Irish march in mother of all St. Patrick’s parades

Erin Go Bragh!  All hail, New York City’s 264th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade held on Monday, March 17. It’s the oldest and largest Irish march in the world.

No commercial floats or vehicles were permitted. All the marchers had to hoof it along Fifth Avenue from 44th to 79th Street, passing by the reviewing stand in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Timothy Cardinal Dolan was the chief reviewing officer.

Among the elected officials we spotted were Gov. KathyHochul, NYS Attorney General Tish James, Mayor Eric Adams and Councilman Justin Brannan.

It was simply an amazing parade with large marching bands from Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Alabama, Wisconsin, Vermont and Florida, plus Bay Ridge groups like the Xaverian H.S. Pipe and Drum Corps and the Clann Eireann Pipers and Drummers. There were also bagpipe bands from the NYPD, FDNY, NYC Sanitation Dept,, City Correction Dept., NYS Police and dozens of others.

We were advised there were more than 150,000 participants and approximately 2 million spectators. Mike Benn was the grand marshal.

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On Sunday, March 23 we joined Father Robert Adamo, the pastor, along with mostly parishioners from St. Ephrem’s Church in Dyker Heights, on a 10-day pilgrimage to help celebrate the Pope’s Jubilee 2025, in Italy with visits to Vatican City, Rome, Florence and Assisi. One of the highlights of the pilgrimage tour will be a stop at the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican museums, and the Sistine Chapel.

The last Catholic ordinary jubilee took place in 2000 and we’re advised it only usually occurs every 25 years.

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Coming up on March 30 is the 87th annual New York City Greek Independence Day Parade, sponsored by the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York. This parade highlights Greek culture and tradition and commemorates the Declaration of Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire on March 25, 1821.

The parade kicks off at 1:30 p.m. and proceeds along Fifth Avenue from 64th to 79th Street. Expect to see large contingents from Bay Ridge participating in the parade or as cheering spectators. 

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