The History of St. Patrick’s Day Parades

 ”May you live to be a hundred, with one extra year to repent!” goes a well-known Irish saying.  And may you be able-bodied enough to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day every year of your life.  One of the ways Americans enjoy it in cities across the nation is with annual parades.  On March 17th it seems everyone has a wee bit o’the green in him, for they turn out in droves, line the streets early, bring their grills and their picnic baskets, and settle in for a day of pure enjoyment.

Lonely Irish immigrants in Boston in 1737 held the first recorded St. Patrick’s Day celebration in America.  It is likely that they continued to celebrate together every year, just as they had in their home country, but the next one recorded in history was in 1762.  Irish soldiers stationed there with the English military held a parade in the New York City streets, much to the delight of a growing Irish immigrant community.  It was such a success that in 1766 New York declared it an annual event, and so it has been ever since. 

The protestant, largely middle-class immigrants formed several ‘Irish Aid’ societies in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, like the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, to assist each other and new immigrants that were pouring in.  They were hard-working, upright people who helped their own and anybody else who needed it.  And their celebrations – St. Patrick’s Day being the main one – were boisterous, happy, fun, and open to anybody who wanted to join in.  As a result, they were well received by all.  Local groups turned out with bagpipes and drums, the churches opened up with bazaars and games, and residents vied with each other to produce the best ethnic dishes and desserts. 

In 1845 the Great Potato Famine in Ireland drove scores starving immigrants to American shores, and public opinion changed somewhat.  These immigrants – almost a million of them – tended to be poor, uneducated, and Catholic.  They had difficulty finding even menial work and were often met with contempt by Americans.  Protestant middle class Irish scorned them as well.  For years many of them had a rough go in their new country.  But the Irish are durable, and find ways to weather storms.  Eventually they began to recognize their power as a voting block, and to organize what was called the ‘green machine’.  Their power was in their sheer numbers, and political candidates began to woo them determinedly for the swing vote they represented.  By this time many cities were hosting parades on March 17, the largest being in New York City.  Irishmen must have danced with glee in 1948 when then-President Harry Truman attended the New York City parade, giving his seal of approval to the practice and creating public acceptance across the nation.