Before we arrived in Ireland last week, we had done a little advance scouting on things we might like to do. One of them was the Chinese New Year celebration at Nano Nagle Place, about a mile from our apartment. Neither of us knew anything about the site, its history, or why they’d be celebrating the lunar new year.
You can find a bit of Nano Nagle’s backstory here – http://nanonagle.org/
The actual celebration was, umm, earnest, if a little underdone. A team of 5 dragon dancers ran around the gardens a couple of times, while a couple drummers beat an interesting Sino-Celtic rhythm.
A number of young persons dance troupes also performed at a separate, indoor event. Seating for that was limited, so we skipped it and just wandered around the grounds a bit before heading home.
The site served as a learning center for Catholic children in the 18th century, at a time when the English Penal Laws forbade educating Catholics, as well as a convent for the Ursuline Sisters.
Cork Spring 