Dublin School of English

Easter is upon us once again.  So what happens at Easter in Ireland?  Well, for a start all pubs are closed on Good Friday; the only other day apart from Christmas when you can’t enjoy a pint of Guinness.  Most Irish people take the opportunity to have a party or a barbecue in their house – the fun never stops here in Ireland!
We are far less artistic and inventive than our continental counterparts when it comes to Easter eggs.  There parents paint eggs all kinds of bright colours and then they are hidden in the garden for the children to find, believing that the Easter Bunny hid them there. We, on the other hand, simply buy big chocolate eggs and leave them out for the children.  Far less fun, I’m sure you’ll agree, though the kids have fun stuffing themselves with chocolate then running amok for the day on a sugar rush.  I certainly have fond memories of it and I’ll admit that my Mum still gives me a chocolate egg every year!
Most people go away to the country for the weekend as they have Friday and Monday off.  This means Dublin is nice and quiet for a change.
It’s also at this time of year that we remember the 1916 Easter Rising, when Irish rebels took up arms against the English in a largely unsuccessful weeklong campaign that was to change the course of Irish history.  Look out for great movies about that period in Irish history: Michael Collins, starring Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts and The Wind That Shakes The Barley starring Cillian Murphy.  For more information on The Easter Rising check out this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Rising

Happy Easter!!