Luck of the Irish: An exploration of Bristol’s unique obsession with Irish culture

St Patrick’s Day is almost upon us. What was traditionally a day of religious practice and feast, spread to the US by Irish immigrants as a celebration of national culture, has now become, at least for students in Bristol, one of the most anticipated nights out of the academic year. King Street will be packed out with youths fighting to get their bums on a bench, the Triangle will be a sea of green and bartenders will be groaning at pouring yet another big round of Guinness that will take at least ten minutes to settle. Yet where was this same enthusiasm for St David’s Day merely two weeks ago? I certainly wasn’t aware of any themed club nights or notice anyone buying daffodils. Even with my very English heritage, I couldn’t tell you the date of St George’s day. It seems to me that celebrating the famous St Paddy falls into a wider trend of Irish idolisation; forget cool Britannia, Ireland is all the rage in our modernity. Here I suppose some reasons why.

Music and Arts

It’s hardly surprising that Ireland is enjoying such popularity when the Irish are so dominant across all the arts. From Fontaines DC, to Kettama, CMAT to Kneecap – just to name a few – Irish and Northern Irish artists are amongst some of the most popular across today’s music scene (especially for Bristol uni students who think they’re a bit edgy). There’s not only copious talent in the music industry, Ireland has also produced a plethora of actors who are currently starring on our screens. In fact, now Jessie Buckley has won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Hamnet at the Oscars this year, an Irish person has won in every acting category (helped by Cillian Murphy’s win for Best Actor thanks to his role in Oppenheimer a couple of years ago). Paul Mescal, Saoirse Ronan, Barry Keoghan, Andrew Scott, Anthony Boyle, the list goes on.

Speaking of Mr Mescal, the dream Irish boyfriend prototype, Normal People is definitely already a classic piece of 21st century literature and Sally Rooney is continuing to write masterpiece after masterpiece, one of many Irish writers to be doing so. This is likely directly correlated to the commitment from the Irish government to supporting young people from working class backgrounds to break into the arts, having just last month introduced its Basic Income for the Arts scheme that will provide artists in the Republic of Ireland with a weekly baseline salary to help them to pursue their talents. Young Brits may find it more natural to engage with these artists when the arts in the UK are largely (and increasingly) represented by the middle and upper-classes who have the financial backing of their families to make careers out of their passions due to the decline of institutional funding.

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Dublin

Just a stone’s throw across the Irish Sea and a £30 Ryanair plane ticket away, Dublin is a doddle to get to from Bristol (yes, I did just recently visit). It’s certainly a popular city break destination for Bristol students looking for a change of scenery, a bit of cultural immersion and maybe a momentary escape from all the “Rah, where’s my baccy?” accents. To be honest, we were sold on the prospect of trying a spice bag – not the kind you get in Bristol – the national delicacy of an Irish Chinese takeaway. Although, don’t get your hopes up with the exchange rate – if you thought Bristol prices are steep, prepare yourself to pay 10 euros for a pint at Temple Bar. However, you will also be serenaded by live performers (free of charge) and will benefit from an atmosphere worthy of the dent to the bank account. To be honest, it’s a bit like being in Mr Wolf’s, minus all the freshers and jazz.

Guinness – worth the wait?

France has the croissant, Dubai has pistachio flavoured chocolate, Ireland has Guinness. Whilst having been the leading stout brand for centuries, Guinness is certainly enjoying a resurgence in popularity amongst today’s youth, especially with “splitting the G” becoming common practice. This is especially true amongst a certain genre of male Bristol students – the type who likely study a humanities degree, claim to be Irish (despite only having an Irish grandparent) and love to critique how well his pint is poured, yet has never worked a day in hospitality in his life. I wonder if he’s aware of the concept of “paddywhackery”. In fact, Guinness has become so “à la mode” lately that it has even bubbled over into the world of fashion. The famous harp emblem has been strutted up and down the runway thanks to a collaboration with JW Anderson, alongside various highstreets brands getting involved, including Urban Outfitters, Primark and Boohoo. Netflix has also capitalised on the Guinness craze, releasing its period drama ‘House of Guinness’ (loosely) based on the history of the Guinness family and the evolution of the brand cementing itself as a juggernaut in the alcohol world – as well as featuring a very questionable high-society Dublin accent from Louis Partridge.

This being said, Bristol on Saint Patrick’s Day is just good craic all round. I hope everyone gets the performative Instagram story they were dreaming of, if not a grand night out.