As we approach St. Patrick’s Day here we take a look at some of the plans that are in place in a handful of locations in Spain, Britain and the United States.
Costa del Sol
The celebrations along the coast will be centred on Malaga, Torremolinos, Benalmadena, La Cala de Mija and Marbella. Apart from Malaga the festivities will be a weekend=long affair and is being co-ordinated by the Irish Association of Spain. One of the highlights of the celebrations is the involvement of Tourism Ireland who have offered a Trip to Ireland as a prize to be won by one of the throusands who atted the events along the Costa del Sol. Here, President of the Irish Association of Spain, Belfast native Terry McKinley tells us about the events.
Los Romanes
Ria O’Brien is from Clonmel in Co. Tipperary and having spent some years in Waterford decided to head to a sunnier climate in 1999 and Spain. In this clip with Ger Sweeney she explains where Los Romanes is and what the celebrations in the Kiosk are promising.
Lanzarote
Wexford native Brendan Byrne is the owner of Dicie Riley’s in Lanzarote and is very much to the fore in the organisation of the events that will be happening over the coming weekend. Starting on Friday with a hurling blitz on the beach to the offial ceremonies on Sunday it promises to be a mighty weekend of fun.
London
The St. Patrick’s festival in London is a 3-day event. There are numerous events happening over the weekend but the main event is the day-long celebration at what’s called the Lord Mayor’s Festival on Sunday 17th March. Catherina Casey, a Cork native is very much involved with it’s organisation and seh tells Ger about her background, the Festival celebrations and where further information is available
Boston
“Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day” Bryan Bishop tells Ger. Bryan is the Director of Parade Operations in Boston and eveything is locked down and ready for the big day on Sunday. The tradition of holding a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Boston goes back to the 1730s and eaach year since then there is a join celebration – it’s also known as Evacuation Day as it was on that day in 1776 that the British evacuated from Boston. Over a million people will watch the aprde on TV and many hundreds of thousands more will be on the streets as Bryan says.
Chicago
The Shamrock Chicago Council is the umbrella group that oversees the organisation and promotion of events in the city. The greening campaign is one that is taken very seriously as are the THREE parades that happen. The plumbers in the local 130 union have a great tradition with the greening of the river and this year the Blackhawks will be lending their support to the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations when they launch the greening of the city. Marlene Byrne tells us all about the celebrations.
There are many hundreds more events taking place in the lead up to St. Patrick’s Day. As a started we have gathered this much. Hopefully you will enjoy hearing about them. Please feel free to share with your friends and if you would like to keep an eye on what we do here on the Emerald Connection please follow us and you will be updated regularly. Also, if there is something you would like us to feature please do get in contact by email on info@emeraldconnection.net