Jamrock meets Shamrock in an orgy of activities that will climax with the debut of the legendary Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa, Ocho Rios’ first-ever ‘Irish Fest’, a celebration of Celtic pride on St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 17.

Those in the know are already prepared to trade in reggae, Red Stripe and jerk chicken for traditional Irish music, a pint of Guinness and Irish stew to celebrate the fighting Irish team that will go up against Pakistan in exactly 23 days from today at Sabina Park in Kingston.

As Ireland’s greatest national holiday, St. Patrick’s Day marks the anniversary of the death of a missionary who became the Patron Saint of Ireland. But the Irish are not perennial mourners, so the day is usually a happy holiday for them, be it Dublin, New York, Boston, Kingston or Ocho Rios.

And Ocho Rios is where the penultimate musical games will be played when the Duffy Brothers, an Irish pop band reminiscent of the Backstreet Boys, will headline the evening, performing a fantastic fusion of traditional Irish music with Celtic rock in the splendour of the white-sand beach resort.

Coming straight out of the Emerald Isle, The Duffys will be accompanied by the Ashling Celtic Dancers, who will perform classic river dance routines.

Unveiled Tuesday, at a press conference at the Courtleigh Hotel and Suites, St. Andrew, the country’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Aloun Assamba quipped about the love of Jamaicans to have a good excuse to party and ‘build a vibes’. “So, as a multicultural melting pot, when St. Patrick’s Day comes around, it will be the perfect reason to link up with our Irish friends and have a blast,” she said.

Innovatively, Sunset Jamaica Grande will have a series of blasts, by way of mini-Irish fests to be staged at the popular Verandah Club on Friday, March 2, and the club renowned for partying Irish men, New Kingston’s ‘Upon the Roof’, on Thursday, March 8.

The miniature parties move to Ocho Rios on Wednesday, March 14, at Margaritaville Ocho Rios’ all-inclusive pool party, culminating at the Sunset Jamaica Resort three days later.

According the resort’s managing director, Ian Kerr, this party could not have happened anywhere else in Jamaica and have the same impact. His resort is booked with fans of the Irish cricket team, when they play in the first round of matches.

County Limerick Macra and the ladies of Mungret senior football club, are hosting a ceili, on Friday , March 16th.

The St Patrick’s Day celebration kicks off at 8pm in the Mungret GAA clubhouse.

“There’ll be a ceili band, singing, storytelling, dancing, a jigs and reels competition and if you’re very lucky, you might even see a leprechaun,” said one of the organisers, Lisa Cahill.

There will also be a raffle on the night and lots of spot prizes for “the best green dressers”.

Tickets will be available on the door.

The streets of Athy will remain bare this St Patrick’s Day due to the lack of funding and manpower. The Athy Chamber of Commerce, which organises the annual St Patrick’s Day parade, claims that due to a shortage of money and a lack of manpower among its members, it is neither physically or financially possible to stage the event.

Members of the chamber were left bitterly disappointed and frustrated recently when less than 20 members of the business community attended their annual general meeting.

“We are extremely low in funding and extremely low in manpower to allow us continuing manning the St Patrick’s Day parade,” said chamber member Adrian Conlan.

Mr Conlan said that while the chamber acknowledges that the St Patrick’s Day parade is essential for the town, over the past year some members of the chamber had put a lot of time and energy in relation to other projects, such as lobbying for infrastructure for the town. The chamber was also involved in the Tidy Towns and more recently in the Athy Best Business Premises Awards and the organising of its annual black tie ball, which raised •2,400 for the Athy Care of the Aged Committee. It is also involved in the joint policing committee and will be to the forefront during Athy’s celebrations for the Year of the Barrow 2007.

“There are only a few people who are prepared to work and that is part our problem,” said Mr Conlan.

But he said that while the chamber will not be organising this year’s parade, he added: “If there is an organisation or a group of individuals who wish to organise a St Patrick’s Day parade for the people of Athy, then the Athy Chamber of Commerce is more than willing to help out.”

Anyone interested in organising the St Patrick’s Day Parade can contact Adrian Conlan on 087 2568435.

There is good news for St Patrick’s Day in Kilkenny this year as the old style parade is replaced with a more modern street festival.

The new format promises to be a fun family day out for all ages and the organisers are hopeful that it will mark the beginning of a more interactive and European style festival over the coming years.

