St. Patrick's Day Tomfoolery

Parade and carnival in the morning, pubs and party at night. From the word GO, this place was ready to celebrate this day. Whoever suggested that it's not as big of a deal over here as it is in America clearly doesn't know what they're talking about. In the morning, not only did I go down to the parade, but I actually took part in the parade. I hooked onto the Fair Trade group (Limerick is the first "fair trade city" in the whole of Ireland) and carried an American flag in one hand and played a tambourine in the other. The theme of the parade was "One city, a world of people" and we were also with a Brazillian group who danced and had a percussion band going, so the multicultural theme fit in well with our contingent. At the end of the parade, they opened up King John's castle for a big party. Most of note there was a band, "De Jimbe," whose music was a fusion of traditional Irish, Caribbean, and West African music. Nice. Then after a lunch break, I shifted gears and joined the rest of the city in the pubs before ending the night with a party at a local's house named Pat (logically). I apologize for the laundry list account of the day, but I just wanted to discredit the myth that St. Patrick's Day is just another day for the Irish. Here's a photo gallery of the day's festivities.