St Patrick's Parades
The Dublin 2011 parade was one of the biggest and best yet and, naturally enough, celebrated Dublin City’s Unesco City of Literature Award. The theme itself was based on Dublin author Roddy Doyle’s short story ‘Brilliant’. Which was, in fact, brilliant! Each pageant entry was based on a different chapter from the story meaning that festival revelers were treated to a giant black dog float, a stupendously pink and huge flying pig and even a Phoenix rising from the flames. And if you don’t believe us you can check out our blogger David’s live blog from the first bus of the parade!
Times have certainly changed. Roll back the years with a peek at this black and white footage of the St Patrick’s Day parade back in 1950. Keep a keen eye on the marchers as that girl under the banner or that dashing onlooker might just be a relative of yours.
St Patrick’s Day craic wasn’t just confined to the big cities though – witness these County Leitrim locals literally dancing at the crossroads on the big day in 1953.
Have you ever wondered how we collect all the shamrock worn on our coat collars every March 17th? This footage from 1920 probably isn’t the method used nowadays but it’s certainly the cutest way to gather shamrock we can imagine.