We are very honored to have David Toms as our Grand Marshal at this years St Patrick’s Day parade. David is originally from Waterford, Ireland but has lived in Norway since 2016. Since moving to Norway he has been an active member of the Irish community both personally and in his professional role as Community Support Officer at the Embassy. He is an acclaimed writer, having written several books of poetry including 2019’s Northly and most recently his memoir of life with a congenital heart defect Pacemaker which the Irish Times described as an “important book”. He lives in Dokka with his wife Miriam and their dog Madra.
Join us for our 21st annual Oslo St Patrick’s Day parade this coming 18th of March. Starting at Jernbanetorget at 1200 sharp, we shall proceed up Karl Johans gate to Universitetsplassen where there will be speeches and entertainment.
Date: Saturday 18.03.2023 From: 14.00 To: 17.00 Entertainment and Buffet Meal and dessert NOK 379,- per Adult NOK 189,- for children under 12 years Childen “saft” included Other drinks are not included
Please register by Friday 3rd of March by sending a payment to 6012.06.32054 (Norwegian Irish Society). We cannot take Vipps payments unfortunately.
Confirm you booking and details by sending an email to sales@irishsociety.no. Please state the number in your party, any food restrictions, and if you wished to be seated with another party. Also include the nationality of all guests (this data is gathered generally and not connected to your personal details). Let us know if there is anything else we can help with such as organising high chairs or access to lifts.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day / Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit to all Irish, half-Irish, quarter-Irish, wish-they-were Irish in Norway. As we say, everyone can be Irish today, all you need is to wear something green and a smile (wearing only a smile in public however is probably illegal).
In these times it is a challenge to focus on anything other than negative things, but today let us all try to do something to remind ourselves of our being Irish and put a smile on our own and others’ faces…….
Some suggestions:
Wear something green – underwear only, is acceptable but a little weird
If you sing a song….sing an Irish song. There is a suggestion that people go to their doors or their windows or gardens at 4 pm today and belt out Ireland’s Call or Óró, sé do bheatha bhaile. Here is a refresher:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwM8pCAynbM
or
Have some green food……although retrieving that bread from the organic recycling bag may be taking that a bit far. You can at least say to your kids that eating greens today is a national requirement. Or make colcannon or that traditional Irish dish of guacamole.
Fly the flag. You all know how proud Norway is of their flag……so why not fly ours, on your balcony, on your garage. Or fly whatever you intended to wave at the parade….your county colours, your green scarf.
Have your own parade at home : let the Irish music blare , line up the kids, convince your spouse it is necessary, and then just go for it. It helps if you have been active in the child creation business in the first place!! As the Norwegians say , you can only have as much fun as you create yourself!
Have a drink! OK not at 3 pm but at an appropriate time. God knows we all need one…..and you probably wont be driving to work or to kids activities anyway……and shure its only once a year.
It doesn’t have to be green and you can have it in or with your coffee. Raise your glass to your country and to the health of your family, your friends and your neighbors.
Post your pictures on our FB site and on your own social media sites to show us all that there is plenty of life and joy on this day
Stay safe and follow the health authorities’ advice
Thanks to
all our sponsors and supporters, our pipers, dancers, dogs and all who usually
contribute to our events (and anyone else I might have missed).
A special
thought and thanks to all our volunteers in the Norwegian Irish Society who
have worked hard to organise SPD events in Norway this year only to see them
cancelled. Know that your contribution of time and talent is very much
appreciated ….we will come back stronger in the future.
The Oslo Bloomsday Celebrates It’s 10th Year at the Nordic Theatre Sunday 16th June 2019 at 18.00
Entrance fee: Adult 200 kr. – Students 150 kr. Pre-Ticket sales – nordicblacktheatre.no Tickets also available on the door – cash or VIPPS only
We are delighted to present the programme for the Oslo Bloomsday Celebrations 2019. This will be our tenth year on the go! Our gracious hosts this year is the Nordic Black Theatre in Grønland as the Ibsen Museum is closed due to building work. We hope that you like what we have on offer and remind you that while Bloomsday costume is not obligatory, we do encourage you to join in in the fun.
PROGRAMME
Opening address His Excellency Karl Gardner, Ambassador of Ireland
Dotters and Babbos Bryan and Mary Talbot talk about their first collaboration, Dotter of her Father’s Eyes. Produced through an intense collaboration seldom seen between writers and artists, their book became the only British graphic novel to win a major literary prize: the 2012 Costa Biography Award. Part personal history, part biography, it contrasts two coming-of-age narratives: that of Lucia, the daughter of James Joyce, and Mary, the daughter of the eminent Joycean scholar James S. Atherton. Social expectations and gender politics, thwarted ambitions and personal tragedy are played out against two contrasting historical backgrounds, poignantly evoked by Bryan’s atmospheric visual storytelling. www.mary-talbot.co.uk – www.bryan-talbot.com
INTERMISSION
A Little Cloud Adapted and performed by actor Edwin Mullane. Directed by Hillary Dziminski. Presented by Corps Ensemble. A new adaptation of a much loved short story from Joyce’s Dubliners. Irish Nationalism is at its peak, and a search for a national identity and purpose is raging; we meet Little Chandler and Ignatius Gallagher as the latter briefly returns to Dublin from London regaling tales of his career and bawdy international exploits.
About Bloomsday Bloomsday celebrates the day on which the action of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses takes place on 16 June 1904. Joyce chose this date as a gift to his partner and later wife, Nora – to commemorate the day on which she first went for a romantic stroll with him, and changed his life forever. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses. The novel follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8 a.m. on 16 June through to the early hours of the following morning. It is considered to be one of the most important works of modernist literature.
The Norwegian Irish Society is organising the annual Kids’ Halloween Party!
Date: Sunday, 28 October 2018
Time: 14:00-16:00
Venue: Ullern Menighetshus, Holgerslystveien 22, 0280 Oslo
Admission: 60 kr per person (adults and children). Payment in advance by Vipps.
As always, we would greatly appreciate if you could bring along a cake!
Please RSVP to NorwegianIrishHalloweenParty@gmail.com by 19 October providing the following information:
Family name:
Number of children:
Number of adults:
Bringing cake: (Yes or No)
The programme will be distributed to those who register closer to the date. Needless to say, we will have games with prizes, lots of music and dancing. We hope that you all dress up and join us for some ghastly fun!
