Whether you’re born and bred in the Emerald Isle, have parents or grandparents from there (hey, Billie Eilish and Emily Ratajkowski – yes, really) or just enjoy getting on the green bandwagon for St Patrick’s Day, you may be thinking the party’s over thanks to Coronavirus.
Lots of St Patrick’s Day events as well as the biggest parades in the world – in Dublin, London, New York, Montreal and Boston to name a few – have been cancelled or postponed. And now even a simple trip to the pub for a pint of Guinness – a la Kate Middleton – is out of bounds. Right now, it’s not easy being green.
Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom. People are sharing videos and memes on #StPatricksDay and #StPatricksDayTogether, musicians are doing virtual gigs, and Tourism Ireland’s annual ‘Global Greening’ is still going ahead, involving hundreds of massive landmarks around the world being lit up in all shades of green, from the Empire State Building in New York, Sydney’s Opera House, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro and the London Eye.
But how can you recreate the craic in the self-isolation of your own home? We’ve come up with a few ways to celebrate Ireland’s legendary culture with nothing but an internet connection (although head-to-toe green attire is encouraged).
Get your Irish TV fix
Thought Ireland was all rainbows and leprechauns? These hit TV shows prove otherwise. Dublin-set BBC series Dublin Murders – based on the bestselling books The Likeness and In The Woods by Irish-American author Tana French – is tense, twisting and totally gripping. Not to mention the acting skills (and intense chemistry) of Sarah Greene and Killian Scott as Detectives Cassie Maddox and Rob Reilly. Next up, more proof that the Irish know how to do crime: gangland boxset Love/Hate, starring the beautiful Robert Sheehan, is as addictive and gritty as they come. And if that is just too much realism for you, you really can’t go wrong with getting your LOLs from Channel 4 classic Father Ted. Go on, go on, go on…
The Irish films you need to see
If you haven’t already, now is a great time to settle in for an Irish movie marathon. Make sure you’ve got the tissues on hand for tear-jerker Brooklyn, which stars unofficial queen of Ireland Saoirse Ronan and perfectly encapsulates small-town Ireland in the 1950s. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions and a must-see. Speaking of emotions, The Camino Voyage – a Irish-language documentary following a writer, two musicians, an artist and a stonemason who set off on a 2,500km Camino voyage from Ireland to northern Spain in a traditional boat they built themselves, is an extraordinary film that will reaffirm your faith in human nature. Fun fact: it has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Plug in to some Irish podcasts
Irish accents have variously been voted the friendliest in the world, so as well as ringing up your Irish granny (which you should definitely also do right now), why not download some great Irish podcasts to cheer up these uncertain times? Each Dubland episode is a hilarious mash-up of comedian PJ Gallagher (from Young Offenders) and Suzanne Kane giving their take on the week’s events, and everything from pigeon facts to PJ’s rants. Unreal Irish Folklore delves into the many myths and legends of ancient Ireland. Did you know that St Patrick banished snakes from Ireland? Download the Snakes and Saints episode to find out more. And finally, transport yourself to bizarre and unsettling world of a little-known Irish serial killer, on the loose in London in the 1980s in gripping Danish-Irish produced podcast Nobody Zone.
