Friendly, cheap and ‘definitely cleaner’: travelling Notre Dame fans’ glowing review of Dublin

Thousands of American tourists lined Dame Street in Dublin city centre ahead of Saturday night’s college football match between Notre Dame and the US Naval Academy at the Aviva Stadium.

The street, which was closed to traffic, was transformed into a fan zone, with a marching band and cheerleaders performing for spectators.

More than 39,000 people travelled from the United States for the game, with the majority of those cheering for Notre Dame or the “Fighting Irish”.

Among those were Mary Spagnuolo, from Pennsylvania, and her brother Gerry Korey, from New York, along with their extended families.

“We decided to take a trip because of our Irish heritage, our mother was Irish, her family came over during the Famine, they were from Ballingarry, Co Tipperary,” Mr Korey said.

“We’re going to go west to Galway, see the Cliffs of Moher and then south to Dingle and the Ring of Kerry and find the town where our mother’s family were from.

“We heard about that attack on the American tourist but we’ve been in bigger cities, we know there’s some areas where you maybe don’t belong.

“We know we probably won’t go towards the north east of the city. We’re not super familiar with Dublin but we’ve felt safe pretty much everywhere we’ve been, which has only really been Temple Bar and a kilometre or so around.”

Notre Dame fans pack out the fan zone in central Dublin. Photograph: Sportsfile

Ms Spagnuolo said she had never visited Ireland before but had already decided “we’re definitely coming back”.

“We’ve only been here for two days and I said we’re coming back,” she said. “The people are extremely friendly and helpful, they really go out of their way.

“It is much cleaner here, we’re used to New York and Philadelphia, which we love, but it’s definitely cleaner here. There is so much packed in also, you have to walk places in New York but here you turn a corner and you have 10 other choices.”

College Football Ireland has said the crowd building in Dublin for the event is the largest number of Americans to travel abroad for a sporting event in history. The organising body forecasts that the influx will contribute some €147 million to the Irish economy and it is aiming to make Dublin “the home of college football outside of the US”.

Gaby Belt and her husband Thomas travelled over to see the match from Las Vegas and are planning to visit Co Galway over the coming days before they fly home.

Take a tour of the US naval ship - used by the US Marine Corps for beach landings - which is part of a courtesy visit for the Notre Dame vs Navy match.

“We love it. We always wanted to come to Ireland and we said Notre Dame was coming so we will too,” Mr Belt said.

“It’s older than Las Vegas with a lot more history here. The weather is completely opposite to what we’re used to, rainy and cloudy instead of dry and desert. It’s nice for us coming from the desert. Prices are a little cheaper here for meals and drinks.”

The couple’s son, Gabriel, is currently studying at the University of Notre Dame. “I’m sure he wanted to come but it was his first week of school so he had to stay. I’d love to come back again and do more of the countryside,” Ms Belt added.

High school friends Mary Ankrapp and Lisa Adcock, from Michigan, and Ann Boblett, from Arizona, said they were supposed to visit Ireland in 2020 but the trip was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We came in early, we were here last Wednesday and travelled throughout Ireland, ending with the game,” Ms Ankrapp said.

“It has been awesome. People are super nice. We’ve been to Galway, Kilkenny, Cork and Killarney. We just love the friendliness and the live music at night.”

The US Ambassador to Ireland and visiting congressmen on Friday said they feel safe in Dublin despite a spate of recent attacks in the city centre.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin welcomed two United States Congressional Delegations to Ireland in advance of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. The delegation visited Mr Martin at Iveagh House in Dublin and were asked about recent attacks.

A Mass is celebrated in Dublin Castle ahead of 'tailgate' pre-match party on Dame Street. Photograph Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Stephen Termini (57), from Buffalo, New York, had been staying at a guest house on Talbot Street and was attacked on nearby Store Street in July.

Asked if she feels safe in Dublin this weekend, US ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin said: “I do. And what’s important to remember here is that Ireland is a level one country, which just means to take personal care wherever you go, the same as you would in any other European city or any city in America. And I do believe it’s safe.”

Democrat Senator Christopher Murphy said he didn’t believe 40,000 Americans would come to Dublin if they did not feel safe.

Republican Congressman Pat Fallon said it was an unfortunate and isolated incident but said “one is one too many.”

“But I feel very safe but not only in Ireland as a whole but also in Dublin.”

Gardaí said on Sunday there were no reports of any incidents involving US visitors.