The New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade is an annual parade organized by the Irish Community of New York City to honor Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland while celebrating their Irish culture and heritage.
| NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Glucksman Ireland House NYU and NYU Pipes and Drums march in the 2019 NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Parade |
| Date(s) | 17th March |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | New York City, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 262 |
| Inaugurated | March 17, 1762 |
| Most recent | March 17, 2023 |
| Next event | March 16, 2024 |
| Participants | 150,000[1] |
| Attendance | 2,000,000 |
| Patron(s) | St. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland. |
| Organised by | St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Inc |
| Filing status | 501(c)(3) non-profit organization |
| People | Sean Lane (parade chair),[2] Ryan Hanlon (parade vice chair) and Hilary Beirne (C.A.O, foundation chair). |
| Sponsor | Saint Patrick's Day Foundation, NYC |
| Website | www |
The parade is composed of thousands of participants from the many Irish cultural organizations and affiliated institutions across New York City, who each march under the banners of their respective groups.
The parade is led each year by a Grand Marshal, and features representation from across the uniformed services in New York City, which each have a significant affinity to the Irish community in New York.
These include the 69th New York Infantry Regiment, New York Police Department, Fire Department of the City of New York, New York Correction Department, New York Sanitation Department and New York State Department of Corrections.
The parade also features participants from across the city's political establishment, with the city's Mayors and City Councilors regularly marching in the parade.
The parade has also regularly attracted participants from national politics across both the United States[3] and Ireland.[4]
The parade has a record of 262 years of consistent marching.[5] This was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, though significantly smaller marches took place in 2020 and 2021.[6] The full parade returned to its original format in 2022.
The most recent was on March 16, 2024.
Affiliated groups and other regular participants
editThe following list of affiliated groups and participants was taken from the 2022 Line of March,[7] which features the 145 groups marching in the 2022 parade.
| Participant | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 69th New York Infantry Regiment | Uniformed Service | |
| James Connolly, Irish American Labor Coalition | Affinity Group | |
| Glucksman Ireland House NYU | Affinity Group | |
| NYU Pipes and Drums | Marching Band | |
| NYPD Emerald Society | Uniformed Service Emerald Society | organized March 16, 1953 |
| NYCD Emerald Society | Uniformed Service Emerald Society | organized November 17, 1955 |
| FDNY Emerald Society | Uniformed Service Emerald Society | organized March 17, 1956 |
| Grand Council of United Emerald Societies | Umbrella group
Emerald Societies |
reorganized in 1975 |
| The Emerald Guild Society of Building Managers | Fraternal Society | |
| Ancient Order of Hibernians | Fraternal Society | Each AOH division in the city marches under its own banner. |
| Emerald Society NYS Corrections | Uniformed Service Emerald Society | |
| County Societies / Associations | n/a | Irish-Americans from each of the 32 counties of Ireland are represented by an association which marches under its own banner. |
| Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Inc. | Fraternal Society | |
| Glor na nGael Pipes and Drums | Marching Band | |
| NYS Courts Emerald Society | Public Service Emerald Society | |
| Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 21 | Labor Union | |
| Irish Business Organization of New York Inc | Business Network | |
| NYC Carpenters Pipe and Drum Band | Marching Band | |
| Council of Gaelic Societies | Cultural Group |
Grand marshals
editA Grand Marshal of the parade is appointed each year, with the honored individual often a prominent Irish-American or someone who has contributed significantly to Irish-American affairs.[citation needed]
| Grand Marshal | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Conway | 2023 | Finance executive |
| James Callahan | 2020-22 | General President of the International Union of Operating Engineers. |
| Brian O'Dwyer | 2019 | Former Commissioner of the United States National Commission. |
| Loretta Brennan Glucksman | 2018 | Chairman of The American Ireland Fund. |
| Michael J. Dowling | 2017 | CEO of Northwell Health. |
| Senator George J. Mitchell | 2016 | Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. |
| Cardinal Timothy Dolan | 2015 | Archbishop of New York. |
| Dorothy Cudahy | 1989 | Radio Presenter (First woman Grand Marshal)[8] |
Organization
editThe parade is coordinated via a non-profit organisation, The St Patrick’s Day Parade Inc., which is a registered charity in New York.[9] The charity is overseen by a board of directors which, as of 2023, included Sean Lane as chairperson, Ryan Hanlon as vice chairman, Thomas Smyth as president and Hilary Beirne as chief administrative officer.[9] Originally from Boyle, County Roscommon in Ireland, Beirne is also a science teacher at Eastchester High School, New York and chairman of the New York City's Saint Patrick's Day Foundation.[10][11][12] He has been recognised by a number of organizations for his contribution to the Irish-American community.[13][14][15]
LGBT participation controversy
editIn 1990, New York’s Irish Gay and Lesbian Organization (IGLO) submitted a request to participate in the following year's parade. The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), responsible for organizing the parade, rejected the request, asserting there was insufficient space.[16] Mayor David N. Dinkins successfully negotiated to allow for the inclusion of the IGLO, partly by agreeing to join the group in the parade himself. During the parade, members of the crowd frequently booed, shouted homophobic slurs, and threw beer cans at Dinkins and the group.[16] The organizers banned IGLO from joining the 1992 parade and Dinkins boycotted the parade in response, the first time a mayor had not attended the parade since 1923.
