EP 85 Celebrating Ireland's St Patrick's Day; marvellous Melbourne & the art exhibitions you can't miss

Discover what fills your heart with Ireland, be it the rich culture, the legendary Irish hospitality, the stunning scenery, ancient cities or world-class food.  This episode is sponsored by our friends at Tourism Ireland. Learn more at ireland.com

This coming week sees the celebration of St Patrick's Day, one of the biggest festivals on the Emerald Isle. Walk the famous saint's waymarked way, or find your  own celebration, from the long-running Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival to the Puca Festival, marking the pagan event Samhain, the ancestor of Halloween. Ireland's most famous literary son, Oscar Wilde, died 125 years ago in 2025, and is celebrated in a new Wilde weekend, In Our Dreams.

Then, we take an about-turn back to Australia. "Melbourne is a city of stories," says author, guide and Melbourne aficionado Dale Campisi, whose new book, Naarm/Melbourne Neighbourhoods is a wealth of history, walks and minutiae about the Victorian capital. 

We ask Dale all your burning questions; did Melbourne narrowly avoid being called Batmania? Which Melbourne skyscraper is drizzled in (symbolic) blood? And was Flinders Street Station really supposed to be built in Mumbai? He also talks about Naarm/Melbourne's indigenous history, and what the land was like before Europeans settled here. 

We also have a giveaway! To win a copy of Dale's book, drop us a line at [e-mail] to be in the running.  

And our tip this week is the art exhibitions you need to see right now. We're talking Inca gold, Japanese pumpkins and Australia's contribution to Europe's 20th-century, avant-garde art movement. 

Melbourne @ National Gallery of Victoria ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/yayoi-kusama/ 

Sydney @ Australian Museum australian.museum/exhibition/machu-picchu/ 

Canberra @ National Gallery nga.gov.au/exhibitions/anne-dangar/ 

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