Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 16, 2008

Yesterday I had the joy and privilege to march in the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club Parade for the second year in a row. The weather and crowd were both great and everyone had a great time. Not being my rookie year, I was able to enjoy more of the surroundings without being hassled to take shots of Jamison every other block. Speaking of new members, the group has grown by over 200 members in the past year for a total of over 1,300. More college age New Orleanians are joining which brings a different element of enthusiasm at the parade.

An interesting fact about St. Patrick’s Day 2008 is that technically it was yesterday and will not be Monday the 17th of March. The Catholic Church of Ireland and Rome officially moved the holiday to Saturday due to its place on the Christian calender falling on the Monday of Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday. The last time the holiday was moved was 1940 because it fell on Palm Sunday.

Erin Go Bragh!

I almost forgot to mention the newest group to be included in the parade. For the first time in history women marched on Saturday in a new group that call themselves the Daughters of Lir. The name comes from the Irish tale ‘Children of Lir’ in which children were turned into Swans to avoid being killed. From what I saw the girls held their own and were a great addition to the parade.