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

[pdzwig at summaventures.com (Peter Dzwig)]

They're gorgeous Douglas. I particularly like the one of him with the 
Tricolour, but they are all great! Makes me smile.

Peter

On 19/03/2025 01:32, Douglas Barry 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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-- 

Dr. Peter Dzwig