Italy: St Patrick's Day tends to pass off quietly in Italy. Yet, while Rome's Trevi Fountain does not run green, nor do we have a ticker-tape parade around the Forum, Italy's small Irish community generally manages to keep the memory of the national feast day alive.
This year was no exception with perhaps the most intriguing St Patrick's Day celebration taking place in Florence where the city's Teatro Tenda is currently hosting Festa In Irlanda, a week-long festival of Irish song and dance.
Florence-based, northern Irishwoman Ms Anne Donnelly provided an ecumenical flavour to the celebrations by arranging for Protestant and Catholic children from the Omagh School of Dance and the Seven Towers School of Dance, both based in Omagh, to perform at the festival.
Yesterday the children took their act across town, staging a special performance at the Centro Evangelico, a home for the elderly and mentally handicapped.
Back in the Eternal City, Mass, part of which was said and sung in Irish, was celebrated at the Irish Franciscan Church of St Isidore whilst ambassador Frank Coogan hosted the traditional embassy reception yesterday evening.
For many in Rome's Irish community, the day concluded with a visit to the Pontifical Irish College.