Irish culture in Paris

Paris Gears Up for a Sporty and Spirited St. Patrick’s Day with Ireland Week 2026

Celebrate Irish culture in Paris around Saint Paddy’s Day on March 17. Running shoes and dancing shoes will both be in vogue in Paris this March as Ireland Week 2026 kicks off. Taking place from March 10 to March 18, the week-long celebration will bring a range of Irish-inspired events to Paris and beyond, offering audiences in France the opportunity to discover different sides of Irish culture and share in moments of genuine cultural exchange. (https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/saint-patrick-s-day/articles/341776-saint-patrick-2026-a-lively-running-event-and-free-irish-dance-workshops-in-paris)

🍀 A First for Paris: The Irish “Culture Run”
📅 Saturday, March 14 — 10:30 AM
📍 Starting at Place du Panthéon

One of the most original events on the programme of Irish culture in Paris is a partnership between Tourism Ireland and Culture Run. In January 2025, Culture Run launched a new style of themed running event in Paris. Each run is built around a cultural theme, with custom routes designed to help participants discover the City of Light in a different way—encouraging people to enjoy running rather than focusing on performance or timing. Blending storytelling with movement, it offers a unique way to explore the iconic city.

In the lead up to St. Patrick’s Day 2026, Culture Run has created a 100% Irish-themed route, highlighting links between Ireland and the French capital and inviting Parisians to discover Irish connections woven into the fabric of Parisian culture. The run will wind through the 5th and 6th arrondissements, showcasing how different facets of Irish culture—from literature to whiskey, music and dance—have left their mark on the city’s historic boulevards.

Few Irish figures loom larger in Parisian literary history than James Joyce. His novel Ulysses famously faced bans and obscenity trials in several countries. It was American bookseller Sylvia Beach who recognised its significance and published the first edition on February 2, 1922, under her Shakespeare and Company Paris imprint.

The original Shakespeare and Company bookshop closed in December 1941 during the German occupation. Legend has it that the closure may have been prompted by Beach’s refusal to sell a German officer the last copy of Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. Today’s Shakespeare and Company bookshop stands just across the Seine from the renovated Notre-Dame Cathedral, and participants in the Culture Run will see that its feisty literary legacy continues.

Runners will also pass the “Cultures of Ireland” exhibition, showcasing aspects of Irish culture alongside the historic Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The father of modern philosophy, René Descartes (1596–1650), of “I think, therefore I am” fame, is buried in one of the church’s side chapels—and might well appreciate the Irish “green wave” from the other side.

💃 Céilí Dancing Hits the Left Bank
📅 Saturday, March 14 — 11:45 AM to 12:45 PM
📍 Place de l’Odéon

Later that morning, the focus will shift from running to rhythm when the runners complete their route at the iconic Place de l’Odéon.

Following dance demonstrations, passers-by will be invited to join a free introduction to traditional Irish céilí dancing—a pop-up open-air session designed to welcome locals, tourists and the simply curious.

This Irish culture in Paris event will be led by the Vésinet Irish Céilí Dancers and the Kildare Irish Figure Dancers , accompanied by the O’Champoe Irish Sessions musicians.

The Kildare Irish Figure Dancers, a volunteer-run organisation with five dance classes across County Kildare, have been preserving and promoting Irish figure dancing for decades. Their performances blend traditional choreography with contemporary flair, and they regularly take part in exhibitions and events both in Ireland and internationally.

Dancing one of the most entertaining and iconic céilí dances, The Three Tunes, they were a big hit at a recent festival in Kildare.

For Jackie O’Neill-Noonan—founder of the France-based Vésinet Irish Céilí Dancers and a lifelong supporter of Kildare Irish figure dancing—the March 14 Paris gathering carries special meaning. A second-generation Kildare Irish dancer, she grew up immersed in the dance tradition.

“The Kildare Irish Figure Dancers association has been in existence for almost eighty years. My mother danced with them, and when she visits me in France she joins in seamlessly with the Vésinet dancers. Dances like The Siege of Carrick work wherever in the world they are danced.”

The idea of staging a céilí on the Left Bank—perhaps catching the attention of someone who has just stepped out to buy a baguette or a local shopkeeper—reflects the spirit of the event: accessible, joyful and rooted in shared experience.

Barbara Wood of Tourism Ireland notes that:

“Irish dancers, the fun, the musicians, the conviviality—and the fact that French people will join in and learn a few steps—provide a terrific and inclusive way to present Irish culture. French people kicking up their heels and embracing a good céilí swing will get a real feel of what ‘the Irish craic’ is all about, right there on the spot at Place de l’Odéon.”

Ireland Week 2026 will see Irish culture move beyond traditional venues and spill into the fabric of daily French life. Everyone is a little Irish around Paddy’s Day, and there’s no better place to kick up your heels and enjoy life than Paris in the spring.

More information:
https://www.ireland.com/fr-fr/features/france/la-semaine-de-irlande/

By Patricia Killeen, Paris

Talk show host Turning Points, World Radio Paris