Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, probably doesn’t mean much to the average Dominican, but to Irish nationals residing here or to those visiting, it is an occasion worth celebrating.
St. Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated in the month of March. It is named after St. Patrick, the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early seventeenth century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Community (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. The day commemorates St. Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland as well as celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish people in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals. Christians also attend church services and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday’s tradition of alcohol consumption.
This year, the feast of St. Patrick’s was celebrated in church at Grand Bay in the Parish of St. Patrick and at a new restaurant, overlooking the Caribbean Sea in Citronier. The event was celebrated during the weekend of the 16th of March, at Westport Tavern, run by Jessica Pinard-Byrne-Yarde, an Irish Dominican and her husband Clinton Yarde. Although there’s only a handful of Irish residents on island, the locals came out in large numbers to celebrate with their Irish friends.
And since the primary feature of the St. Patrick’s celebration is to eat, drink and be Irish, the main attraction was a special menu which consisted of Irish delights including names like Guinness Wings & Meat Balls, Dublin Style Fish & Chips, Shephard’s Pie and Irish Stew, to name a few. All delicacies were served with Irish Potato, a primary agricultural product and main export of the Irish soil, while the bar served a wide array of Irish blends of Jameson , Bailey’s and Guinness to exciting cocktails such as the Irish Car Bomb, Irish Dream and Celtic Twist along with a list of other “crazy” names.
An added attraction was face painting for the adults and children sponsored by Neo-Xpression. Entertainment was provided by DJ Smooth, DJ Old School and the musicians of J. Grimner Trio Band during the weekend. Westport Tavern promises to host this event annually following the “great” response to the 2013 edition.
Below are some photos taken at the event.
All photos by Zaimis Olmos.
what is that papa
dont care not part of my culture,just a bunch of bushwa folks who preyed on our ancestors.
You spelled bourgeois wrong.
When we see ourselves through eveybody’s image then we have forgotten who we are. I agree with Observer. We need to cherish our roots and that goes all the way back to the mother land, Africa.
I am a true African born and bred. You are a Dominican be proud of your own culture
Next time people wear any color green.
Sharing and sharing alike.
No other country has such blessings which are bestowed not only on Ireland but on the entire world and everyone who reads them with God in mind knowing that He will bless them and is blessing them at that moment. Belief, faith, hope and trust.
In fact, do any other country have any at all and godly documented ones? All of us worldwide benefit from these blessings. The following is worth meditating on:
Irish Blessing –
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
An Irish blessing, taken from my Catholic Holy Mass book:
Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.
Taken from a set of coasters which I bought some years ago. Those coasters are all amusing, one of which is:
Irish Blessing: “May you be in Heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.”
Mortal and spiritual food for thought.
May God richly bless you this Eastertide!
Would have loved some of the green drink. There are recipe Websites which post general recipes and international ones, the latter also, pertaining to annual celebrations as also Christmas.
I once attended a St. Patrick’s Day celebration and show on a Saturday evening, in a church hall. It took place after Holy Mass. I was impressed and noted the various beautiful Irish national attires. It was an enjoyable evening.
Prior to the Feast Day, there are recipes for St. Patrick’s Day on those Websites. I saved some; have not yet tried them but I will sometime. We do not have to wait for the celebration to try them. Three of them are Soda Bread, Irish Stew and the green drink.
We hope that St. Patrick’s Day will be an annual celebration. The next time, if it is possible, a parade could be organized for the Sunday afternoon as it is done in other countries.
Show and dinner with sumptuous Irish eats and other delicacies. They were delicious. There was also dancing to Irish music.
All in all, it was truly an enjoyable evening.
Many religious activities take place especially in Toronto, in Catholic parishes; of course, elsewhere in Canada. One must have time and has to make time to attend all those functions. Aside from other activities, they could keep us occupied and busy.
I am hoping in future to attend a few of the Irish celebrations.
Easy folks its all fun.
Great…..better than the usual Jam kkk and wck
This thing is nothing new in Dominica you know!
As a matter of fact there is a Parish in Dominica known as the Parish of St. Patrick, so too there is the Parish of St. Andrews; to which I believe they say I belong: anyone who grew up in Wesley, or Marigot have long known about St. Patrick holiday, which was celebrated by some Methodist ministers who came to Dominica from Ireland, and was stationed in Marigot.
