SADLY, THE BEAUTIFUL summer of 2018 is quickly coming to an inevitable end, and what an unforgettable summer it’s been.
While the mercury climbed for the hottest summer solstice since 1961, The Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift took over Croke Park, the Irish Hockey team brought home the World Cup and the Defence Forces marched in their first ever Pride.
And Ireland’s best photographers were along to capture every moment. Here are a few of the snapshots that we think captured the best moments of the summer.
In a final that saw the best of the county battle it out with the 2017 champions Galway, a lot of hard work and sweat lead to the moment pictured above. Declan Hannon is the first Limerick man to proudly raise the cup since 1973 – and what a nail-biting finish he had to go through to claim it. Luimneach abú!
From T-shirts to candles to hard candy, there was absolutely no shortage of accessories this summer to celebrate Pope Francis’ visit to Ireland. These particular dolls were on sale at the RDS in Dublin to coincide with his visit to the World Meeting of Families, while elsewhere, a pub in Dublin had its own Pope-inspired decoration for the event.
Though they may have marched for years not in uniform, this June saw the wonderful moment where the Defence Forces donned their rainbow-coloured wings and marched proudly with the rest of Dublin’s LGBT community for Pride. Since 1983, the colourful parade has grown from 200 to over 30,000 people.
The world watched in July as France beat Croatia by two goals in the final of the World Cup in Moscow. However the real magic came when they stood side-by-side at the bottom of Dublin’s O’Connell Street to celebrate their success, making us more than a bit jealous that we didn’t make it in this year.
Even though they now have a collective age of 293, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts proved they still had it during a two-hour set played for 70,000 people. It was their first gig in over ten years (since Slane in 2007) and over course ended with an unforgettable performance of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.
When we weren’t busy singing in Croke Park, the likelihood is that we were probably sweating. June’s heatwave broke records for being our longest period of sustained heat in five years. In fact, it created a need for a hosepipe ban that will stay until the end of the summer. Outside Stephen’s Green, Frenchman Benjamin Jourdan was feeling it, hard.
At the start of August, hundreds of people crammed onto Dame Street to welcome home our women’s hockey team, who made it to the final of the Women’s Hockey World Cup, bringing home a historic silver. It was enough of a brilliant success to result in a €1.5 million investment for Irish athletes ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Another memorable moment that happened within the historic arena of Croke Park, Prince Harry chose Dublin as his “first international visit as a married couple” with his wife Meghan Markle in July. The two visited Trinity College, the Irish Famine Memorial and during their visit wound up in Croke Park to learn about our beloved national game.
No matter what you’re celebrating this summer, be sure to toast it with a refreshing cocktail made with Schweppes 1783, a range of naturally flavoured premium mixers, expertly crafted by mixologists. The range features Schweppes’ superior effervescence in flavours that include Salty Lemon & Cucumber. Please drink responsibly.
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