Steelers in Ireland: The Day, The Night, The Historic Game

Downtown

Downtown Dublin doesn’t hold many residence. According to the locals, most people live outside the city limits, as it’s become more business than residential over the years. 

That doesn’t stop the streets from crowding, though. On some streets, it’s like walking down lower Manhattan, filled with jewelry shops and clothing stores. People seemingly racing down the street. And a grumpy Irishman voicing his displeasure that Americans are walking too slow on his streets. 

I was that American. 

The food is different. If you’re making your way through Pittsburgh, it’s a lot of Mexican restaurants, Thai food and ice cream, all slammed between dive bars and fast food restaurants. Here, it’s burgers and seafood - and some of the best potatoes you’ll have in your life. Oh, and coffee shops. Lots of coffee shops. 

The Night Life

In a city where Guinness is king, you’d imagine that they party all night long, right? Wrong. The nightlife is a bit different in Ireland. According to the bartender at Devitt’s on Camden Street in downtown Dublin, bars get to choose their own rules. If they want to serve everyone 18 and over, they can. If they want to stay open until all hours of the night, they can. Every bar got to create their own scene, and it made things a bit confusing, but it added a surprisingly lovely feel to the place. Made it feel like you needed to learn the rules of “your” bar. If you were going to drink a pint with the locals, you knew just what to expect once you did. 

One night, the bar myself and another local writer were at didn’t have any intentions of closing. They were having too much fun. 

The first level was a simple dive bar. Locals sitting on stools, talking to the new Americans in town, voicing their pleasures or displeasures about American Football. 

“Three hour games? You’re going to lose the audience.” 

“I bet that place is 60% Irish on Sunday. We love it.” 

As one local told me, they’re simply “event junkies” in Ireland. They’re ready for it. 

I later learned that same person lived for three years in Pittsburgh during the 1980’s. Maybe he was messing with me, but it’d be an impressive mind game to play if you’re saying you lived in Allison Park and remembered the address. 

Really, what you learned very quickly is that everyone loves a lot of the same things. They told us about their local sports and the physicality they’re played with. I’d never want to play hurling from the sounds of it. 

They also LOVE to bet on American Football. Ask our bartender, who just missed on a three-leg parlay that would’ve won him $9,000 if DK Metcalf hit his over in receiving yards last week, but who’s biggest bet may be if he really decides to wear his Shedeur Sanders jersey to the game on Sunday. 

He loved letting the Pittsburgh boys know he was a Browns fan. 

Nightlife in Ireland wouldn’t be anything to write home about, though, if it didn’t include music. 

Let me paint a picture for you - a group of Americans are standing in a crowded bar, two men are signing at the top of their lungs at the front of it, with the entire bar singing with them, dancing. The accents are heavy, and with everyone signing, you have no idea what the words are. But you want to join in. 

I walked up to a group of people who were loving every moment of the night. “The songs you guys dance the hardest to are the ones I know are great songs.” 

The girl standing there grabs my hands and starts dancing with me, singing. And very quickly, I realized the song they were dancing to was Purple Rain by Prince. 

Once I realized half the songs were Irish and half were American, the night was only getting started. 

But no moment was better than the end. Sorry to all Pitt graduates, but in Ireland, they love their country roads, and they know how to give you chills singing it. 

The Cliffs

Ireland is so much more than Guinness and food, though. The land is something you feel you can only see in pictures or in a movie. And even walking around it, you can’t believe it’s real. 

Walking the cliffs of Hawth never left you with words. Every turn you made, every plant you saw, or trail you found, you couldn’t believe existed. It gave you an appreciation for what the world is at its core, and as one lady walking by said, “this place is where the Universe talks to you.” 

Spiritual, for sure. 

It’s impossible to describe. One of those moments where, even as someone who doesn’t take many pictures, you can’t help yourself. And when trying to put it into words and realizing you can’t, you’re grateful you took plenty. 

The Arrival

The Steelers showed up on Friday morning. They were exhausted. The magic of Ireland was in the air, and the energy about playing a game overseas was obvious, but the bags under everyone’s eyes were too. Luckily, where the Steelers were staying, and how they handled the trip was setup to make sure they never had to worry. 

The players got to go through massages and rest as soon as they arrived, and then they hit the practice field. They held two extended walk throughs and allowed players to enjoy some nightlife in Dublin with their time off. 

It’s a business trip, but even Mike Tomlin understood things were different. As you stood on the field, you felt how magical it all was. The trees in the background, the chill in the air and the castle-like structure poking out from behind. 

This wasn’t Pittsburgh anymore. 

“I have a family history going back to Ireland and Scottland, so I’ve always wanted to get over here,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said only hours after landing. “I wish, it is what it is, the schedule would have been a little different. If I could have chosen it, maybe we get over on Monday. Have Tuesday off, get out to see some things. It’s a beautiful country, it seems like from pictures. I’m a historian so I know kind of the history, geopolitically and the area. I’m a huge fan of Guiness, I don’t reallydrinkbeer but if I do it’s Guiness. It’s not a bull crap line, it’s the truth. It tastes different off the tap in Ireland than in the states. Like I said I’ve been to Northern Ireland, and it was great. Excited about seeing what it tastes like here.”

Don’t worry, though, there were plenty of players making their way into town for dinner and to check out the city. 

Hopefully, Rodgers was one of them. 

On the field, the players wore jerseys with Gaelic names on the back. Troy Fautanu, who was one of two players whose names weren’t different, had the best response to the situation. 

Daniel Ekuale was the other player. 

The Game

The Steelers are set to take on the Vikings only hours after most of the United States wakes up. Bars back home will open early and serve breakfast sandwiches as fans come to cheer on their team. But it won’t be a typical NFL Sunday in Pittsburgh or Minnesota. 

That’s what makes it special. And as kickoff is set to happen for the first time in the regular season in the city of Dublin, Ireland, the Steelers have some added magic. A history that makes this game more important than any other international game. And they’re hoping that they get a bit of added luck as they take the field at Croke Park. 

“I mean, I would have been upset if we weren't the first ones to play in Ireland,” Rooney II said with a laugh. “Let's put it that way [laughing].Commissioner [Roger Goodell] cooperated with us, and so that's what makes it very exciting.”

“Just seeing the guys over here this morning and just knowing that we're going to be able to play this game on Sunday. It's just a great feeling.”