Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade

A sea of green washed over Park Slope last weekend as Brooklynites celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a joyous parade down Prospect Park West.

The Brooklyn Irish-American Parade Committee organized the festivities held on Sunday, March 18. Committee member Kathleen McDonagh, who was born in Ireland, was particularly excited to watch young girls and boys from local dance academies performing traditional Irish step dances.

“It was great to see that,” she said. “The children watching the parade were looking at these dancers perform and were trying to do their own steps. They were saying, ‘I want to be a dancer too!’”

The annual parade also attracts non-Irish folks who love what the family-oriented culture represents.

“We should be very proud of the Irish,” McDonagh said. “The Irish are always at service. There are so many in the NYPD and the Fire Department. We like to be of service to the people. That’s the way we are.”

This year’s parade was dedicated to the late Brooklyn community activist Kevin Patrick Carroll and Hugh L. Carey, who served as governor of New York in the 1970s. Both men supported the Parade Committee and Irish-themed events, McDonagh said.