Communities celebrate St Patrick’s Day locally

AFTER three years, many of the local St Patrick’s Day Parades will take place on Thursday– here’s the rundown of everything you need to know ahead of tomorrow’s celebrations.

The three parades that will be taking place this year are Clondalkin, Lucan and the Four Districts parade, which is comprised of groups from the communities of Rathcoole, Saggart, Brittas and Newcastle. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the Tallaght parade will not be taking place this year.

In Clondalkin, the festival is set to kick off at 2pm with live music at the stage area at Tuthills car park followed by the parade at 2:30pm down Old Nangor Road and looping around the area. It was recently announced that community activist Tommy Keogh has been chosen as the Grand Marshal for this year’s Clondalkin St Patrick’s Day parade. Tommy is well known for his tireless work in the community and Mr Keogh is a former South Dublin County volunteer of the year in 2018.

According to local councillor Francis Timmons, there has been great interest from local individuals and community groups, with numerous dance groups, sports groups and music groups taking part in this year’s parade.

Also going ahead this year is the Lucan parade, which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary and is sure to put on a fantastic display.

Speaking about this year’s celebrations, organiser Caroline Brady told The Echo: “We are pleased to let you know that preparations for the Lucan St Patrick’s Day parade are well on track for this Thursday.

“This is the first opportunity for the community in Lucan to come together after an extraordinarily challenging two years. The parade committee are all looking forward to helping the community get back to a sense of normality and to celebrate our national culture. We can’t wait to see everyone in person again.

“2020 would have seen 30 years of uninterrupted parades in Lucan. The fact that we’ve had to wait two years for our 30th parade makes it all the more worthwhile, exciting and enjoyable. We also celebrate an extraordinary achievement for the parade founders, Peter Brady, Barbara Cummins and Mary Meehan, who organised the parade every year for 32 years.”

The Lucan parade will be led by St. Patrick (Peter Brady jnr) and followed by the flag bearers. The flag bearers, who symbolise the community coming together, comprise a leader from each of the three Lucan scouting organisations, the 142nd Esker Lucan South Scouts, the 180th Lucan South Scouts and the23rd Dublin Lucan Scouts.

The parade assembles at Greenpark in Hillcrest, opposite Tesco at 2pm and commences at 3pm sharp.

The parade makes its way down Dodsboro Road, under the N4 bridge past McDonalds, past the Ball Alley, and turns left over the Griffeen Bridge at Courtneys, passing the Munitir na Tire Hall where the viewing stand is located.

Over in the areas of Rathcoole, Saggart, Brittas and Newcastle, the four districts parade will be commencing at Rathlawns at 2:00pm, heading towards St Mary’s GFC in Saggart.

Louis Fitzgerald will be leading the parade as Grand Marshal. The well-known publican and owner of The Louis Fitzgerald Group, which owns over 19 pubs including the Old Mill in Tallaght, the Laurels in Clondalkin and the Poitin Stil in Rathcoole, restaurants and hotels across Dublin.