St Patrick’s Day in Temple Bar: Live updates from Dublin’s most famous pubs
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Your support makes all the difference.Whether you're Irish or not, everyone loves celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day - a tradition worldwide that sees millions of people coming together to drink, dress in green, eat traditional Irish food and celebrate the country's heritage.
But if you can't, do the next best thing and join The Independent as it spends the day in Dublin's most iconic drinking area, Temple Bar.
Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a celebration in honour of the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick.
The day of celebration, which marks the day of Saint Patrick’s death, was originally a religious holiday meant to celebrate the arrival of Christianity in Ireland and made official by the Catholic Church in the early 17th century.
Observed by the Catholic church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church, the day was typically observed with church services, feasts and alcohol.
Alcohol consumption has always been an integral part of Saint Patrick’s Day as historically, the day was celebrated with a day-long lift of the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol - which has contributed to the present-day drinking.
Interestingly, Saint Patrick wasn’t actually Irish. He is believed to have been born in either Scotland or Wales and sold into slavery in Ireland as a child.
In 1903, Saint Patrick’s Day became an official public holiday in Ireland.
This year, and every year, it is celebrated on March 17.
This bar is oddly bright. We shouldn't be this well lit. No one should be illuminated when dancing to Mumford and Sons. Wait, now it's that Ed Sheeran song where he's oddly derisive about his childhood friends. Either way, it's too bright. I can see far too much. Things my eyes can't unsee. Why is everyone kissing?Why is everyone kissing to what is now Ed Sheeran's GALWAY GIRL???
This is how I feel about bright lights, Ed Sheeran and public displays of affection.
The queue to get into the Quays is as long as the pub itself. There's a girl crying on her boyfriend's shoulder and I kind of want to do the same.
I think it might be time for me to call it a night.
And, with this picture of the beautiful St Patrick's Cathedral, I'm signing off. Thank you for sticking with me this far. I know that I've been a snarky little wagon for the last seven and a half hours, but it was all (mostly) in good jest.
I said it at the start, but I'll say it again now - Dublin is a fantastic city, and one which I'm thrilled to call my home. So you should absolutely come over and see it yourself.
Just don't spend St Patrick's Day in Temple Bar. Trust me.
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