Brooklyn’s Own St. Patrick’s Day Parades Step Off

March 8, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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BROOKLYN — The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan on March 17 may be the king of all St. Patrick’s Day parades in the U.S., but Brooklyn has two that, while smaller, feature lots of marching, bagpipes, dancing and Brooklyn attitude.

The first is officially known as the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade, but it’s unofficially called the Park Slope St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Everyone familiar with Pete Hamill’s work knows how Brooklyn was an Irish-American stronghold back in the 1940s and ’50s, and much of the community still remains.

That parade will take place on Sunday, March 18. There will be a pre-parade Mass at Holy Name Church at 245 Prospect Park West. Marchers will begin to assemble at Prospect Park West at noon, and the parade will begin to move from 15th Street and Prospect Park West at 1 p.m. The grand marshal is John Ridge, vice president of the New York Irish History Roundtable.

There will also be an after-parade reception at Shepherd’s Hall, 245 Prospect Park West, with live music, food, refreshments and soda bread.

The Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place a week later, on Sunday, March 25, at 1 p.m. Parade groups gather at noon, and the parade starts at 1 p.m. from the intersection of Fourth and Marine avenues. There will be a pre-parade Mass at St. Patrick’s Church on Fourth Avenue and 96th Street.

The grandstand will be at 75th Street and Fifth Avenue, and the parade will travel down Fifth and end outside Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church at 60th Street and Fifth Avenue. There will also be an after-party featuring the Canny Brothers at 5721 Fourth Ave.

The grand marshal will be Msgr. Kevin Noone of Our Lady of Angels Church.

— Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle