Three Offaly hurling legends to be Grand Marshals of Banagher parade
Former All-Ireland winning Offaly hurling captains Padraig Horan and Martin Hanamy, and the county's first ever GAA hurling All-Star, Damien Martin, will be the Grand Marshals of this year's St Patrick's Day parade in Banagher.
Organisers said they were honoured to have the three proud St Rynagh's hurling legends lead the parade on Sunday, March 17.
Padraig Horan captained Offaly to their first All-Ireland hurling title in 1981 and was inducted into the GAA Hall of Fame in 2017.
Damien Martin also played a huge part in the 1981 All-Ireland hurling title success, but back in 1971, while Offaly hurling was in the doldrums, Damien’s skill as a goalkeeper was recognised when he took the number one spot on the inaugural All Star team.
Three-time All-Star winner Martin Hanamy became the second St Rynagh’s winning captain to raise the Liam MacCarthy Cup for Offaly in 1994.
With four minutes to go in that encounter Offaly trailed by five points against Limerick. A scoring spree in the remaining time resulted with the Faithful county winning the game by six points and Martin finally collecting his first All-Ireland medal.
Hubert Rigney became the third St Rynagh’s hurler to captain his county to All-Ireland success in 1998. His famous winning speech "we came in the back door and are going out the front door" is fondly remembered by all Offaly GAA supporters. Unfortunately due to other commitments, Hubert is not in the position to attend the parade.
The St Patrick's Day festivities will begin with a river parade departing Shannon Harbour, which will arrive at Banagher Marina for approx 1pm. The main town parade will begin at 3pm, with the assembly point at upper Main Street in Banagher.
The organising committee are appealing for volunteers to get involved in this year's preparations and for local businesses to deck their shop fronts in Irish colours in the week leading up to March 17. All local businesses are asked to make a special effort and enter a float in this year’s parade.
If anyone would like to get involved, please contact Louise Mannion, Tony Cormican Fiona Berry, Jonathan O'Meara or any committee member.