Articles by Declan MacGowan

St. Patrick’s Day Public Holiday Closures in Ireland

I learned this the hard way years ago in my campervan days: St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland is not just a party. It is also a proper public holiday (what most of us casually call a bank holiday), which means the island runs on a slightly different rhythm. Sometimes that rhythm is brilliant (a small...

St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland With Kids

I have done St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland every which way: squeezed along Dublin’s barriers with a thousand strangers breathing the same cold March air, and tucked into a small-town main street where you can actually hear the band coming before you see them. When you add kids to the mix, the day...

How to Find an Authentic Trad Session on St. Patrick’s Day

There’s a version of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland that feels like a theme park. The same songs on loop, plastic hats, a bouncer at the door, and a pub so packed you can’t tell if the music is live or coming from a speaker in the rafters. And then there’s the other version. A corner table held by...

Climbing Croagh Patrick for St. Patrick’s Weekend

The first time I climbed Croagh Patrick, I did the classic rookie thing: I looked up at that tidy cone from Murrisk, thought “grand, that will be an hour,” and set off with far too little water and far too much confidence. Mayo corrected me quickly. Croagh Patrick is not a long hike on paper, but...

How to Toast in Gaelic: 10 Essential Irish Phrases for St. Patrick's Day

The first time I tried to toast in Irish, it was in a snug little pub where the fire was winning a long argument with the March drizzle outside. I lifted my pint, took a confident breath, and produced something that sounded like a sneeze trapped in a sweater. The old lad beside me did not even...

Bacon and Cabbage vs. Corned Beef: The Truth About St. Patrick’s Day Dinners

Every March 17th, I get the same question from travelers nursing a pre-parade coffee (or a pre-parade pint): “So is corned beef and cabbage actually an Irish thing?” Here’s the honest answer, from years of wandering into small town pubs and chatting with cooks in the back: in Ireland, the...

What to Wear in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day

My first St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, I did what a lot of well-meaning visitors do. I went all-in on the green. Thin hoodie, cheap shamrock hat, and trainers that had never met Irish rain before. By the time the parade finished, my feet were damp, my shoulders were cold, and I’d learned the most...

Surviving Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Festival

I still remember my first Dublin St. Patrick’s weekend in full swing: the city felt like it was vibrating. Every pub had a line, every bridge had a camera pointed over it, and I learned the hard way that “I’ll just wander over to the parade” is not a plan. It is a wish. This is the guide I wish I...

How Locals Actually Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland (And Tourist Traps to Avoid)

I have spent a fair few St. Patrick’s Days in Ireland the way most visitors do it first: following the noise. The big parade route. The packed pub. The promises of “best craic in town” written on chalkboards like a dare. Then I had one in a small town where the biggest event was a kids’ parade...

7 Best Small-Town St. Patrick's Day Celebrations to Escape Dublin Crowds

Dublin on March 17 can feel like trying to enjoy a tune session while someone plays the spoons an inch from your ear. It is big, loud, brilliant in its own way, and absolutely rammed. But if what you really want is the local St. Patrick’s Day, the kind with kids in handmade costumes, a vintage...

Classic Irish Farmhouse Apple Tart

There’s a particular smell that means you’ve landed in the right Irish kitchen: butter warming in the oven, apples going jammy at the edges, and that faint whisper of cinnamon that says, put the kettle on . This is not a deep dish American pie with a mile of filling. A classic Irish farmhouse apple...

Dublin vs. Galway: Which St. Patrick’s Day Parade Should You Attend?

I have done St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland a few different ways over the years, from getting swept up in the capital’s big, loud swirl to slipping into smaller streets where you can actually hear the fiddles. And that is the heart of the Dublin vs. Galway decision. Dublin is a full-scale festival in...

Shepherd’s Pie vs. Cottage Pie

I learned the difference between shepherd’s pie and cottage pie the way a lot of us do, by ordering one in a snug pub on a wet evening and then arguing about it over the first few bites. Someone always says, “Sure it’s the same thing,” and someone else insists their granny would haunt them for...

Dublin Coddle (Slow-Cooked Sausage and Potato Stew)

The first time I had a proper bowl of Dublin coddle, it was on a wet evening when the city felt like it had shrunk down to a few glowing pub windows and the mist off the Liffey. The coddle arrived looking humble enough, a pale broth with sausages and potatoes. Then the smell hit me: pepper, pork,...

Original Irish Coffee Recipe

The first time I tasted a proper Irish coffee in Ireland, I stopped treating it like a boozy latte and started treating it like its own little piece of winter engineering. Done right, it is hot, strong, gently sweet, and topped with a cool cap of cream that stays put. You do not stir it in. You sip...

Traditional Irish Barmbrack (Tea-Soaked Halloween Bread)

The first time I had a proper barmbrack in Ireland, it was offered the way so many good Irish things are offered: casually, like it was no big deal, with a mug of tea and a bit of a wink. Only after I took a bite did someone mention there might be a little surprise involved. That’s barmbrack for...

Stargazing in Kerry’s Dark Sky Reserve

The first time I properly saw the Milky Way in Kerry, it was one of those quiet, late nights where the Atlantic wind had finally eased off and the campervan was ticking as it cooled. I stepped out, expecting the usual handful of stars you get near towns, and instead the sky looked like someone had...

Crispy Irish Boxty (Traditional Potato Pancakes)

The first time I properly fell for boxty, it was on a drizzly evening in the northwest, the kind where the hedgerows look like they have been freshly washed. I ducked into a small place for something warm, and what arrived was a humble potato pancake that somehow managed to be both crisp at the...

Causeway Coastal Route: 3 Days on Northern Ireland’s Wild Edge

The first time I drove the Causeway Coastal Route, I’d planned it like a neat little checklist. Then the coast did what the north coast always does: it messed up my schedule in the best possible way. One minute you’re following a ribbon of road above the sea, the next you’re pulled over on a whim...

Full Irish Breakfast at Home

The first time I tried to cook a full Irish back in my tiny Dublin rental, I did what every confident amateur does: I threw everything into the pan at once and hoped for the best. What I got was a smoky kitchen, rubbery eggs, and sausages that were somehow both pale and burnt. The full Irish is not...