Saturday, 11 March 2023
This weekend marks the start of the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations around the globe. Many of the parades and festivities begin as early as Saturday 11th March with the Chicago River being dyed green as is tradition. A celebrated day for the Irish Diaspora, below we take a look at some of the shenanigans the Donegal Diaspora are getting up to for 2023.
New York (17th March), USA
The Donegal Association of New York Present Tracy McNulty (Stranorlar), and visiting Donegal County Council representatives will attend the NYC Mayor, Eric Adams’, St. Patrick’s Day breakfast at the Mayors residence Gracie Mansion. After which they will all join the Association members and larger Irish community at St. Patrick’s Cathedral mass where Cardinal Timothy Dolan will celebrate the day and bless the parade goers.
The Donegal parade procession will set off at 2:30pm to proudly march up 5th Avenue, led by The Friendly Sons of Shillealagh New Jersey Pipe & Drums band. The parade will be followed by an after-party at Gortahork man Kieran Greene’s Irish Bar ‘Gossip’ for food and festivities. Also present at this year’s parade will be the 2022 Mary From Dungloe Caitlin Finn (Ballybofey) and the ‘Little Miss Mary’ Lena O’Donnell (Dungloe).
Philadelphia, USA
The Donegal Association of Philadelphia celebrates St. Patrick’s Day all month during March! The biggest event in the calendar is of course the St. Patrick’s Day Parade which is being held on Sunday, 12th March 2023. The parade begins with Mass at St. Patrick’s Church in Philadelphia, where we will be joined by some of the New York Donegal Association and together we will welcome Cathaoirleach. Cllr. Liam Blaney and Bryan Cannon, Director of Roads and Transportation to our Philadelphia parade. Afterwards we will all gather at the Commodore Barry Arts and Cultural Center for further festivities.
The Donegal Association will also be participating in parades in some smaller towns in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Many of the association members will be taking full advantage of the many concerts and cultural events that are occurring throughout the month.
Melbourne, Australia
In Melbourne, the highlight of the St. Patrick’s Day festivities are hosted in St. Kilda with their 4th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival on Saturday, 18th March, which is headlined this year by Hermitage Green. The craic kicks off from 10am with a free family themed event which includes a dog show! At 2pm, a new for 2023, Parade will take place from Shakespeare Grove car park and parade along Acland Street Village, finishing at Acland Plaza where further entertainment and live music will close out the family event.
For more information on the Melbourne festivities visit - Home | Melbourne St. Patrick's Festival 2023 (melbournestpatricksday.com.au)
Perth, Australia
The festivities kick-off early at the Irish Club of Western Australia in Perth with live music from 10am on 17th March. A free event with music from the likes of Daniel Noone, Thistledoo, Celtic Academy Irish Dancers, Irish Choir and Ciaran O’Sullivan Trio it is sure to be a day of high spirits and entertainment.
Dubai, UAE
We have no doubt the Donegal residents of Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be heading to Dubai Media City Amphitheatre for a massive Irish night of entertainment, hosted by McGettigan’s, which will see The Script, The Coronas, Mundy, Lea Hart and Block Rockin’ Beats take to the stage on Saturday 18th March.
Over the past number of years the Middle East has become a hotspot for the Irish Diaspora, namely Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha and Muscat. St. Patrick’s Day is a hugely important day for the Irish living far from home in these places to celebrate where they are from and to come together as us Irish do best.
For events closer to home in Donegal please check out - https://www.govisitdonegal.com/festivals-and-events/st-patrick-s-day
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