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Every year in mid-March, loads of London landmarks are turned a bright shade of green just to remind everyone that St Patrick’s Day is coming. The London Eye and the Trafalgar Square fountain normally get the emerald treatment, but this year there’s a new addition. Hope, the 4.5-tonne blue whale skeleton at the Natural History Museum, will be lit up with glowing green lights for Ireland. The luminous greening makes her look a little like a huge prop on a horror movie set, so you can’t miss her.
It turns out old Hope has a genuine Irish connection: she was originally discovered in Wexford back in 1891, when a local fisherman found her floundering in a sandbank. The whale has been the centrepiece of the museum’s Hintze Hall since 2017, taking over from Dippy the dinosaur, who is now touring the UK.
But it’s not all about the verdant mega-skeleton. Tower 42 in the City will also go green, displaying a giant digital shamrock. There’s a Twitter shamrock emoji on offer too, when you hashtag St Patrick’s Day.
It’s not easy, going green, but Tourism Ireland has gone the extra mile for 2018. Here are the London buildings that are getting a splash of Irish colour this weekend.
Selfridges
The London Eye
Nelson’s Column
Heron Tower
No plans for St Patrick’s Day? Get a shamrock shake on.
Visit one of the best Irish bars in London while you’re at it.