Parades in past years have not been terribly inspiring to say the least and this injection of energy is exactly what our national day of celebration could do with to bring life back into the festival.

Declan Murphy of Fáilte Ireland says, “the parade format has become somewhat jaded in recent years with trucks and tractors bulking up what has been a diminishing community effort. The cost of putting together anything near a Dublin style parade is astronomical and beyond the means of the organisers. With that in mind we want to try this format out as it is more concentrated and focused on the public being central to activities rather than just being bystanders,” he said.

A festival committee has been established, comprising of Fáilte Ireland, Barrow Nore Suir Rural Development, Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and Kilkenny Borough Council. Their aim is to develop a new style festival over the next few years and include the rejuvenated Parade space as a focal point for activities in the future.

Mayor Martin Brett says that there will be plenty of fun for all the family and that the committee wants to bring the sense of community back to the St Patrick’s Day festivities. ‘There’ll be face painters, street theatre, live music, hip hop dancing and all the usual colour associated with a festival, it will all take place on High St, the lanes and Kieran St which will all be closed off for the day from two till five on St Patrick’s Day. Market Cross Shopping Centre will also be involved in what we hope will mark a new departure for Kilkenny” he stated.

The organisers are keen to get as much community participation as possible and are calling on community groups, sports or recreation organisations who would have taken part in the parade in the past to contact them if they wish to take part in the festivities. The organisers are finalising a programme that will appeal to all ages centred around the historic Tholsel and around the heart of Kilkenny’s beautiful main streets.

The Kilkenny St Patrick’s Day Festival will take place on Saturday March 17 at 2pm. High St will be closed from 10am until 6pm in order to set up and take down facilities.

CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK’S DAY WITH MUSIC, DANCING, FOOD AND IRON HILL’S AWARD WINNING BEERS

On Saturday March 17, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant will host St. Patrick’s Day celebrations at all six area locations. The festivities will include traditional Irish music, special dishes inspired by the cuisine of the Emerald Isle and Iron Hill’s award winning brews. Several Iron Hill locations will also welcome dancers from the Cara School of Irish Dance, who will delight audiences with spirited performances of traditional Irish dances.

“We’ve been supporters of the Cara School for a number of years,” says Iron Hill’s founding partner Kevin Finn. “It’s with great pleasure that we welcome these extremely talented young dancers back to Iron Hill.”

Performance schedules are as follows:

 Wilmington, DE – 2 to 3 pm, coinciding with a live broadcast from WDEL

 West Chester, PA – 2 to 3 pm

 North Wales, PA – 5 to 6 pm

 Phoenixville, PA – 2 to 3 pm

Following each performance, representatives from Iron Hill will present Cara School of Irish Dance with a $200 check and a $200 Iron Hill gift certificate to help cover the costs of the dancers’ uniforms and traveling expenses for their upcoming dance competitions.

To help guests get in the Irish spirit, Iron Hill will also offer its popular beer pairing dinner, a two-course menu for $19.95 that highlights the taste of Ireland’s cuisine while accentuating the superb pairing of Iron Hill’s award-winning beers when combined with the hearty flavors in these specially prepared dishes. The St. Patrick’s Day pairing menu will include: Potato Leek Soup, paired with Irish Stout; and Horseradish Crusted Salmon, with potatoes, haricots verts, baby carrots and watercress puree, paired with Anvil Ale.

Iron Hill’s six locations are in Newark, Wilmington, Media, West Chester, North Wales and Phoenixville, PA. All six locations are open seven days a week for dinner, lunch and Sunday brunch. Please call for hours of operation: Newark, DE, 302.266.9000; West Chester, PA, 610.738.9600; Media, PA, 610.627.9000; North Wales, PA, 267.708.2000; Phoenixville, PA, 610.983.9333; and Wilmington, DE, 302-658-8200. For more information visit Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant on the web at www.ironhillbrewery.com.

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and that can only mean one thing: green everything. Green clothes, green food, and worst of all, green beer. Surprisingly, while we’re all embracing the same hue on March 17, we’re not all drinking the same stuff around the country. An informal poll of U.S. bars and restaurants with the word “Irish” in them revealed that the beverage of choice differs from region to region.

