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

[photo at frozenlight.eu (Nathan Wajsman)]

Looks wonderful, Douglas! One day Louis will cherish those images.

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman
photo at frozenlight.eu

http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.frozenlight.eu
@nwajsman.bsky.social

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> On 19 Mar 2025, at 02:32, 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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