have here in New York City or Scranton or Philadelphia or Chicago. Maybe that was true once upon a time, but not while I was there. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday, a bank holiday when virtually nothing is open. Even small towns have big parades, even small-town bed & breakfasts fill up with visitors, and most restaurants close early for the night because most of their patrons are busy giving their business to nearby pubs.

It snowed on St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. This never happens, but it happened this year. So the local parade was a pretty chilly event. I stood there trying to blend in with the crowd, waving an Irish flag and snapping pictures.

The police in Ireland are known as
the Gardai, or Garda, or "gards".
Their cars are very visible and pretty cool.

The Irish Army. Well, some of the Irish Army.
If you blow up the picture, you may see white
streaks of falling snow.

The local marching band.

Women's bagpipe band. There's something about
a woman playing the bagpipes...

Drummers, part of the same group as the bagpipers

Float ridiculing the idea of Garda Reserves

One of the most contentious issues while I was in Ireland was the formation of the Garda Reserves - civilians who are deputized to perform some police functions. The group most opposed to this were the Gardai themselves. Among the "New Garda Reserves" on this float are a pimp. several transvestite prostitutes, a number of convicts, and Osama bin Laden (identified by a sign on his back).

Jumbo Breakfast Roll

The Jumbo Breakfast Roll float, celebrating both the song which is currently very popular throughout Ireland and the hand-held version of the favorite Irish breakfast. "Two eggs, two rasher, two sausage, two bacon, two puddins - one black and white..."

The crowd begins to disperse after the parade

And then the parade was over, and it was time to head back to my friend's house and decide what to do in the day-and-a-half remaining to me.