Parades
-
Eight Months and Counting Until the First Glenside St. Patrick’s Day Parade
It’s going to be a relatively modest affair compared to other parades in the area, but the first St. Patrick’s Day parade planned for Glenside in Montgomery County is a pretty big deal to its well-organized planners. Members of the organizing committee met one evening recently around the dining room table at Noreen Donahue McAleer’s house not far from the proposed parade route. The parade—planned for March 8, 2025—is still months away, but the committee […] Read More
-
Views from the 2023 Philadelphia Saint Patrick’s Parade
Philadelphia Saint Patrick’s Day Observance Association proudly announces 2023 Philadelphia Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Award Winners: Hon. James H.J. Tate Award (Founded in 1980)Outstanding Organization that Exemplifies the Spirit of the Parade Sponsored by: Mike Driscoll2023 Philadelphia Federal Credit Union Msgr. Thomas J. Rilley Award (Founded 1979)Outstanding Fraternal OrganizationSponsored by: AOH Division 39 Msgr. Thomas J. Rilley2023 Cairdeas Irish Brigade George Costello Award (Founded 1979) (This was named the Jim Enright Award Prior to 1986)Outstanding Float in the ParadeSponsored by: The Irish Society2023 The Friendly […] Read More
-
2023 Pre-Parade Mass at St. Patrick’s Church
Archbishop Nelson Perez celebrated Mass along with parade Chaplain Reverend Kevin Gallagher, honoring Saint Patrick before the parade. The church was filled, with the many friends and family of the Grand Marshal and Ring of Honor. Music and singing was provided by Bishop Shanahan High School and Karen Boyce McCallum and Frank Gallagher.
-
How To Be Irish in Philly This Week, Part 2
The Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be greening up the city on Sunday, March 12, rain or shine (or as Parade Director Michael Bradley likes to say, “sunshine or liquid sunshine.” Dan Harrell, for decades head custodian at The Palestra and patron of the students at St. Malachy’s College in Belfast, will be leading the parade as grand marshal following a Mass at St. Patrick’s Church. Other parades on the weekend: Bucks County, Hamilton Township, […] Read More
-
Meet Dan Harrell, Philly’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade Grand Marshal
Dan Harrell is one of my favorite people in the Irish community and this year I and thousands of others will get to watch him lead one of the oldest parades in the United States, the Philadelphia’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Dan is a big, burly man, possessing many amazing talents yet always quick to laugh at himself. Born in Philadelphia’s Presbyterian Hospital on December 4, 1943, to Agnes Bridget McDaid (Drimarone, County Donegal) and James Oliver […] Read More
-
How to be Irish in Philly This Month, Part One
You know you’re Irish when you hear a patron in a pub ask the bartender, “Are you all ready for March Madness?” and you’re pretty sure he’s not talking about basketball. While there will be plenty of college hoops in March, the real madness for the Delaware Valley’s millions of Irish, Irish-Americans, and Irish wannabes will be in the pubs, on stage, and in streets as dozens of Irish performers big and small fill every […] Read More
-
Looking Back at Philly St. Patrick’s Parades Past
These photos were taken over the years by Denise Foley, Gwyneth MacArthur and Jeff Meade. They cover many years of Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day parade, from 2006 on until 2022 (with a two-year gap for covid). You’ll see dancers, pipers, grand marshals, cute faces on the parade route and on the sidelines–along with some old familiar faces, some of them long gone but still remembered and cherished. We will let the photographs do the talking […] Read More