Parades aren’t the only activities to drag us out of the house this weekend – there are plenty of ways to enjoy the St Patrick’s festivities through good food and drink too.
Avoid the Dublin city centre crowds and take a Dart to Howth for the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival, running until Sunday. The fishing village is the perfect setting for this celebration of the crustacean.
There will be cookery demonstrations in the Keelings tent (Neven Maguire, Domini Kemp, Kwanghi Chan and many more), street entertainment and live music. Plus, the food village will be presenting prawns cooked in a myriad ways by local restaurants and bars. The full programme of events is here.
Down on the farm
At Airfield Estate in Dundrum, easily accessible by Luas, the 38-acre urban working farm is paying homage this weekend to "classic Irish cooking". The menu in the restaurant will include Kerry mutton pie.
On Saturday (10am-1pm), children aged between eight and 12 years can sign up for a cooking class at which they will gather ingredients from the farm’s garden before transforming them into an Irish menu with help from the chefs at Overends Restaurant. The classes cost €21/€19 for members and must be booked in advance. See airfield.ie.
High spirits
The Spirit of Dublin Craft & Food Fair takes place at the Teeling Whiskey Distillery at Newmarket Square in Dublin 8 on Saturday. Live music, talks and shopping opportunities are the draw here, and you might even get to feature on James Kavanagh's popular Snapchat account as his Currabinny food company, which he runs with William Murray, will be in attendance.
Look out too for the latest food product to incorporate the distillery’s spirit – Jamaican Jerk Crisps – a collaboration with Munroe’s jerk marinade, and watch out, they’re spicy.
The menu at the Guinness Storehouse will feature three special dishes for this weekend’s St Patrick’s Festival. Visitors can try a Guinness beef burger with stout added to the mince (€15, from Arthur’s Bar and 1837 Bar & Brasserie), or pigs in blankets, a chilli-spiked take on sausage rolls (€5.95, from Cooperage Café).
Those taking part in beer and food pairings will be able to try executive head chef Justin O’Connor’s beef daube bon bons, made with beef cheeks slow cooked in Guinness, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried.
On Friday only, visitors to the Storehouse will also be able to taste a one-off doughnut created by Phil Costello, founder of bakery Aungier Danger, and the brewery’s beer specialists. The dark cocoa doughnut is filled with chocolate mousse to “compliment the malty sweetness and roast character of the beer”, with a blackcurrant glaze which “delivers a balance of sweetness and distinctive bitterness which mirrors the flavour of hops”.
Street food
Bring your appetite (and perhaps your hangover) to the Eatyard outdoor food market at the Bernard Shaw pub, 9-10 South Richmond Street, Dublin 2 (Thursday to Sunday, noon to 8pm), where you'll find the best selection of street food available in the city.
It's a casual gathering, with a rotating collection of 20 carefully selected food offerings. Unusually for a market, tables can be booked, so you don't have to eat standing up, juggling your drinks and your dinner. Bookings can be made here.
March vendors include Lucky Tortoise, selling a variety of dumplings including scallop and prawn siu mai and beef rendang baozi. Lucky Tortoise also do a weekly Sunday night pop-up at The Hill pub in Ranelagh (5-10pm).
