Ireland’s patron saint and national holiday will be celebrated in style at Bunratty Castle & Folk Park on Sunday, 16 March.
The County Clare visitor attraction will kickstart its 2025 tourist season with a comprehensive programme of St. Patrick’s weekend entertainment featuring Irish music and dancing, storytelling, demonstrations of traditional Irish crafts and skills, and family fun activities.
The world-famous 15th century castle also will join other famous landmarks across Ireland in being lit up in green for the weekend.
“We are inviting the public to join us in celebrating our national feast day with the perfect blend of Irish tradition, culture, and family fun to kick off our 2025 tourist season,” said Marie Brennan, Events Manager at Bunratty Castle & Folk Park.
“From world-class Irish dancing performances and traditional music sessions to encounters with St. Patrick himself and our merry band of dancing leprechauns, we have created a programme of events to entertain visitors of all ages,” she added. “Whether you are learning a ‘cúpla focal’ at our schoolhouse, watching traditional baking demonstrations, or witnessing vintage machinery at work, Bunratty offers a unique taste of Ireland’s rich heritage this St. Patrick’s weekend.”
Family fun activities include the Bunratty Express Train, bouncy castles in the Red Barn behind Macs Pub, and an opportunity to meet St. Patrick as he parades through the village street. There will be curious characters located throughout the Folk Park including Konor the Clown and his merry band of Dancing Leprechauns, and Finegas the Druid who will be recounting Irish fables and legends.
Irish dancing will take centre stage in the Corn Barn with performances by the Linda Ball Hoban School of Irish Dance, which has enjoyed extensive success at the World Irish Dance Championships and whose members have gone on to perform all over the world with Riverdance. Performers will be dancing between the jigs and the reels at 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm. There will also be live traditional Irish music seisiúns throughout the day with the public invited to bring their own instruments and join in with Bunratty’s resident musicians.
For younger visitors there will be a fun and interactive Clue Trail that will lead participants to all four corners of the Folk Park through woodland trails and paddocks, with their vast array of indigenous Irish animal species from Kerry Bog Ponies to Irish Red Deer and Bunratty’s resident Irish Wolfhounds Rian and Mide.
At the schoolhouse, Bunratty’s resident Schoolmaster will be on hand to teach visitors a ‘Cúpla Focal’ and entertain with tales and traditions from school days of old, including the story of the four leafed clover and how St. Patrick really drove the snakes out of Ireland.
The Bean an Tí will host a demonstration of Traditional Baking and Butter Making at 2pm in the Golden Vale Farmhouse where Irish superstitions will also be explained, including why it is considered bad luck to spill salt, why seeing a solo magpie can strike fear into the heart of a passerby, and why an itchy nose signifies a fight is coming in your near future.
Members of the Clare Vintage and Engine Tractor Club will be present on the day to demonstrate an array of vintage agricultural machinery at work, including corn grinders, water pumps and mini threshing machinery. Ireland’s largest collection of vintage farm machinery also will be on display around the park. The Talbot Collection have been bequeathed to the tourist attraction for permanently display throughout the 26-acre folk park and features more than 50 items of machinery, including ploughs, hay rakes, and Turnip and Mangel Seeders.
Visit www.bunrattycastle.ie for more. Standard admission rates apply.
