I would say to anyone coming to ireland for st paddys day,dublin is not be and end all in terms of parades most towns or even some villages have parades and they are as good or not better not in size obviously ,but in character,I am irish and i have never been to dublin for the parade,i was in dublin on st paddys day for a sports event,but not for the parade,most people go to local parades.In a nutshell don't feel you have to go to dublin.
Would agree with you but still great place to start for us on this particular trip. We went all over the country and definitely enjoyed the entire trip. Ireland is amazing and the home my family lived up to 1852 is still standing till this very day!
Just to respond to your comment on "Temple Bar is the place to be", well that's true if you don't mind getting ripped off paying €10+ for a pint and that's coming from a born and bred Dubliner. It's just a place to rip off tourists. Most locals avoid this part of Dublin like the plague.
