An unshaven nun conversed with a Clinton-supporting monk while a gang of boisterous boys in kilts placed themselves at the mercy of the wind.
In O'Reilly's public house in Sandymount, Dublin, Mr Niall Andrews MEP extricated himself with admirable diplomacy from the exuberance of a man claiming to be the ard ri of Connacht.
The ancient rural tradition of "following the wran" - a day for dressing up and letting hair down - was celebrated for the 14th year in the locality on St Stephen's Day. The chief whip of the festivities, Mr Tom Ahern from Clane, Co Kildare, wore a monk's brown robes covered with US flags, prompting one wag to dub him "Clinton's cigar".
Undeterred he explained that Wran Day had been celebrated across the country, particularly in Meath and Kerry, for the past 100 years but that it originally dated back to the time the wren bird is said to have got caught in a holly bush, betraying St Stephen's location to Roman centurions.
Disguised as a clown, grand marshal and MC for the day local chemist Mr Michael McAuliffe said the aim of the festival was "to prove Dublin fourism wrong".
"This is a day for friendship, a day for fun on the streets and a day to contradict all that is said about Dublin 4," he insisted.
In pre-Christian times wran boys blackened their faces and stuffed their clothes with straw to demand food and drink money from the unsuspecting on the day after Christmas.
These days it is much more civilised and all money raised on Saturday went to support the local Cerebral Palsy Clinic on Sandymount Avenue.
Through the rain and wind musicians, mummers and Morris dancers kept the shivering hundreds entertained. Members of the Olive Hurley School of Irish Dancing, including a miniature Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, danced their hearts out at the Sandymount crossroads.