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
The Methodists are protestants, their leaders, broken away from the Catholic Church.
So they believe in St. Patrick and celebrated his Feast Day but do not believe in the Catholic Church and practice its Faith. Is this not something? St. Patrick is all-Catholic!
Mr. Pinard-Byrne rocking kangol and gold chain. Eh ben he COME out!
NICE!!
As they say, on St. Patrick’s day everybody is Irish.
I live in NYC and I do the parade and the midtown pubs every year. Doesn’t hurt that I have Irish friends to do that with. It’s crazy nice.
Enjoyable. They are fun to be with especially on this occasion. I hope you did not drink too much ale/beer.
Cool! I love to see DA celebrating like this. We live in a world full of different people of different cultures but we are all one. Keep it up!
nice…bring in the tradition to Dominica. But, what the “Lakers” cake doing in St. Pat’s celebrations.
@che it was probably someone’s bday. that person probably liked lakers
That is so wonderful to see that St. Patrick’s day is being recognized in DA. I hope it becomes an annual celebration.
A few weeks ago I received a leaflet with a profile and prayer of St. Patrick from a priest of the office of Fatima Crusade. It is gratefully appreciated. I sent copies to everyone on my email list. Please permit me to share it with you.
For those who are not familiar with St. Patrick, this is a short profile.
St. Patrick was born in Scotland in the year 385. At sixteen he was captured by pirates and sold as a slave to a chief in Ireland. At the time Ireland was a land of pagans and druids. During his captivity, he turned to God, praying constantly.
After six years, he escaped after having been told by a voice from Heaven in a dream to leave Ireland by going to the coast. He was rescued by sailors who took him back to Britain. He studied for the priesthood and was ordained by St. Germanus, the bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years. Some time later he was ordained a bishop and was sent to bring the Gospel to Ireland.
One of the pagan kings of Ireland arrested Patrick. When he saw the miracles worked by Patrick, he said “Tell us about your God. He has given you great power.”
“There is but one God,” answered Patrick, “and three Divine Persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Picking up a green shamrock he said, “even as there are three leaves on this one stem, so there are three Persons in one God.” Thereafter he was allowed to preach the new Faith everywhere in Ireland.
St. Patrick’s labors, covering thirty-three years, were so successful that during the Ages of Faith, Ireland was known as the “Isle of Saints.” He died March 17 in 461.
My note: This is what it means to be a true follower of Our Lord’s Jesus Christ, one who loved God with all his heart and soul and loved others He labored in Our Lord’s vineyard, leading and bringing souls home to God until his death.
St. Patrick and all other saints who loved God in this profound and sacrificial manner, please pray for us pitiful sinners, those of us who are trying to perfect ourselves in worship and godliness and others who have yet to do this.
Pray for us all, in Jesus Name, through his Most Precious Blood, we pray, that one day we will obtain eternal salvation and rejoice with you in God’s Eternal Blissful and Glorious Kingdom – Heaven. O Happy Day when we will have arrived forever! Praise be to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Interesting and wonderful to know. This is something new to Dominica which is worth celebrating. Since there are Irish Catholics in Dominica, keep it up. Next year may it be on a grander scale.
Some people lovingly refer to him as St. Paddy although I do not call him by this pet name. 
Many people wear green. I am all for it. 
St. Patrick’s Day is also celebrated in Canada and the U.S. The annual parade in Toronto took place on March 17th in downtown Toronto. The annual parade usually takes place on a Sunday. Last year the weather was cold but mild and sunny. This year it was cold. Nevertheless, everyone had an enjoyable time. Thousands of people go downtown to view the parade which also receives TV coverage.
All Catholic Churches in Canada have Irish members. St. Patrick’s Day is also celebrated with a luncheon in every parish. All parishioners are welcomed to attend if they so wish and if it is convenient for them since it takes place on a weekday.
To the Irish who reside in Dominica, it is not too late to wish you a blessed St. Patrick’s Day. One of my principles is, better late than never.
It is said that on St. Patrick’s Day every one is Irish.
