Arcadia Ireland

Well there’s no denying it, March in Ireland is a time for a bit of madness. The coldest months of January and February are over and spring is very much in the air. Today we even managed to get a glimpse of the sun! Even though March has had a pretty rainy beginning, we are hoping that it will pick up and, when it does, there’s plenty to keep our students occupied.

One thing that undeniably stands out in March is St. Patrick’s Day. It is huge, and on Friday March 17^th Ireland will be a sea of green and will be heaving with people. We have heard from our students over here that it being on at the same time as spring break, lots of friends and family from around the world are making the trip over to see the even-more -emerald isle.  Next week I will have a full run down of Paddy’s Day (NOT Patty’s Day as I’ve always berated my American friends about!!) But for now, I’m going to look at all the other great events Ireland has to offer in March.

A great website to keep an eye on is www.dochara.com. It keeps an up to date guide of what is going on in Ireland and includes everything from active to arts events. It gives you a brief description of what’s going on and then directs you to the events own page. Here are a few of my top picks:

Friday, March 10th, 2017 to Sunday, March 12th, 2017 hosts the Aran Celtic Music Festival. As the name would suggest, this is a music festival held on the biggest of the Aran Islands, Inis Mor. If you were planning a trip to the Islands (which you very much should be!) it might be worth looking at this weekend to make your trip. Although accommodation might be a little more difficult to find, even a day trip would be worthwhile with musicians from Ireland and much further afield heading to the small island for a weekend of musical creativity.

Friday, March 24th, 2017 to Monday, March 27th, 2017. Keeping the theme of music, Inishowen International Folk Song and Ballad Seminar kicks off at the end of March. Ireland’s music has a strong oral culture and has, in the past, been passed down through oral and aural exchanges. More recently musicians have been trying to change this to ensure that the beautiful art is not lost. In the hope that things will be written down, festivals such as this are set up to share the love of music and there’s no better way to see some genuine Irish culture than to head up and join in.

 Thursday, March 30th, 2017 to Saturday, April 8th, 2017. Spanning into April is the Belfast Film Festival.  This festival is perfect for anyone interested in film with events running all over the city. The festival always has a theme and previous ones have included; "Reconciliation and Divided Societies; Human Rights and Film; Racism, Community and Film and Societies in Transition: Policing for the People.” All of these are close to Belfast’s heart as it has had quite a divided history so it’s well worth the trip if you would like to learn a bit about history, with a contemporary twist.

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017 to Sunday, March 26th, 2017. If anybody wants to know where I’ll be this week- it’ll be at this festival. The Mountians to Sea dlr Book Festival will be taking place in the beautiful setting of Dun Laoghaire and it sounds like it won’t disappoint. They say you learn something new every day and, well, it’s true! As I was writing this I found out that “J.M Synge, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett grew up there [Dun Laoghaire], Hugh Leonard and Maeve Binchy lived there all their lives and contemporary writers who still reside in the area include Joseph O’Connor, Hugo Hamilton, Marian Keyes and Ross O’Carroll Kelly.” That is some line up of Irish writers!! With readings, conversations and workshops this is a must for any aspiring writers.

Another website worth keeping an eye on is www.entertainment.ie. It lists festivals that are all around Ireland and you can get a concise list and then go into more details by following their links. With Drama Festivals in Wexford, Roscommon and Monaghan, Film Festivals, Kilkenny’s Tradfest and Limerick’s Fringe Festival but to name a few, there are literally festivals to suit everyone’s taste.

These websites don’t even start to go into the plays, concerts and shows that are available in theatres big and small around the country. Use March to explore the Arts of Ireland and maybe use a festival to heighten an already planned adventure. Along with this, having festivals in smaller towns is a perfect excuse to visit some of the lesser known gems of Ireland. This small island is bustling with things to do- enjoy every second of it!