Ireland – More Than The Cliches.

The first time I properly celebrated St Patrick's Day, I was several thousand miles further from Ireland than normal. Chicago turned into a city where being drunk at 10am was acceptable, and dyeing the river green was just a standard part of their celebrations.

Then I went to Ireland itself – more specifically, Dublin. What I found wasn't just a bunch of drunk people drinking Guinness and eating potatoes, or toasting to leprechauns and four leaf clovers, but a city that was swamped with culture and history. A country which still didn't have postcodes but certainly had stories by the sackful.

You didn't have to look far for a ruin or part of an old tower castle. In fact, during a tour of Ireland, we rarely stopped at anywhere less than three hundred years old. And when looking at these enormously old buildings, reading and hearing about the stories of people who had built them, how they survived on the lands, just to realise we were then standing on the foundations of their old homes, brought home how feeble saying "Top o' the morning to ya" may seem on a weekend full of celebrating this type of heritage.

As we went deeper into Ireland, visiting the Tollymore Forest Park, it became apparent why and how myths and legends grew from this country like flowers blooming in Spring. The beauty and mystique round every bend in the road or path gave me inspiration like nothing else. It was easy to imagine fairies flying between the trees, the rustle of twigs being a small ginger bearded man running around with a pot of gold from the rainbow overhead (okay, maybe not... but still pretty magical).

And then there were the people themselves. Like this man who has spent the past year caring for injured pigeons and bringing them back to health. He claims he builds a strong bond with them and can easily tell them apart. His story was so fascinating it felt like a Human's of New York moment talking to him.

Even though there wasn't a lot of famous tourist attractions beyond things involving alcohol, I found a raw beauty in Ireland that was difficult to put into words. I met people who wanted to tell stories just because it seemed to be ingrained in their DNA, and it made a lot of sense why so many famous poets and authors have come from this small country. I felt a certain sense of comfort there, the feeling that any outsider is welcome.

So to conclude: Happy St Patrick's Day. And whether or not you celebrate it in any way, know that the large celebrations which spring up for Ireland's patron Saint are well deserved (and certainly a reason to crack open a drink or two!)