Wren’s Day is quite the Dingle event. Boxing Day and St Stephen’s Day elsewhere, it is Wren’s Day in Dingle! Once celebrated all over Ireland, the tradition has died out in most places but remains famous in Dingle. You can read a recent article in the newspaper about it here.
There are four Wren Groups: the Green & Gold, the Quay, Goat Street, and John Street. We started the day at about 11:30 at O’Flahery’s, home base for the Green and Gold. The marchers were getting ready to begin the marching which starts around 1:00. The four Wren Groups march through town and then make stops at the hospital and senior citizen centers. Once that is complete, the marchers visit pubs all around Dingle to play their instruments, revel, and collect money from the customers for their charities. This goes on from late afternoon until late into the night. After 9:00 PM things can get rowdy as there are organized van tours from around County Kerry that come into town with revelers. We were settled in from 1:00 on at the Dingle Pub and left around 9:00. Guard your bar stool with your life – it’s a long day! As we started our walk at 9:00 we saw some of the vans arriving, mostly filled with young people ready to rock and roll. The girls were dressed is mini skirts and skimpy tops despite the cold temperatures.
The pictures tell the story. Here is a video from inside the Dingle Pub and a two galleries of pictures. I didn’t caption the pictures as they are pretty much self explanatory. It was a grand day, full of fun. I had innumerable pints of Guinness and Elaine had more than a few hot whiskies. Things will be calmer now until New Year’s Eve when it supposedly gets totally wild. Stay tuned.
Click on the galleries to bring up a scroll-able window with complete pictures – (the gallery previews below show just thumbnails of the pictures)
From O’Flaherty’s and the Green and Gold March
From Inside and Outside the Dingle Pub
