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17 March: St Patrick's Day among walks, wells and Instagram contests

Discovering St Patrick's Well in Orvieto

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As various episodes of The Simpsons have taught us, 17 March in various parts of the world is a celebration of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. A celebration commonly associated with folk parades, significant amounts of beer, green clothes, shamrocks and unlikely hats.

So on Friday 17 March (always remember to watch out for Fridays 17) the streets of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kilkenny will be filled with leprechauns, fairies and other creatures typical of the Irish moors to honour the patron saint. Many revellers, after copious supplies of beer and spirits, will end up in some ditch looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Some, between mugs, will also remember that the patrician being celebrated had come to sainthood thanks to an effective oratory functional to the cause, that of converting a pagan population to Christianity. And 17 March commemorates that same date in 461, when St Patrick died.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da St. Patrick's Festival Ireland (@stpatricksfestival)

And if the big parades that take place all over Ireland represent a sort of off-season carnival, with so many souls and interpretations, including butterflies, football players, aliens and Venezuelan traditions, there are no city streets to walk for those who want to celebrate St Patrick. In fact, there is also a Way dedicated to him, which winds 132 kilometres, divided into six stages, through places linked to the saint. It starts in the city of Armagh, then crosses large stretches of the Irish forests and touches the Mourne Mountains. The trail then reaches Newcastle, Murlough Bay and Drundrun Castle, ending in Downpatrick.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da St. Patrick's Festival Ireland (@stpatricksfestival)

For those who don't quite have the green emerald isle on their home-work route, there is a tricolour alternative to celebrate 17 March: visit St Patrick's Well, which is not in Cork but in Orvieto. The well, despite being 2,500 kilometres away from Downpatrick, was dedicated to the Irish saint because of the legend according to which he was the guardian of a bottomless cave, from which, “after seeing the pains of Hell, one could enter Purgatory and even catch a glimpse of Paradise”. Although it may not be entirely true that the well in question still enjoys these prodigious properties, its visit never leaves tourists indifferent.

 
 
 
 
 
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Un post condiviso da Umbria una foto al giorno (@umbriaunafotoalgiorno)

Tourists who can also win a stay in Cork for two by participating in the Instagram contest “The legend of St Patrick. Search for Ireland in Orvieto launched by the Municipality of Orvieto with the collaboration of the Irish Tourist Board. Photos taken between 17 and 19 March that will be posted on Instagram with the hashtag #SaintPatrickOrvieto can participate by tagging the profiles of Orvieto's tourism promotion website @liveorvieto and the Irish Tourist Board @turismoirlanda.

Image Benjamin Rascoe on Unsplash