The New York City Human Rights Commission required the parade to include IGLO in the following year's parade, insisting the parade was public and secular, despite the protests of the AOH to the contrary.[16] In 1993, New York City issued a parade permit to a competing group, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, with a more liberal organization. The AOH, and several other prominent Irish organizations threatened to boycott the parade, and shortly before the parade, Federal District Court Judge Kevin Duffy ruled that the Human Right's Commission's ruling had been unconstitutional. As a result, IGLO did not participate in the 1993 parade.[16] A similar case, Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston was brought to the US Supreme Court, which decided in 1995 that privately-organized could exclude groups even if the parade was public.
IGLO and other groups continued to protest the parade and in 2000, an inclusive "St. Pat’s For All" parade was organized. New York politician Christine Quinn criticized the continued exclusion of LGBT groups from the Fifth Avenue parade and Irish President Mary McAleese's refusal to serve as Grand Marshall was "widely believed" to be related.[16] Mayor Bill de Blasio boycotted the Fifth Avenue parade in 2014 on the same grounds, joining "St. Pat’s For All" instead.[16] Guinness withdrew its sponsorship of the Fifth Avenue parade the same year, and NBC threatened to stop broadcasting the parade until a LGBT group was included. As a result, a group of gay NBC employees was granted permission to join the 2015 parade and Guinness resumed its sponsorship.[17][18] In 2016, the Irish gay rights group "Lavender & Green Alliance" was invited to participate in the Fifth Avenue parade.[19]
Further reading
edit- John Concannon and the Ancient Order of Hibernians Collection (The Monsignor Field Archives & Special Collection Center at Seton Hall University) - Contains a significant number of operational materials from parade leadership, primarily from the 1950s-1970s
References
edit- ^ "St. Patrick's Day Parade strolls up 5th Avenue". ABC7 New York. March 17, 2008.
- ^ "Sean Lane elected Chair of NYC St. Patrick's Day parade board". Irish Central. May 18, 2018.
- ^ O'Hanlon, Roy (February 16, 2011). "Hillary to march in NYC parade". Irish Echo.
- ^ Blaney, Ferghal (March 17, 2018). "Varadkar's pride at walk down Fifth Avenue in New York city with partner". Irish Mirror.
- ^ "In dazzling green, St. Patrick's Day Parade takes over Manhattan". nbcnewyork.com. NBC New York. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade plans to return in full-scale in March 2022". IrishCentral.com. November 23, 2021.
- ^ "Line of march 2022 – The NYC St. Patricks Day Parade". www.nycstpatricksparade.org.
- ^ "New York's first woman grand marshal of St Patrick's parade". The Irish Times.
- ^ a b "St. Patrick's Day Parade, Inc. Board of Directors". nycstpatricksparade.org. St Patrick’s Day Parade Inc. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
- ^ McGoldrick, Debbie (17 December 2021). "New York City St. Patrick's Day 2022 to be biggest parade yet!". Irish Central.
- ^ ""A day in the Life of" Hilary T. Beirne". Go Wild Magazine. 15 November 2021.
- ^ McCaughley, Ciara (9 June 2021). "Roscommon Man To Serve On Prestigious Irish American Committee". Roscommon Herald.
- ^ "Board Honors Hilary Beirne, Dennis Power at Irish History and Heritage Celebration". Westchester County Board of Legislators. 9 March 2021.
- ^ O'Dowd, Sean (8 September 2016). "New York Irish Community To Honour Boyle Man". RealBoyle.com.
- ^ "New York honour for Boyle native". Sligo Champion. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "Timeline of the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade's LGBT controversy". IrishCentral.com. 17 March 2018.
- ^ "Gays to march in NYC Parade: Cardinal Dolan 2015 Grand Marshal". IrishCentral.com. 3 September 2014.
- ^ "Gay rights issue resolved, New York mayor joins in St. Patrick's parade". Yahoo Entertainment. 17 March 2016.
- ^ "LGBT group invited to march in New York St Patrick's Day Parade". Irish Examiner. 30 September 2015.