At the Liffey Irish Pub in St. Paul, MN, Guinness stout is the bestseller by a mile, followed by other Irish beers such as Harp and Smithwick’s. (175 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN; 651-556-1420; www.theliffey.com)

In Rockaway Beach, Queens, New Irish Circle maitre d’ Karen Slattery says many folks order Black and Tans, an equal mix of stout and ale (Guinness and Bass, to be specific). “But we also sell more Guinness and Bushmills and Jameson around St. Patrick’s Day than we do the whole rest of the year,” she adds. (10119 Rockaway Beach Blvd at 102 St., Queens, NY; 718-474-9002)

Patrons start lining up at 6 a.m. in front of Molly Malone’s Irish Pub in Los Angeles to have Irish Car Bombs — basically boilermakers in which a shot glass of Baileys is dropped into a pint glass filled with Guinness stout and Jameson whiskey. In years past, bartender Anette Karaskiewicz has seen men come in for a morning sip, go to work, return midday for a lunch break, stumble back to work, and then swing by for a few drinks before going home. (575 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles; 323-935-1577; www.mollymalonesla.com)

The only authentically Irish spirit that bartenders never seem to mention is poteen, a form of moonshine that was outlawed in Ireland in 1760 — but which has been legally reintroduced in recent years (it was banned because the Irish government had trouble collecting taxes on it, not because the stuff was dangerous to drink).

Two companies, Knockeen Hills (www.irish-poteen.com) and Bunratty (www.homepage.eircom.net/~bunrattywinery), sell the high-octane hooch (also known as potcheen, potheen, and poitin). Distribution in the U.S. is limited but we managed to get our hands on both products: The Knockeen, a 100-proof spirit, had a sweet bouquet reminiscent of dried fruit and pistachios, a slight sweetness on the tip of the tongue, and a warm vanilla finish (the company is also planning to introduce a new 110-proof bottle this fall). The Bunratty, on the other hand, is 90 proof, and evoked cough medicine, sort of cherry meets turpentine.

Still interested? If so, call your local liquor shop and ask if they stock any potcheen; some older vintages may still be gathering dust in shop corners. Another option: Rich Stadnik, the president of Pup’s Cider Company (www.pupscider.com), which imports Knockeen Hills, believes some bartenders may still be making their own potcheen or importing real-deal rotgut from the motherland. He suggests going to Irish bars late at night and making friends with the proprietors. They may just offer you a quick sip from under the bar.

Dominick Kenny, owner of the Irish Immigrant Pub in New Bedford, MA, thinks this is rubbish. “Nobody brings that stuff back now,” he says. “If I went back to Ireland, that wouldn’t be something I’d look to bring back with me. They don’t do that anymore.” (818 Kempton St., New Bedford, MA; 508-993-0990).

When in doubt, stick with Guinness. Just steer clear of green beer.

“LUCK O’ THE IRISH” AT THE ATLANTIC THEATER > GATED COMMMUNITY IMPROV PRESENTS THEIR BRAND NEW IRISH THEMED SHOW ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY AT 8PM  

Want to experience comedy like you’ve never seen it before? Well look no further than Gated Community Improv, a high energy improvisational comedy troupe whose unique brand includes: themed sketch comedy, live improvisation, song parody and hysterical videos. For the past three years Gated Community, has had audiences rolling in the aisles with the show described as “Saturday Night Live meets Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

“Luck O’ The Irish” contains spoofs on all things Irish, including: Lord of the Dance, the IRA, great moments in Irish history, and a special musical closer of Gated Community’s version of an Irish rap song “In Da Pub”.  The show will also feature Irish themed improvisations, where Gated Community will create scenes based on audience suggestions.  It promises to be a fun filled Irish evening!

Gated Community’s recent appearances include the 2007 Miami Improv Festival opening for The Groundlings from Los Angeles and Upright Citizens Brigade from New York City.  It was their third straight year performing at the Miami Improv Festival, a collection of the nation’s best Improv comedy troupes.  Gated Community has also been invited to perform on the main stage at Artigras 2006, as well as countless corporate training and entertainment events all across Palm Beach County, including the Kravis Center, The Maltz Jupiter Theater and The Cuillo Centre for the Arts.  The group received a 2005 Impy award for best sketch comedy in Palm Beach County.

The performance of “Luck O’ the Irish” is on Saturday March 17th at 8:00pm. Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for students and seniors and can be purchased by calling The Atlantic Theater box office at (561) 575-4942.  For more information on Gated Community please visit their website at www.gcimprov.com .

Gated Community Improv, 6743 W. Indiantown Rd #34, Jupiter, Florida 33458.