03/09/2026
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿: “𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁. 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸’𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆?”
For Irish people, St. Patrick’s Day is not about green beer, leprechauns, or four‑leaf clovers. It is the Feast Day of Ireland’s patron saint — Patrick. St. Patrick (or Paddy — never Patty), once an enslaved Roman citizen of Britain, brought Christianity to the pagans of Ireland and forever changed the country and its people. That is why the Irish of New York City begin the day, as our ancestors did, with Mass.
Each year, between 2,000 and 3,000 New Yorkers are lucky enough to attend Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The Mass is offered in memory of the “Fighting 69th,” the famous Irish‑American regiment who have led the Parade since 1851, when they were asked to protect the Parade from anti‑Irish hostility. Because this special Mass requires tickets, most families go to their own parishes before heading into the city or watching the Parade from home. Some of the well‑known Irish parishes include:
• St. Sebastian’s, Woodside
• St. Barnabas, Bronx
• St. Margaret’s, Middle Village
• St. Francis de Sales, Belle Harbor
• St. Mel’s, Flushing
• St. Patrick’s, Bay Ridge St. Patrick's Day Parade
After Mass comes breakfast. While some might just have soda bread and a cup of Barry’s or Lyons Irish tea, others go all out with a full Irish breakfast — rashers, black and white pudding, and Irish sausages — from the places Irish New Yorkers trust like The Butcher Block in Sunnyside, Butcher’s Fancy on McLean, even Key Food in Floral Park, which stocks Irish products. Or they head to The Woodside Café, Swing the Teapot, or Eileen’s Country Kitchen, and places in Manhattan where you can get an Irish breakfast all year long.
Before leaving the house, they set their DVRs for NBC Parade coverage and put the boiling bacon in the crockpot, with potatoes and cabbage — and if they can’t find boiling bacon, they will settle for the less authentic but more popular corned beef.
Knowing Your Place in the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Before schlepping (not an Irish word) into the city, they check the Line of March to find out where their band, county association or organization will assemble and what time they will step off. If they attended college in the Tri‑State Area, they check to see where their fellow alumni (Manhattan, Fordham, Iona, St. John’s, etc.) are meeting before marching together.
Spectators tend to meet in the same place on Fifth Avenue year after year — usually somewhere between the Cathedral and the reviewing stand on 63rd St. Because it has been the same spot for generations, these annual reunions don’t require phone calls; everyone simply knows where to meet.
The Parade Has a Strict Business Dress Code
The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the oldest and longest Parade in the world, and participants are judged the entire way up Fifth Avenue. How a group looks and sounds affects their placement for the next year. Marchers are tastefully dressed. No jeans, no sneakers, no plastic hats, no blinking lights, no orange beards — and no politics. Instead, they wear scarves, ties, Donegal tweed caps, and real shamrocks sent over from Ireland.
Although the historic color of Ireland is actually St. Patrick’s Blue, the entire city seems to be wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day. Military personnel, uniformed firefighters, and police — including the Garda Síochána — pass in review at the grandstand as the Grand Marshal, Aides, other military personnel, and VIPs applaud and return salutes. The NYPD and FDNY always get massive applause — especially when firefighters pass carrying 343 U.S. flags to represent their fellow firefighters who died as heroes on 9/11 or in the years that followed.
A Historic Year on Fifth Avenue
Photo by
This year carries special weight as America marks both its 250th birthday and the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. At 1:00 p.m., the entire Parade — every marcher, every band, every county, every organization — will stop for a moment of silence in honor of the friends, family members, and first responders — many with Irish ancestry — who were lost that day.
After the Parade: Community, Culture, and Craic
When the Parade ends, near the American Irish Historical Society on 79th St., marchers scatter across the city to hundreds of parties, pubs, concerts, and gatherings. The NYPD and FDNY have their events, the counties have theirs, and alumni groups head to their receptions. Throughout the five boroughs Irish institutions mark the day with authentic cultural events for the biggest day of the year.
Places like the New York Irish Center, the Irish Repertory Theatre, Carnegie Hall, and other venues host some of the best Irish performers from both sides of the Atlantic.
And then there are the pubs — the ones that are Irish every day of the year, not just on March 17th. The Dead Rabbit, Connolly’s, Tara Mor, Paddy Reilly’s, Rory Dolan’s, An Beal Bocht, The Long Hall, The Wolfhound — places where you’ll find traditional Irish music, food, and craic. No green beer or cheesy stunts —just the joy of celebrating with people who are proud to be Irish, or who simply appreciate what Irish people have given this city and this country.
Rewatching the Parade
When people finally head back to Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, or wherever they call home, the day isn’t over. They might go to their local pub or rewatch the Parade on the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade page, YouTube or the DVR. They’re thrilled to hear the familiar voices of Tommy Smyth and Treasa Goodwin‑Smyth announcing the marching contingents and well‑known members of the Irish community on WNBC (NBC 4 New York), knowing that family and friends in Ireland, the UK, Australia, and everywhere else caught a glimpse of them marching up Fifth Avenue.
By the end of the night everyone is exhausted — but proud. They’ve honored St. Patrick. They’ve honored their ancestors. They’ve honored the city that gave the Irish a place to succeed. And they’ve done it the way their parents and grandparents taught them — with faith, family, friends — and a tremendous pride that’s unrivaled by any other group in the world. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone!
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