Offaly gears up for St Patrick’s Day parades

The Faithful County is gearing up for a special celebration of the national holiday, with a plethora of events lined up over the St Patrick's weekend.

The traditional parade remains the centrepiece of the festivities, with a series of Offaly towns preparing to showcase their community organisations and clubs on the main streets.

The capital town, Tullamore, has a spectacular showcase planned with four Offaly sports personalities acting as joint grand marshals.

The parade starts at 11.30am from the assembly point in the Bridge Centre car park.

Big attendances are also expected in Clara and Kilcormac, both strongholds of the annual parade.

There are also St Patrick's Day parades organised for Banagher, Mountbolus and Rhode amongst others.

The Clara parade, at 12.30pm will be preceded by a concert on The Square at 11.30am and the principals of four local schools will cut the ribbon to kickstart the parade proper.

The Kilcormac St Patrick’s Day Parade takes place on March 17 from 3.30pm from the GAA field. In Rhode, the parade will start at 10am from the Rhode power station entrance and Eugene Mulligan will be Grand Marshal.

In Banagher, the parade has a starting time of 3pm on Monday, March 17 while it gets underway at 11am at Newtowns on the Hill in Mountbolus.