After seeing dozens of study abroad students visit Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day, I knew it was an opportunity I could not miss when I decided to study abroad, as well. So, my friends and I sought all the advice and recommendations we could, on top of scouring different online blogs, articles, and TikToks about all the “do’s and don’ts” of Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day.
Once we confirmed our program abroad, we went ahead and booked the trip back in early November. Not to say it’s impossible to book a Dublin trip over March 17th closer to then, but it was good for us to book accommodations and flights ahead of time—the earlier, the better to avoid breaking the bank. Since the 17th landed on a Sunday, we opted to stay from Thursday to Monday to enjoy as much of Dublin and the rest of Ireland as possible before the craziness of St. Patrick’s Day.
All of January and February, we saw various social media posts and heard other abroad students talking about needing tickets well in advance to get into the popular Temple Bar area of Dublin. But when we looked up different places online, we could not find anything about advance tickets. We were starting to get nervous that everyone knew something we didn’t.
Day One
When we flew to Dublin, we had nothing booked besides a place to sleep, so we were hoping for the best when it came to pub-hopping throughout the weekend. Friday, our first full day there, we took the time to walk around and explore Dublin. We went into the Dublin Castle, hung out in the gardens outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and walked through St. Stephen’s Green Park. This was also when we found a Carrolls Irish Gifts to get some fun green accessories to wear on Sunday—nothing was more than $5-10.
Afterward, we were able to get into The Temple Bar Pub without a line and even ended up in the front of the stage, listening to the best guitar and violin duo. We left that night feeling happier than we ever could have imagined. That spot is definitely a must-see, no matter when you visit Dublin.
DAY TWO
On Saturday, we decided to rent a car and go to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. There are many bus tours that range from 9 to 12 hours from Dublin, taking you to either place or both, but we decided to experience both places on our own time. The drive to Galway from Dublin is only two and a half hours.
In Galway, we were able to walk around at our own pace and take in some of the festivities they had set up there, including a park festival in their city center and an array of flags hanging through the main streets. The city is also right on the water, with a stunning lookout, the Spanish Arch, over the port. Even though it was rainy, the small city was so picturesque and we thoroughly enjoyed our couple hours there.
From Galway, it is an hour and a half south to the Cliffs. The roads are narrow and winding, and oncoming traffic got a little close for comfort at times. But those roads allowed us to see beautiful panoramic views of the Irish countryside and the ability to pull over whenever we wanted to take photos and take in the view.
When we arrived at the Cliffs, it was quite foggy, which definitely decreased the visibility of the sweeping landscape of ocean and sea; we could only see one cliffside! Regardless, we had a lot of fun journeying there, repping our ponchos wandering on the foggy trails, laughs untamable. We will have to plan to go back in a season with consistently clear weather.
In the two hours back to Dublin, we made our pit stop at the Barack Obama Plaza, a rest stop dedicated to the former U.S. president’s proud Irish roots. It was a quick stop, but definitely fun to see.
We arrived back in Dublin around 7:30 p.m. and headed back into the city center to meet up with some other friends at a pub. The city felt busier than the night before as people kept flocking in for the holiday. We were still able to go to a pub, Stag’s Head, without a cover charge or line and enjoyed our first Guinnesses of the weekend with some more live music.
DAY THREE
Sunday was a marathon day but in the best way. We woke up mid-morning and headed out of our Airbnb by 10:30 a.m. We were staying in Dublin 8, so our walk to the city center was about 30 minutes. We arrived at our chosen spot to watch the parade, on the corner of Fleet Street and Westmoreland Street.
The parade started at 12 p.m. on the other side of the river, so we saw the beginning by 12:15 p.m. We saw several bands coming through, the local police and military forces, and even the mayor of Dublin in a horse-drawn carriage! Irish dancers came through a little later on as well, and the excitement around the tradition of the parade was unmatched.
Most pubs in the Temple Bar area don’t open until 12:30 p.m., and it was a Sunday, so Ireland’s liquor laws prohibited starting pub crawling too early. We got to the first pub of the day, Oliver St. John Gogarty, around 1 p.m. and stayed put there for a couple hours. We enjoyed the company of locals and tourists alike, listening to a guitar and flute duo play songs like “Zombie” by the Cranberries and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver. It was the perfect place to start the day.
After Gogarty’s, we were able to make it to four more places before calling it a night without paying a single cover or waiting in any sort of line. We hopped through O’Donaghue’s Pub, The Giddy Dolphin Pub, Fitzgerald’s Pub, and the Voyager Pub by the end of the day. We never paid more than $10 for a drink, and after a lot of stress about the unknown possibilities of it not going so smoothly, and it ended up being one of the best days of our travels while abroad.
In summary, if you’re looking to experience St. Patrick’s Day abroad in Dublin, you should:
- Book your trip as early as possible! Have those flights tracked from the second you are accepted to study abroad in your city. If you are interested in going to any bigger bars or clubs, you might have to book those tickets in advance, but there are no tickets for pubs in the Temple Bar area that you will have to book before your trip.
- Be prepared for crowds, but don’t fear them! Just because it is crowded doesn’t mean you’ll be turned away or that you’ll have to wait long, just be patient and take in the community around you.
- Be flexible. On the off chance you do get turned away from a place due to the capacity, just move to the next, and you’ll probably be able to get in. Most pubs in the Temple Bar area of Dublin have the same kind of vibe, with live music and excited crowds alike, so it will be hard to find a bad environment.
Hopefully, this eases your mind about the swirling rumors around the weekend of St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin and allows you to soak up the joy and energy of the city!
Abby Holbrook is a student at Auburn University and an ISA Featured Photo Blogger. She is studying with ISA in Florence, Italy.