For the first time in living memory, St Patrick’s Day will be a very quiet day in Ireland.

No parades, no parties, no gatherings in the local pub. And while all of this feels surreal, we do this for the greater good.

Ní neart go cur le chéile. (Our strength is in our unity.)

Today will be a very different St Patrick’s Day… but different doesn’t have to mean bad!

Now, more than ever, it’s important to make a BIG celebration out of even the small holidays.

So whether or not you’re Irish and even if you’ve never marked St Patrick’s Day before… join the celebrations today! ☘

Here are some of the things we’re planning to do today and throughout this week.

Arts & Crafts & Activities

• Make paper plate shamrocks. ☘

• Make/play with green Playdoh.

• Make the biggest tower you can using all the green Lego blocks you can find! (For a bigger tower, use orange and white bricks too! 🇮🇪)

• Draw and colour a leprechaun picture or a picture of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

• Make paper airplanes from green, white and orange paper.

• Make a Tricolour poster or banner using paint or pencils. Or do a mosaic using lots of scraps of paper. (The Tricolor is our green, white and orange national flag. 🇮🇪)

• For older kids (or adults who love to colour) search for “book of kells colouring” online to find beautiful, intricate colouring pages.

Decorate your home/garden/balcony

Use your artwork to decorate your home!

We’re sticking lots of St Patrick’s Day artwork up in our front windows. People walking or driving past will see something to (hopefully!) make them smile.

We raided our birthday supplies box and found some green balloons. We’ve tied those on our gate. Hang a green towel or scarf or some green ribbons on a tree in your garden or from your balcony!

We chalked a message on the path (aka sidewalk) outside our home. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig! Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Watch an Irish movie/show

Some favourites: The Secret of Kells and Into the West. Search your streaming service for other ideas.

Eat green

• Eat something (anything!) green in honour of St Patrick’s Day! Broccoli, guacamole, green apples, spinach, cucumber, peas etc

• Make cookies and stud them with green m&ms.

• If you have a shamrock shaped cookie cutter, cut a sandwich into a shamrock shape.

• Make a green smoothie or a green soup! Think watercress or spinach or broccoli and cheddar – bonus points for using green AND orange ingredients 🇮🇪 !

• Make traditional Irish soda bread – an easy quick bread. Baking soda is used instead of yeast.

Wear green

Throw on something (anything!) green – a jumper, a t-shirt, some ribbons. Raid your Halloween supplies and dress up box!

Don’t forget to take a photo in all your green to remember this once-in-a-lifetime (🙏) St Patrick’s Day!

Irish Dancing

Watch Riverdance. Seriously. If you do nothing else, do this! This performance never grows old. Then, have a go at Riverdance yourself. 😆

Or try some céilí dances. (A céilí is just the Irish word for an Irish Dancing session. It’s pronounced KAY-lee.)

Later today we’ll be having some fun with these dances – Siege of Ennis and Ballaí Luimnigh (the Walls of Limerick). Have a go! The exercise will do you good. 😉

Sing a song

Belt out an Irish ballad or two! Listen to them online and then sing along. A few ideas:

▪Molly Malone
▪Whiskey in the Jar
▪The Fields of Athenry
▪Galway Girl– by Steve Earle NOT Ed Sheeran. Sorry Ed!

▪Óró Sé do Bheatha Bhaile – by Seo Linn. (One of my favourite songs in the world and an incredible arrangement and performance by Seo Linn. Even if you’re not an Irish-speaker, watch this right to the end. It gets better and better. As succinctly put by Pat Courtney – “I do not speak a word of Irish, but mother of God this song and video are hypnotic.”)

Or try some modern songs as Gaeilge (in Irish) as recorded by Coláiste Lurgan, for example:

▪Avicii Vs Lurgan – “Wake Me Up” as Gaeilge

 

▪Amhrán na gCupán – Cup Song in Irish

 

BEANNACHTAÍ NA FÉILE PÁDRAIG!

PS: It’s St Patrick’s Day. Or Paddy’s Day. Never, ever “St Patty’s” Day. Never!