We asked the Love Ireland community a simple question: “If someone gave you a free ticket to Ireland for St Patrick’s Day 2027, where would you spend it?” — and more than a thousand of you answered within the hour. Some named the obvious. Many named somewhere far more personal. And a few, as ever, made us laugh out loud.
Here’s where our 1.3 million members would go — in their own words.
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Dublin, Dublin, and (mostly) Dublin
There was one runaway winner. For hundreds of you, St Patrick’s Day means the capital — the parade down O’Connell Street, the sea of green, and the roar of the crowd.
“Dublin St. Patrick’s Festival.”
— Siobhan S. O’Connor
“The Temple Bar!!”
— Sandy Hughes
“Darkey Kelly’s in Dublin, visiting friends and family.”
— Jack McDowell
Not everyone was convinced, mind you. A few of you have learned the hard way that the capital gets busy.
“I’d watch the parade in Dublin and then get out of town before the madness starts. Maybe go to Kilkenny for the rest of the day.”
— Tim Rockhill
“Not Dublin! Way too crowded! Did that a few years ago!”
— Dolores Conwell Morgan
Galway and the wild west
If Dublin was the head, Galway was the heart. Time and again you pointed west — to Galway city, out along the coast, and up into Mayo.
“Castlebar or Galway, where my family is x”
— Jacqueline Jones
“WESTPORT ❣☘🇮🇪”
— Jeanne Tesnow
“Keel ☘ (Achill Island)”
— Bonnie Wentink Case
“In Murray’s on Inishbofin.”
— Brid Jinks
Richard Doherty summed up the plan of many: start familiar, then explore — “Normally Howth in Dublin. Will try Galway City sometime.”
Cork, Kerry and the south-west
For a huge number of you, the answer was Munster — Dingle, Kinsale, Killarney and the villages of Cork.
“Dingle or Doolin!”
— Mary Fortman Kirk
“Kinsale (my favourite place in Ireland).”
— Jackie Freyman
“Exactly where I’m going to be — Macroom, County Cork, with the Woodland Stringband from Philadelphia, PA. We’ll be in the parade.”
— Amy Trafficante
“Bantry and Kealkill.”
— Teresa Page
Shawn Morgan had the ideal double: “Dublin and Killarney National Park area.”
☘ Follow the countdown to St Patrick’s Day 2027
We’re filling a map of Ireland with one million hearts before the big day — join free and claim yours.
Coming home
And here’s the thread that ran through it all. For so many of you, this was never really about a parade. It was about roots — the townland a great-grandparent left, the house where an uncle still lives, the pull of a place you’ve never seen but somehow know.
“Skibbereen, where my family was from!”
— Dee Hayden
“At my grandparents’ house in Tralee — my uncle still lives there. Mind you, he’s 93.”
— Keith Parr
“Cork, where my family came from.”
— MariePat Hutchinson
“I’d like to find where I came from. That feeling inside me always pulls to Ireland. Does anyone know how to get started on something like that? 🌻☘”
— Eevi Miller
Eevi, you’re not alone — and you’d be amazed how many people in this very community have walked that same road home.
The craic, the pubs and the stories
Because it wouldn’t be St Patrick’s Day without a bit of devilment.
“Nenagh. Just in the pub, buying rounds so the lads will tell me Shane MacGowan stories.”
— Lisa Curtis
“Sligo — with Westlife.”
— Heather Bailey
“The Gravediggers.”
— Kathi Nolan Keller
“In Ireland, of course lol.”
— Charles U. Farley
The real winner? Anywhere in Ireland
Perhaps Kathleen said it best for everyone: “All over Ireland — and I would be so happy.” From Donegal Bay to Youghal, Portrush to Rathdrum, Limerick to Westport, the answers stretched to every corner of the island. The place changed. The feeling didn’t.
Wherever your heart pointed — a city parade or a quiet village, a family townland or a pub you’ve never sat in yet — there’s a spot on our map waiting for you.
☘ Follow the countdown to St Patrick’s Day 2027
We’re filling a map of Ireland with one million hearts before the big day — join free and claim yours.
Comments are lightly edited for length and clarity, and shared from our public Love Ireland community. Where would you spend it? Tell us — and claim your heart on the Road to One Million Irish Hearts.
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