Feel like pure shit just want her back x
For yet another year, it's going to be a different St. Patrick's Day for us all. So, for reasons of nostalgia alone, we hark back to the traditional parades across the country.
There's nothing like a local parade.
Absolutely nothing, and we wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, next year we're going to have THREE days of partying and parading, just to make up for missing the past two years.
We all know that cities like Dublin, New York and London will traditionally organise the biggest and fanciest St. Patrick's Day parades in the world, but it's fair to say that all across Ireland, we've a soft spot for the weird and wonderful sights that are ever-present at the local parade.
All of the town's fancy tractors...
Farmers sure do love to get the fancy machinery out and display it at the local parade. Waxed and polished to within an inch of its life (the tractor, not the farmer) and sure why not throw a splash of green onto it. Y'know, for the deadly day that's in it...
The one American marching band who thought they had signed up to take part in the Dublin Parade... but are now actually in the back arse of nowhere
You know the ones, right?
They've travelled all the way from Milwaukee and were so excited to visit the land of their forefathers after seeing the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin on TV... or something like that.
Never seen a marching band looking confused in unison? Well, this is your chance...
A herd of sheep...
We're never quite sure if the sheep are officially in the parade or if they just happened to be walking down the street at the same time, but invariably at your local parade, the woollen legends make an appearance.
The local GAA club's junior teams...
All over Ireland, at every parade, there are literally hundreds of thousands of millions of kids kitted out in the local GAA team's colours... they're happy alright, but they all look as if they are suffering from severe hypothermia.
The man dressed up (very badly) as St Paddy...
He's the same lad who dresses up as Santa Claus for Christmas and Jesus Christ for Palm Sunday Mass.
This talented - but terribly-attired - thesp gets all of the big roles. An Oscar awaits...
The coastguard float
Sea or no sea, no matter where you are in the country, there will always be a worthy contribution from the coast guard.
Two blokes and a boat.
In landlocked Athlone.
Trailers with bales of hay and balloons
Usually attached to tractors, but not exclusively so.
Sometimes you may see a trailer being pulled by a cow or a donkey. The trailer has bales in it and just to add a little bit of colour and excitement, some balloons are attached.
Occasionally there is a man sitting in the trailer smoking. In the hay.
We're sure it makes sense to someone somewhere.
One drunk old man...
Ah, poor old Jack. He's been in the local pub (remember them?) since opening time, but when he leaves to head home he somehow ends up in the middle of the passing parade.
Stumbling along, he quite likes the attention he's getting and waves at all the people cheering and clapping.
He's feeling proud to be applauded for having a few scoops and rightly so. The man's a local hero.
Happy St. Paddy's Day Jack!
