Dublin's Fair City

Kristin Cotter McGowan explores Dublin -- Dublin, Ohio, that is.

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Bridge Street, Dublin

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TWENTY YEARS A’GROWIN’
    With expanding boundaries and population, Dublin, Ohio officially became a city in 1987, and celebrated its first anniversary the same year that Dublin, Ireland was celebrating its millennium. To mark the occasions, the 1/1000 Committee was formed and hosted a year of Irish celebrations including performances by actors from the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland and musical legends the Chieftains, in their first Central Ohio appearance.
    The year-long celebration was the impetus for creating the Dublin Irish Celebration, a group of about ten people with strong connections to Ireland. When the Columbus Feis moved to Dublin in 1988, the beginnings of the group put together some entertainment to keep attendees busy between the dancing. That first year “there was a hay wagon, a keg of beer, and an Irish band,” says Tom Murnane, a member of the Dublin Irish Celebration. The next year the founding group worked with the City of Dublin to keep the festival Irish. The Dublin Irish Celebration continues to be a resource for the city. “We rely upon this core group of people to keep us focused on that which is real and cultural.  We’ve had some luck along the way, but it’s like this (now) by design,” says Puskarcik.
    These days, the Dublin Irish Festival draws over 100,000 visitors to the three-day experience, where every conceivable Irish element can be seen, heard, tasted, and touched. Children flock to the Wee Folk area to play, make crafts, and compete in contests including ‘Reddest Hair’ and ‘Most Freckles.’ Adults can participate in the whisky tasting and enjoy pints of Dublin Irish Festival Stout – a specialty brew created exclusively for the festival. Those who wander the 29 acres are treated to craft workshops, food, shops, and endless entertainment. Music is heard at every turn; Tommy Sands, Moya Brennan, Solas, and Lunasa were highlights this year, as well as returning favorite Gaelic Storm. New to the festival were master fiddler Natalie MacMaster and Girsa, an all-female group combining traditional Irish tunes with modern favorites. The Saw Doctors closed the festival Sunday night – a rousing finish to a long weekend packed with step dancing, hurling matches, bagpipers, Celtic canines, and re-enactors.
    Dublin gets a jump on the festivities Thursday evening with a 5K run and Pub Crawl in the city’s Historic District, with extended shop hours and live music. Classes in Irish language and instruction in bodhran, fiddle, flute, and uillean pipes are offered at area hotels for locals and visitors alike.
“We start planning the festival in February and are constantly scrutinizing the entertainment, vendors, etc.  Other festivals have come to us to find out how we do things,” says Murnane. The festival has consistently been named a top 100 event in North America by the American Bus Association and last year alone received ten awards from the International Festival and Events Association. 
    Building on the popularity of the Irish culture with residents as well as visitors, the city continues to embrace its Irish connections. The two newest high schools kept alive the tradition set by the Dublin Coffman High School ‘Shamrocks’ by naming themselves the ‘Irish’ and the ‘Celtics.’ Outside the entrance to Dublin’s links course is a replica of an Irish stone cottage ruin. Historic Dublin establishments like the Dublin Village Tavern have included Irish fare on their menus, while the Brazenhead, also the name of the oldest pub in Dublin, Ireland, took it several steps further. Opened in 1997, this authentic Irish pub was designed by an Irish architect and built by Irish carpenters. They included ‘snugs’ – cozy private rooms with fireplaces, decorated with accessories from Ireland. The bar itself was brought in pieces from Ireland and assembled by an Irish crew.
    St. Brigid of Kildare, the Catholic parish in Dublin, was founded in 1987. St. Brigid, or ‘Mary of the Gael’ as she was known to the Irish, was a fitting choice considering Dublin’s city traditions. The church was completed in 1991 and modeled after the 13th-century Church of Ireland Cathedral in Kildare, Ireland. The Altar of Sacrifice contains stone from St. Brigid of Kildare Cathedral in Ireland, and the reliquary contains relics of St. Brigid. The pulpit is an Irish lawyer’s desk from the 1800s, with four Book of Kells-inspired painted panels on the front depicting the four Gospel writers. Students at the Catholic school learn the story of St. Brigid and how to make St. Brigid crosses, and are welcomed by a bagpiper on the first day of school.

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