A US TikTokker has gone viral for dancing and bopping along to an Orange Order march in Donegal which she innocently mistook for an “Irish parade”.
The Twelfth demonstration in Rossnowlagh attracted thousands of people on Saturday.
Florida Blogger Liz White was none the wiser when she got caught in traffic for 45 minutes.
Sharing a video of herself dancing to the drums and whistles of the various lodges, Liz quickly went viral across social media with more than 2.2million views as of today. Many users were amused by her wearing a tricolour bracelet enjoying the “Irish parade” while others drew parallels to a famous scene in C4’s Derry Girls.
“Can someone please tell me what kept me stuck here for 45 mins?,” Liz asked.
@lizwizdomCan someone please tell me what kept me stuck here for 45 mins 🇮🇪
Liz was very quickly corrected and in good humour, she apologised in another video.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know this was a controversial thing,” she said.
“I thought I just stumbled upon a parade out in the Irish countryside. Turns out – major politically divisive situation going on. How was I to know?”
“I am an American who was in Dublin for the Eras Tour, controversial I know, but travelling around Ireland from Sligo to Donegal when all of a sudden got stuck in stand still traffic for 45 minutes because all of these shuttler busses are lined up on the side of the road and people just started pouring of them by the hundreds.
“They are playing their flutes, their whistles, their drums, they are having a grand old time and I’m thinking this is a quaint little parade, maybe like July 4th.”
Liz thanked the TikTok community for keeping her educated, admitting that the travel pages did not inform her about this tradition in Donegal.
In another video explaining how she ended up in the middle of the parade, Liz said she was enjoying the scenic highlights of Sligo and Donegal when her GPS led her down the wrong route to Sliabh Liag.
“We asked a policeman how to get out of there and he started laughing and now I understand why,” Liz said.
The upbeat blogger was positively delighted with her hikes up Sliabh Liag and Horn Head, which ultimately ended in a parade of sheep!
“Bopping to the orange order drums whilst wearing a tricolour bracelet is phenomenal,” said one TikTokker.
“Your attitude is terrific! We Irish welcome everyone and glad you had a great trip,” said another.
Watch here:
@lizwizdom Replying to @Mrs Diment ♬ original sound – LizWizdom
