Your first Thanksgiving abroad tends to sneak up on you, because nothing in Ireland warns you it is coming. There is no parade on television, no run on cranberries in the supermarket, and no Wednesday night airport scramble, so the holiday arrives quietly and then lands hard.
Thanksgiving is not a public holiday here, and most of your Irish colleagues will be at their desks all day. That said, the ties between Ireland and the US mean a steady handful of hotels, pubs, and restaurants put on an American dinner every November.
Turkey with a trad session attached
The Castle Hotel on Gardiner Row is serving a three-course Thanksgiving dinner in its Castle Vaults Bar and Restaurant on November 26 at €49 per person, with live Irish music from 8 pm and Irish dancing at 9 pm. Tables are limited, and bookings go through the hotel directly.
Out at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, The Merry Ploughboy in Rathfarnham is also running a Thanksgiving dinner and show. This award-winning pub serves traditional turkey with all the trimmings, followed by entertainment from the owners and their troupe of dancers. The pub’s regular format has guests arriving from 6:30 pm for dinner before a show from 8 pm to 10 pm, and a round-trip shuttle from the city center costs €12 per seat.
The Merry Ploughboy Pub in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin. (Ireland's Content Pool / Failte Ireland)
If you want to make a weekend of it
The Park Hotel Kenmare in Co Kerry is hosting a Thanksgiving dining experience in its Landline restaurant on November 26, with a seasonal menu built around Irish produce. Three courses with canapés, bread, and petit fours cost €95, and two courses cost €85.
Park Hotel Kenmare in Co Kerry.
For the real splurge, Ballyfin Demesne in Co Laois is offering Thanksgiving stays from November 22 to 29. The package includes champagne on arrival, a full Irish breakfast, a three-course lunch daily, a history tour of the house, and a five-course Michelin-starred dinner each evening. “Gather, Give Thanks & Celebrate in Timeless Luxury,” the estate says on its website.
Ballyfin Demesne in Co. Laois.
The free stuff, which is often the best stuff
You do not need a booking or a budget to mark the day. Dublin, Cork, and Galway switch on their Christmas lights in late November. The switching-on ceremonies often come with a free evening of seasonal entertainment. Wandering through a lit-up Grafton Street in Dublin or Shop Street in Galway with a hot chocolate is a decent substitute for the parade.
Grafton Street Christmas Lights.
Or, you can always start the morning with a brisk, beautiful walk. Irish Tourism suggests a Thanksgiving stroll along the Cliffs of Moher or through Killarney National Park, though Howth Head, the Phoenix Park, or your nearest beach will do the same job for nothing.
Enjoying the great outdoors at the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare.
If homesickness has you thinking about family, Dublin’s National Library runs a free Genealogy Advisory Service, and November is one of the quietest times of year to use it. Entry to the National Gallery of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland is free too.
The National Library of Ireland, on Kildare Street, in Dublin.
Then there is the obvious one: Invite people over! Ask everyone to bring a dish, and accept that your gravy might not be quite like your family recipe and your pumpkin pie may be an apple tart. Nobody at the table will know the difference, and most of them will never have been to a Thanksgiving before.
