St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Preservation of Irish Pride
The March 17 celebration in the city has changed a lot since its start 261 years ago but still serves the same purpose: celebrating and honoring the homeland as well as the Patron Saint St. Patrick
That first gathering in 1762 allowed for the Irish immigrants in New York as well as the Irish military members serving with the British forces to honor their homeland and their heritage. Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business describes that first gathering as being organized by “homesick Irish expatriates and Irish military stationed in the American colonies of NYC as part of the British army” who “reveled in the freedom to speak Irish, wear the color green (which was banned in Ireland at the time), sing native songs and play the bagpipe”. Being able to honor their culture in the New World after years of political, religious, and economic turmoil at home ignited a sense of Irish pride throughout the Irish-immigrant communities in New York City as well as Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston. The annual St. Patrick’s Day celebrations that have since followed has allowed for the preservation of the Irish identity in the Americas.
Irish-American heritage and culture was being celebrated in the United States a good 14 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. New York City specifically has observed Irish pride annually on March 17 starting 261 years ago with the first St. Patrick’s Day gathering.
The United States wouldn’t celebrate its first Independence Day until 15 years later in 1777.
nymatinee