Pictures: Cork celebrates a Patrick's Day with a difference

A St Patrick’s Day with a difference this year saw the people of Cork get creative in celebrating our national holiday.

The day which is usually celebrated with parades, Irish flags and green-coloured ice cream was celebrated much more carefully this year due to current restrictions but that didn’t stop people from thinking outside the box.

Many events moved online with offerings such as live gigs and performances, and iconic landmarks across the city and the county were lit green to mark the second year of celebrating St Patrick’s Day under lockdown.

Na Piarsaigh GAA celebrated with a drive-by parade, while others dressed up and headed into the city centre to soak up the sunshine.

Residents in Ballyvolane watched on from their front gardens as children from Glenfields Community Childcare took part in their parade.

In Kinsale, locals Eve McClements on her horse Commanche and Maghan O'Connor on her horse Eddie were out and about to put a smile on peoples’ faces.

Staff and residents at Haven Bay Care Centre dressed up and celebrated by visiting well-known landmarks in the town without leaving the nursing home’s grounds.

Some of the town’s most popular spots such as The Bulman, The White House, and Jimmy Edwards were recreated as part of the nursing home’s extension, allowing residents to still visit their favourite places during the lockdown.

In Aherla, the Hynes family held their own St Patrick’s Day parade on their farm which saw Peter and Paula Hynes, along with family members, Kayla, Chloe, Han, Ali, Shermin, Georgina and Becky participate, along with many of their animals.

Marking the occasion, President Michael D Higgins said that St Patrick's Day 2021 can mark the "beginning of a new journey".

In a message of hope, calling for renewed international cooperation and greater respect for Mother Earth to be the lessons of the pandemic, he said: "We can learn from it all, as we always do.

"And when in years to come when we parade again and gather in celebration, make a new invocation, no longer needing to be consumed in our consumption.

"We will recall how we made St Patrick's Day 2021 the beginning of a new journey.

"One we are happy to share with the whole world, and all of its people, and one that helped renew with respect for Mother Earth, to which we all belong.

"And of which our saints, Patrick and Bridgid, left us such insights and enduring wisdom.

"When in the future we recall St Patrick's Day 2021, let us have returned with even more energy to music, as we lift the glass, slowly, and replenish it even slower,” he said.