Culture Night

A lot of people have asked why I decided to come to Ireland in September.  They say that it’s autumn and the weather is starting to get cold.  Quite frankly, I wanted to leave my job on good terms without any consequence so, I waited until my contact ended and thus, I didn’t burn any bridges.  However, coming to Ireland in September was quite probably one of the greatest decisions of this adventure!  I’ve been told that September is Ireland’s Indian Summer – and I have currently been in Dublin for four days, without a drop of rain (Yes, I made sure to bring the Sydney sunshine as a welcome gift/peace offering to Ireland!)And by chance, I had the opportunity to attend one of Ireland’s biggest events whist in Dublin – Culture Night! Culture Night is a massive night of cultural events that take place all over Ireland.  There are 1400 venues that open their doors, 300 events and 40 locations for one night only – all over Ireland.

Trust me, it’s epic… It’s like ALL OF IRELAND comes out for one night to explore all the cultural offerings.  It’s pretty amazing to see first hand how culturally diverse Ireland really is.

I met up with local Irish social media legend, Darragh Doyle, and was given a first hand tour of #CultureNight. 

Hot Tip: For those of you who are new to Twitter or Instagram, we use Hashtags (#) at the beginning of words to “trend” or get the message out about an idea or event or to see what’s “trending” or what other people are talking about… for example, last night we used #CultureNight and #DublinNOW – it’s a great way to find what’s going on and what people are talking about – and don’t feel subconscious – you can join the chat as well – have a go!

We hit up Epic Ireland – which is possibly up there as the greatest museum I have ever been to.  It’s a museum that is soo good, there’s a good chance that I’d be escorted out for staying past closing.

Museum curators walked us through whilst briefly explaining each themed room and then left us to our own devices.  This museum is very interactive and worth staying a bit longer than anticipated – they say it normally takes about two hours, but go on and plan for longer.  It’s worth it.

I was blown away about the strong connection between Australia and Ireland. To me, it seemed stronger than the Irish-American connection.  

From there, we hit the streets!  Something we came across that I found really cool is the Bumbleance.  This is an ambulance that picks up sick kids and transports them wherever they need to go.  It’s probably one of the greatest ideas I’ve seen to make a bunch of sick kids feel better.  It’s designed to be kid friendly and to not be as big and scary as normal ambulances… 

Then, we headed to the Guinness Open Gate Brewery where street photographer, Timi Ogynyemi’s collection was on display documenting “Guinness in the City!” It was really cool to meet Timi and to see his artwork projected on the side of the Guinness building!

I also learnt first-hand, from an actual Irishman, how to properly drink a pint of Guinness.  I’m glad that’s been sorted as now I can drink the black stuff like a true professional!  Thanks Darragh and thanks Ireland for such a rewarding experience!