Over 300 Homewood High School students will travel to Ireland to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Travel with the Patriots here and learn about the fun and exciting things our students will experience on their trip. Pictures and info will be posted each day.

Day 6 - Parade day! The students did an amazing job marching in two parades today. The big parade in Dublin was amazing. The crowds seemed to never end. People were watching us march from the road, windows, and balconies. It took us 2 hours to march through the whole parade. Then we headed to the sweet little town of Celbridge where our students were celebrities in the parade. It was a fun day representing our community in Ireland. Everyone we met was impressed with our students and their awesome performances in the parades. 🍀 

*Parade pictures to come on Wednesday 

Day 5 - It was a lot of fun seeing Dublin today. We learned a lot about the area. Be sure to ask your kids what they saw during the tour. Everyone also got to get in some free time to sightsee and do some shopping. Grafton Street had everything from small souvenir shops to bigger stores that our students are familiar with seeing in the US. Next was the EPIC Museum. It was underground and very impressive. Then we had dinner and a show at Taylors Three Rock. The students sang, performed on stage, and gave the band and the dancers a standing ovation. It was a fun night filled with lots of energy, music, and dancing.

Our band directors and Dr. Hefner were also invited to meet the Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste. The Lord Mayor of Dublin is the honorary title of the chairperson of Dublin City Council, which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland.

Day 4 - Today was a beautiful day! We saw the sun, and it was perfect timing. We visited Bunratty Castle where you might have seen Chris Cooper and Harper on CBS 42 for a live interview. Then we traveled to the Cliffs of Moher where we couldn't have asked for better weather. We had a lot of bus time today traveling, but the students did great. We checked into our hotel in Dublin, and we are excited to see the city tomorrow. 

Day 3 - We enjoyed having some free time around Kinmare and Killarney today. The sheepdog demonstration at Muckross Farm was very impressive. The students enjoyed getting to see the animals and even met a sheepdog puppy. We saw some beautiful views during the jaunting car rides, but unfortunately we weren't able to go to Ross Castle as the road to get there was underwater. Our tour guides have said they haven't seen this much rain in a while. But even with the rain, it was a fun day exploring Ireland. The night ended with a fun band party with our family and friends.

Day 2 - We made it to Ireland 🍀🍀 All of our flights arrived on time, and we had a fun day touring Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney Stone for good luck. It was a little windy and rainy today, but the kids were prepared. Thankfully we could get into our hotel early, so everyone could shower and get ready before dinner. The hotel put together a great meal, and it was fun eating with our 330+ friends.

Today, 300+ students & staff traveled on 11 different flights to Ireland!  The Band has been planning for this trip for 2 years, & we can’t wait to see our band students March in the St Patrick’s Day Parade. 

Fun fact: 4000 lbs of equipment was shipped to Ireland for the Band’s performance.