NEW YORK (AP) — St. Patrick’s Day, the annual celebration of all things Irish, was marked by parades throughout the United States on Monday, from a procession through Manhattan to a rolling spectacle through Savannah’s historic streets.
School marching bands and traditional Irish pipe and drum ensembles ambled down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue with uniformed delegations from the police and fire departments in New York City, which hosts one of the nation’s largest and oldest parades.
The celebration made its way north past designer shops and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a stunning neo-Gothic landmark that’s the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
Mayor Eric Adams donned a green cap and scarf and waved an Irish flag while Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan greeted marchers wearing a green, white and orange sash — the national colors of the Emerald Isle.
“It’s fantastic to be here,” Ryan Hanlon, vice chairman of the parade’s board of directors, said as a light morning rain fell. “We’re getting a little bit of rain at the moment, but as we Irish call it, it’s just liquid sunshine.”
The New York celebration, in its 264th year, dates to 1762 — 14 years before the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Monday’s parade lasted through the afternoon, ending on the east side of Central Park, about 35 blocks from where it started.
That’s much, much longer than the 98-foot route in the resort town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, which claims it hosts the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
And in Savannah, thousands of revelers in gaudy green costumes crowded sidewalks and oak-shaded squares as the South’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade wound through the historic Georgia city. The parade marked its 200th anniversary a year ago, tracing its origins to the day Irish immigrants marched to church in March 1824.
Lindsey Dodd, who’s been coming to Savannah’s parade for about 15 years, sported green hair braids, green lipstick and shamrock-decorated socks as her group set up chairs in a prime spot for parade-watching. Children tooted plastic horns and grown ups raised their beers as pipe and drum bands marched and pickup trucks towed shamrock-decorated floats.
“I just enjoy the festivities, people watching, the chaos,” Dodd said. “There’s just something special about Savannah.”
Some other American cities transformed by Irish immigration held festivities over the weekend. Chicago, turning its namesake river bright green with dye, celebrated Saturday. Boston and Philadelphia held their parades on Sunday. And the water in the White House fountain was dyed green, a tradition started by President Barack Obama.
Across the pond, the Irish capital of Dublin culminated its three-day festival with a parade , and cities such as Liverpool, an English city also transformed by Irish immigration, hosted their own celebrations on St. Patrick’s feast day.
The parades are meant to commemorate Ireland’s patron saint but have become a celebration of Irish heritage globally since they were initially popularized by Irish immigrant communities to show solidarity in times of discrimination and opposition in the U.S.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reflected on her Irish ancestors, who she said had been struggling potato farmers and fishermen from County Kerry.
“I live the American dream because my Irish immigrant grandparents came to this country as teenagers,” the Democrat said as she walked the Manhattan parade route. “I’m humbled by that story. That is the story of so many New Yorkers.”
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Bynum reported from Savannah.