[Leica] St. Patrick's Day in the west of Ireland

[don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory)]

What a lovely surprise and quick reflexes.

On Tue, Mar 18, 2025 at 8:32?PM Douglas Barry <imra at iol.ie> wrote:

> I didn't do much on St. Patrick's Day, despite having the offer of a
> press pass for the parade in Bray, as I couldn't. My cameras stayed at
> home with me.
>
> However, my 3 year old grandson Louis took a bigger part in the Day than
> he ever did before. He and his parents were over in the west of Ireland
> for the weekend with his other grandparents at their home in Spiddal,
> Co. Galway. He found himself recruited for an appearance at Spiddal's
> parade. Every self respecting town in Ireland tries to have a parade on
> this day, and, in rural areas, it veers on the compulsory.
>
> Spiddal (An Spid?al in Irish) is a small town in a pleasant seaside
> rural area alongside Galway Bay. It is also a Gaeltacht area where Irish
> is spoken as the first language. In fact, my daughter-in-law and her
> father Steve speak fluent Irish, and Steve regularly talks to Louis in
> the native tongue. To complicate matters, his wife, Louis's Mamie, is
> French and speaks in French to Louis who somehow manages to give the
> impression he understands both languages.
>
> Anyway, Louis was very enthusiastic about the day and caught the eye of
> the Irish television broadcasters RTE and TG4 who turned up to film the
> parade. We, of course, up in the big smoke (Dublin) had no idea that
> this was happening until, while watching the news on television, I
> spotted Louis in his outfit. I then paused the TV and took a poor shot
> of him using my mobile. Within a half an hour, my wife's WhatsApp
> started to fill with images from the west. Starting with my own poor
> shot of him on my TV, here are a few more.
>
> Louis on the TV news.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Louis+on+the+TV+news.jpg.html
>
> Prepping up with an Irish flag.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Louis+Flag+SPD2025.jpg.html
>
> My son, a jumping grandson and someone I don't know readying the banner
> for the locality.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Louis+Banner+SPD2025.jpg.html
>
> Louis being rushed along in his "float" - a decorated shopping trolley.
> I have no idea who the others are, other than most of them seem to be
> having a good time.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Louis+Float+SPD2025.jpg.html
>
> I have no idea whether my son or daughter-in-law took the shots. Maybe
> it's time to take my cameras down the west next year...
> Douglas
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Don
don.dory at gmail.com