DNO, God permitting, next year please let us know in advance that we will wish the Irish in Dominica a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. God bless all!
I commend the Irish for carrying and honoring their culture through the travels. What bothers me though, is that our fellow Dominicans, so easily accept and adopt a foreign culture or even claim foreign nationality, yet fail to acknowledge our own. What is this trend of picking up everything from elsewhere and so quickly dismissing the cultures of this land? I mean how many people here even know how to speak our local creole language?
I don’t mean to be negative here on Mrs. Yarde’s establishment, matter of fact, i commend her for sticking to her Irish roots and showing off her pride for her country of birth. I just wish our locals could adopt the same and not be so quick to dismiss of the “Dominican” in them.
I was thinking the same thing. As a people, we seem intent on gravitating to all things non-Dominican (from the foods we eat, the way we speak to what we celebrate). I was a bit suprised a few years ago when some folks were buying up ham and turkey and having bit thanksgiving celebration. I’m just waiting for later this year to hear about upcoming halloween parties and events.
Where are you getting this about people failing to acknowledge their own culture? As far as I know toute moun domnique sa parlez patois. And you will excuse my spelling if it is indeed wrong because I learned from my surrounding people not from books, and you know why? Because mostly everybody I know can and does speak patois. There is nothing wrong in appreciating the culture of others, especially if they appreciate our country enough to live here. We love to see our culture celebrated overseas so why can’t the same be done for the culture of others here?
I am married to a Dominican and I am Irish, we always celebrate St Patrick’s Day with our friends but I would love to join in the fun next year with Mr & Mrs Yarde. Please let us know in good time so we can prepare our green to wear.
I also celebrate Creole Day each Friday in October and also wear my Creole dresses for this. I also think the Dominican people keep their culture and celebrate when they can.
We adopt and keep what is good, what enhances our lifestyle and country and ignore and discard what is not.
What are you referring to? I am aware that Dominicans recognize their culture. When some nationals wish to segregate and be recognized as “solely their culture” in Dominica, you know, as wanting a different country within a country. You should know what I mean by this. This is when divisions and other problems ensue. Whose fault is this? Surely, it is not the fault of the majority of Dominicans.
Note the number of Dominican residents and some of them who reside abroad, the latter who travel to Dominica to participate in carnival, Independence Day and other celebrations. I would think that they fully recognize and honor our culture, have not forgotten it, participate in those celebrations and are patriotic.
We must welcome people and their culture and have respect for them. We are free to participate in the celebrations or not without criticizing them, their culture and not admonishing Dominicans who join them in their celebrations.
We must be broadminded. This is how we project our love for God and our fellow people, whether Dominican-born or not. It also creates a peaceful atmosphere where every one lives in harmony.
St. Patrick’s Feast Day is celebrated once a year. He is our saint too. It is really celebrated specifically by all Catholics who love the Irish and have respect for their recognition of a Saint as St. Patrick and appreciated through the love and mercy of God what he did for Ireland. He is a great saint. God is pleased that we honor him and his godly, faithful works. Little do you know that Heaven rejoices when we honor the Saints of all. We cannot go wrong. Nothing escapes our God. In so doing blessing and graces abound. In honoring them we give due praise, honor and glory to God – The Blessed Trinity.
I’m confused. are you talking about Dominicans who have migrated? Is there “here” that you refer too the US or UK???? FYI there are Dominica associations in Guadeloupe, France, Canada,UK, NY, NJ, Houston, Miami, Boston, atlanta etc. they keep the culture flowing. There are kids born and bred in the states that know pataois (even if its just the basiscs) so please don’t put everyone in this one big pot. Kudos to the Irish in DA for celebrating their culture. They will join us in October/November when we celebrate independence…. and Dominicans around the globe will do the same.
Observer you are indeed 100 percent correct in your stated comment. I salute you for having the courage to sound off. I have seen down and out non Dominicans embraced over Native born Dominicans. And it baffles me. Its almost to say that some Dominicans will embrace the well dress Devil over the shaby dress Jesus. Just a point to ponder …You Dominicans know who you are, so fit wear it.
Looks like a good time was had my all -just a little surprised by some of the attire.
Love it!!!