First-ever Dublin Kilt Skate makes The Irish Times

Last year, kilt skating as a way to celebrate Scottish culture crossed the international border with the inaugural Tartan Kilt Skate NYC. On Sir John A. Macdonald’s 205th birthday this year, the phenomenon jumped across the Atlantic with Tartan Kilt Skate Dublin. With family and friends cheering them on, a small but enthusiastic group gathered on ice, with more family and friends cheering them on.

The inaugural event was held at South Dublin On Ice, a skating facility in the city’s suburbs, open to the public from mid-November to late January..

We had contacted the management and issued a news release that the kilt skate was coming to Ireland. The management graciously offered a three-euro discount to anyone in a kilt or tartan who “acted in any way Canadian.” Kaari, a Canadian engineer married to an Irish woman and living in Dublin for the past 20 years, took advantage of the offer. His idea of “acting in any way Canadian” was not only to don his “Canada” t-shirt, but to skate in his shorts. I’d say he qualified for the discount.

Some of the participants were family. My stepdaughter, Ciara, used the occasion to give her mother a skating lesson.

The Irish Times sent their photographer, Oisin Keniry.

Oisin worked with the staff of South Dublin On Ice — two fine skaters who participated in the regional hockey league. Here they’re joined by Iain Mitchell who had come all the way from Edinburgh for the event, and served as our group’s photographer.

We had chosen a late-Saturday time slot for the inaugural kilt skate, but there were a score or so local skaters out enjoying their time on the ice. Among them were two young girls who had never seen a kilt before. They asked me why I was wearing a skirt, and whether I was a boy or a girl.

Oisin tried many different shots.

In the end, here’s the picture that appeared in the online edition of The Irish Times, with the caption: “OFF KILTER: Don Cummer from Ottawa, Canada, who hosted the first ever kilt-skate in Ireland at South Dublin on Ice, Tallaght Stadium on Saturday night. The tradition marks the birthday of Canada's first prime minister John A MacDonald. Photograph: Oisín Keniry”

We shared the ice with the public from 8:00 to 8:45 but the management allowed us to stay on a bit longer after closing, and we had the ice pretty much to ourselves.