Plenty of colour and spectacle at Offaly parades
The sun may not have been shining, but plenty of dry weather saw the crowds turn out in force to bask in the colour and spectacle of the annual St Patrick's Day parades in towns and villages right across Offaly on Monday of this week.
Tullamore's parade got underway at 11.30am and chair of the organising committee and local councillor Sean O'Brien hailed it as “one of the most successful ever” with a record number of entries from community organisations and local clubs, and all parades routes lined with thousands of spectators.
The decision of the committee to select a quartet of high achieving young Offaly sports personalities as grand marshals, including Olympian Jordan Conroy and U20 hurling captain Dan Bourke and his teammates Cillian Martin and Dan Ravenhill proved to “a real winner” according to Sean O'Brien. “There was huge excitement among the crowds, and everyone was genuinely delighted to see the next generation of Offaly talent getting their turn at leading the parade.”
With entries up substantially on previous years, Cllr O'Brien said a large number of the floats had “really embraced” the theme of this year's parade which was a celebration of culture and heritage. “We had very colourful entries from members of the Indian and Ukrainian communities,” he said, “and I think there was a real community feel to the parade.”
The float from the Tullamore Youth and Community Centre won the Best Overall Entry award while the Best New Entry award went to the Ukrainian Group.
In nearby Clara, the inimitable Bertie McMahon was once again at the helm of the organising committee, with over 60 floats taking part in this year's parade. The parade grand marshals were long-time actors John Lowe and Nollaig Fitzpatrick, while the principals of the four local schools, Scoil Phroinsias Naofa's Madge Burke; Scoil Bride's Sandra Grennan; Ard Scoil Chiarain Naofa's Roger Geoghegan and Horseleap National School's Aine Groarke were on hand to cut the ribbon for the start of the parade before receiving trophies of recognition on the Reviewing Stand.
There was plenty of music, song and dance in Clara in honour of St. Patrick, with the entertainers including the James Kinsella Ceili Band; Rahan CCE Dancers; Conroy Dancers; local Parish Priest, Fr Joe Deegan; The Concannon Youth Dancers; Paddy Bracken, Damien Scall and Clara's answer to Big Tom, PJ Quaide.
Parades also took place in Edenderry, Banagher, Rhode, Mountbolus and Kilcormac, with record attendances reported at all events. Kilcormac has traditionally been the last parade to take place in Offaly, with a kick-off time of 3.30pm, and once again the many floats were imaginative and colourful with plenty of nods to current events taking place on the worldwide political stage, including a special guest appearance by none other than current US President, Donald J. Trump!