St Patrick’s Day is rapidly approaching.
With just a couple days to go until everyone’s favourite excuse to drink, it’s high time you got your plans locked and loaded for the big day.
The Irish are famous for their supposed luck. Today, you’re getting lucky too, because here’s an article that offers a variety of ways to celebrate this Monday the 17th.
A good old-fashioned Irish pub
They say wherever you go around the world, you’ll find an Irish pub. London is no exception.
Just a stone’s throw from Strand campus, there’s The Toucan in Soho (aptly named after the bird inextricably linked to the Guinness brand), and The Porterhouse in Covent Garden (a London branch of the Dublin brewery).
If you can bear to venture out to Hackney, The Auld Shillelagh is a much-praised, much-loved Irish pub, known for an outstanding pint of Guinness, friendly staff, and, often, great entertainment.
The Mayor of London’s St Patrick’s Day parade
Twenty four hours prior to the bona fide St Patrick’s day (on Sunday 16th March), the Mayor of London is set to host his annual celebration.
The parade travels from Hyde Park Corner to Whitehall, via St James’s Street, Pall Mall, and Cockspur Street. Ending with a main stage full of Irish Acts and plenty of street food, thousands attend every year.
If you don’t mind the crowds, and don’t fancy going crazy on the big day itself, the parade could be a wholesome Sunday option for showing St Patrick your appreciation this year. The parade starts at midday, and celebrations end in Trafalgar Square at 6pm – be sure to get there early if you want a good spot!
Pub crawl!
Put an appropriately Irish twist on the classic London pub crawl.
Wear green and paint a cutesy shamrock on your cheekbone. Order rounds of apple Sourz and Baby Guinness shots. Drink the annual pint of Guinness you gaslight yourself into believing you enjoy. Subsequently laugh at your friend who is utterly hopeless at ‘splitting the G’.
Seriously, with a little bit of creative thinking, you can make a pub crawl Paddy’s themed. Add some rules that are sure to spice the evening up. Perhaps whoever can snap a picture of the most green things throughout the night gets a free drink. Maybe you all race to down a pint, and the loser has to speak in an Irish accent for the rest of the evening.
You need not even go anywhere fancy, either – a series of Wetherspoons would suffice. Note, however, that Dover Castle is worth a visit, usually offering a St Patrick’s day special trio. This consists of a pint of Guinness, a green VK, and a shot of whiskey.
Ultimately, a little bit of prior thinking and imagination can transform your bog-standard crawl into a celebration for the ages. Don’t get too attached to your rules, however, as I’m sure everyone will be too drunk to adhere to them by the end of the night, anyway.
Hit the club
Though I personally believe this is a holiday far better spent in a pub (it’s what Patrick would have wanted), here’s something to appease you feral club rats.
Check RA Guide and Fatsoma for a whole host of St Paddy’s club nights this weekend. On the day itself, ‘The Roxy’ is hosting a St Patrick’s Day party from 10pm, until well into the early hours of Tuesday morning. With drink deals from £2.50, and an early bird ticket priced at just £4.50, it’d be rude not to give it a go.
For those of you still brave (or insane) enough to attend, XOYO will also (as always) be offering cheap drinks to kick off the week. These start at a lowly £3, but be prepared to fend off the sometimes questionable clientele…
Sack it all off and just rewatch Normal People at home
If you’re anything like me (in the trenches of the final semester of your degree, with a dissertation deadline creeping ever-closer), you may be increasingly turning to a quiet night-in in place of the 24/7 party girl lifestyle you chose to adopt in first year.
Have no fear! There’s nothing more patriotic in respect to Irish culture than rewatching Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones’s stand-out performances in the televised adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel, Normal People.
Gather your flatmates, crack open a bottle of wine, and crowd into the room of whichever one of you was bold enough to ask your parents to drive your TV to uni!
Nothing will get you in the Paddy’s Day spirit quite like watching Connell and Marianne demonstrate their utterly horrifying (mis)communication skills for 12 whole episodes. This all occurs, of course, against a backdrop of beautiful Irish locations like Tobercurry (in place of Carricklea) and Trinity College, Dublin.
Bonus points, because this one won’t necessarily leave you with a hangover for your Tuesday morning 9am. The emotional hangover from wishing that those crazy kids would just work it out may last for weeks, however…
