LJ Devlin shares what St Patrick’s Day means as an Irish expat in Alice Springs

It’s a day many associate with shamrocks and Guinness, but for one Irish expat who is more than 15,000km from home, St Patrick’s Day is about much more. Find out what.

Irish expat LJ Devlin in Alice Springs. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Even though she’s more than 15,000km from home, St Patrick’s Day still has significance to one Irish expat living in Alice Springs – but not in the way one would assume.

Hard at work on Monday, St Patrick’s Day is more than Guinness and shamrocks to Irish expat LJ Devlin, who has called Alice Springs home for almost eight years now.

“I generally celebrate St Patrick’s Day by celebrating my wife’s birthday,” she said.

“Trust the Irish person to find an Australian with a St Patrick’s Day birthday,” she adds with a laugh.

A pint of Guinness. Picture: File

Growing up in Baltimore, West Cork, Mrs Devlin said it was “interesting” being abroad for St Patrick’s Day.

“It’s a funny thing to be all the other side of the world watching people drinking Guinness and wearing the little leprechaun hats that we grew up with people wearing on Paddy’s day,” she said.

Humour aside, it’s a day with a touch of melancholy for Mrs Devlin, who said “it’s definitely a day that you think about home a bit more”.

“You think about home a lot I think when you’re this far away, but definitely on days like these you feel even further away,” she said.

But with a strong Alice Springs Irish diaspora for support, a familiar face (or accent) was never too far away, she said.

And while it might be a bit too hot for her choice of drink – an Irish coffee over a Guinness – Mrs Devlin will still celebrate St Paddy’s day, despite preferring other holidays such as Samhain.

“We celebrate St Patrick’s Day because it’s a good excuse to celebrate St Patrick’s Day – it’s a good excuse to be Irish,” she said.

Originally published as LJ Devlin shares what St Patrick’s Day means as an Irish expat in Alice Springs