Last Day for Booking

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The 2nd of March is the last day you can book to secure your spot at this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Lunch at the Radisson Blu Hotel Oslo Plaza!

In addition to great food, there’s the obligatory raffle, music from Muintir, dancing with Sound Irish Dance Factory, and new this year, the Arineánach singers: Frida and Serine, and last but not least, a drawing competition in honor of Christine Caplice Grinde. (more info on that to come)

Grand Marshalls

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This year we are super lucky to have 2 Grand Marshalls 🙂

Brendan and Cecille

Brendan Monaghan is from Banbridge in Northern Ireland and has worked as a folk musician since the early 1990s. He is a multi-instrumentalist specialised in uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipes) and whistles. He has toured extensively all over the world, notably with the famous show Celtic Thunder, and with musician and songwriter Phil Coulter. Since 2020, Brendan has established himself in Oslo, where he is currently performing and teaching Irish music. Cecilie Stensrud started out with modern Irish dance in 2008 and has since then developed her passion for Irish music and more traditional dance styles. She is currently the only one in Norway to teach Irish ‘sean-nós’ or ‘old-style’ dance, which she does at the dance school “Sound – Irish Dance Factory”. Cecilie also plays the fiddle and sings as well as conducting the Mná Irish Choir. Together, Brendan and Cecilie have founded Féile Oslo Summer School of Irish Music and Dance, as well as An Iorua – Irish Cultural Centre.

Grand Marshal 2023

picture credit: Derek Foott

We are very honored to have David Toms as our Grand Marshal at this years St Patrick’s Day parade. David is originally from Waterford, Ireland but has lived in Norway since 2016. Since moving to Norway he has been an active member of the Irish community both personally and in his professional role as Community Support Officer at the Embassy. He is an acclaimed writer, having written several books of poetry including 2019’s Northly and most recently his memoir of life with a congenital heart defect Pacemaker which the Irish Times described as an “important book”. He lives in Dokka with his wife Miriam and their dog Madra.

Welcome to the St Patrick’s Day Family Dinner 2023

Date: Saturday 18.03.2023
From: 14.00 To: 17.00
Entertainment and Buffet Meal and dessert
NOK 379,- per Adult
NOK 189,- for children under 12 years Childen “saft” included
Other drinks are not included

Please register by Friday 3rd of March by sending a payment to 6012.06.32054 (Norwegian Irish Society). We cannot take Vipps payments unfortunately.

Confirm you booking and details by sending an email to sales@irishsociety.no. Please state the number in your party, any food restrictions, and if you wished to be seated with another party. Also include the nationality of all guests (this data is gathered generally and not connected to your personal details). Let us know if there is anything else we can help with such as organising high chairs or access to lifts. 

St Patrick’s Day Greeting 2021

A chairde,

It will be a different St Patrick’s Day again this year but let us all do what we can to mark the event and to include others in the Irish community…….send an electronic card, call someone, Zoom someone. Whatever the limitations we should all be aware that millions of Irish are celebrating the day with us, in every corner of the world, so let’s take a breather from COVID, lockdowns, and our concerns for a while. I was looking out the window from my home “office” this morning at the bird nesting box I put up last year……and now get the feeling of déjà vu as I believe I did exactly the same thing exactly a year ago……new and exciting experiences seem to be getting rarer! However, I can claim to have made my first soda bread and even remembered to let the fairies out:

I may move on to Colcannon for the day that’s in it…..and probably not corned beef and cabbage! Compared to other cultures (well maybe not so much the Norwegian) we do have a limited cuisine! (Does anyone remember eating cabbage sandwiches??…not very sophisticated but I seem to recall they were good at the time and who would have thought that pigs’ trotters could become haute cuisine in Paris).

 So, there are small challenges we can master (whether it is mandarin or soda bread) now that we have more time. Covid affects us all, for some more of a great inconvenience, for others it represents something much more serious, in terms of health, loved ones and economy. I guess a major issue for us Irish here in Norway is that we cannot freely travel to Ireland, take part in key family events, have visits from home. As someone who was frequently travelling, I have of course been complaining of all the time I seem to have spent on the airport train or at an airport somewhere, but I guess the feeling of claustrophobia is affecting us all now.

Actually, I am more exercised about the thought of investing in a bottle of Irish whiskey at the Vinmonopol which is a consequence of not being able to travel or have visitors. Paying over kr600 per litre for Jameson when the brother is sipping online on one that he paid Euro 20 for is not an easy thing…. I haven’t gone down that route yet. But I am sure we can all find something on St Patrick’s day (whether it is green tea or green beer or even green wine) so that we take a minute to raise a toast to being Irish or to having a fondness for the place and the people.

So, on behalf of the Norwegian Irish Society, let me wish you all a Happy St. Patrick’s Day / Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit and send our best wishes for a brighter summer and some feeling of normality again.

Fan slán/stay safe

Conn

For NIS

Conn Fagan

President Norwegian Irish Society

www.irishsociety.no