Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Westport Ireland
Friday, March 17th, 20063-17-06
Today I find myself up at 7:30AM with the feeling like Christmas’s of the past. I’m anxious and excited about the events of the day!
Today is my FIRST St. Patty’s Day to be celebrated in Ireland. Even though everyone says that St. Patty’s day in Ireland is really a holy holiday and is NOT anything like St. Patrick’s Day in America- from what I have been seeing, that is not completely true.
I have seen and felt a HUGE energy shift in this wonderful little town of Westport. All the colorful slices of shops that devour the 3 or 4 streets of Westport have window displays that are dominated by the “green”. In windows are green balloons, and shamrocks, cardboard cut outs of leprechaun’s and dolls dressed in shamrock finest.
Added in, the array of silly things that are sure fire hits with the tourists that can’t wait to buy useless items just because it has the Westport name and photo’s on them, like, huge pencils, shot glass’s, coasters, linen hanging things, walking sticks, dolls, pipes, coffee mugs and anything else some company makes to take the expendable income of tourists- you find it in the stores of Westport.
I witnessed the “changing of the postcards” which are in EVERY store. For the last 2 months I have see the rained on, the wind blown, the bent corners of the postcards on the ¾ empty racks that are a staple in the shops and hanging on the doors. But in the last week they have been replaced with fresh ones with wonderful color but are photos that have been taken in the last decade – but never get old to the tourists that flood this magical place.
I saw the installation of the colorful flowers that are planted in the ground around the Octagon and the Clock tower that welcome the hordes of tourist that have begun the decent on Westport for the “downing of the Shamrock” – which is what the locals refer to on this most holy day.
The shops in the town close down on this “bank holiday”. The only places that are open are the restaurants and the pubs and OF COURSE the newsagents of whom I work for!!?!?!?!
I, Kym McBride who has never worked or gone to school on St. Patties day – HAS TO WORK ON ST. PATTY’S DAY IN IRELAND!!!! Do you too see the ironicness of this? It is NOT lost on me.
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