More than 300 people attended a St Patrick's parade in the Polish city of Łódź yesterday, part of a weekend festival in the city celebrating Irish food and culture.
The inspiration behind the event came from Ivonka Kwiek, a native of Łódź who moved to Co Galway ten years ago.
But her connection with the city of the Tribes came about by chance.
"A friend invited me to Galway and I had never been to Ireland before," said Ms Kwiek, sitting in a restaurant in the city's OFF Piotrkowska Center, a converted former cotton mill that is now home to chic eateries, design houses and tech startups.
"Łódź is like an industrial city and when I landed in Galway, I was so surprised by the vibe.
"It was a little bit like a village, so colourful, the dancing and the culture. It was a different world," she said, adding that, after visiting Galway a second time, she decided to move there for work in 2015.
Ms Kwiek, a cultural anthropologist, has worked in the culture sector in Galway for the past decade.
She moved to Indreabhán in the Gaeltacht last summer and greeted your reporter in Łódź with a cúpla focal.
A couple of years ago, a coffee meeting on a trip home to Łódź with management at the OFF Piotrkowska Center led Ms Kwiek to reimagine the 'OFF to Ireland Festival’, a three-day St Patrick's themed event at the former red-brick mill that had been running for a few years previously.
"I’m living in Ireland and I thought I could help to make a real connection with Ireland, not only to serve green beer," she said.
To that end, Ms Kwiek approached 'A Taste of Galway', a network of food producers in the county, whose members have supplied Galway Bay oysters, Conamara lamb, Irish cheese, soda bread, salmon, and other produce from across Galway to the centre's restaurants.
"All the restaurants are serving food from Ireland, not food inspired by Ireland," said Ms Kwiek.
But her plan was to stage a parade as the focal point of the festival, starting at OFF Piotrkowska and winding its way along the city's main street.
"There’s nothing more obvious than a parade so we thought let's create the first Irish St Patrick’s parade in Łódź ever."
This year Ireland’s Embassy in Poland, Łódź City Council and Galway City Council came on board as honorary patrons of the festival.
Ireland's Ambassador to Poland Patrick Haughey attended yesterday's parade.
Courtesy: Artur Kraszewski / Off Piotrkowska Center
Organisers also reached out to the city’s primary schools and invited children to draw an artwork inspired by Ireland.
One budding artist and a parent won a weekend trip to Galway with hotel and flights provided.
Another prize went to the best dressed person who went home with flights to Ireland, a spending voucher and entry to the International Oyster Festival in Galway in September.
Ms Kwiek also set up a pop-up stall for the Galway Tourist Office at this weekend's festival.
Ireland’s Polish community remains the largest minority group in Ireland, numbering just over 93,000 according to the 2022 census.
However, there are about 123,000 Polish speakers in Ireland according to the same census - this higher number most likely accounts for Irish-born children of Polish parentage who speak Polish at home.
Figures for Irish people living in Poland are, of course, much lower.
The Embassy of Ireland in Warsaw estimates that the Irish community in Poland is "in the low thousands", with about 1,000 Irish third-level students currently attending Polish universities.
According to the most recent Polish census from 2021, about 10,000 Polish citizens in the country have dual Polish-Irish citizenship.
This number most likely includes children who were born in Ireland to Polish parents and whose families have returned to live in Poland in recent years.
Ms Kwiek said she hopes to continue "building bridges" between her two homes.
"Łódź is in my blood, but, after ten years, when I visit Łódź, sometimes I’m overwhelmed and I need to go back to my Conamara."
