Parade | Irish in France | Saint Patrick's Day Parade Paris

Parade

The Paris Parade

Photos ©Oisin Gormally Photography, our official and volunteer parade photographer.

St. Patrick's Day Parade 2019

About

The first Paris St. Patrick’s Day Parade took place in 2018 . A dedicated group of five hundred braved the snow to walk around the Pantheon. In 2019, a crowd of over two thousand people walked and the parade was addressed by Junior Minister John Halligan and led by H.E. Ambassador Patricia O’Brien, Ambassador of Ireland to France, H.E. Dermot Nolan, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the OECD, Mme Florence Berthout, Mayor of the 5th arrondissement, Mr Pierre Casanova 1er Adjoint to the Mayor of the 5th arrondissement, Nora Hickey M’Sichili, Director of the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Mr Paul Lynch, President of the Irish in France association and the Grand Marshal, Fr. Aidan Troy.

The parade receives strong support from the Mayor of the 5th arrondisement’s office, the Embassy of Ireland, the Centre Culturel Irlandais and the Department of Foreign Affairs. In 2020, due to Covid-19 the parade was cancelled. Nine more community groups were due to participate in 2020, bringing the total to twenty.

The Grand Marshal

Each year, we honour someone that has played an important role in the Irish Community. In 2019, the Grand Marshal was Fr. Aidan Troy, former board member of Irish in France and a valued member of the Irish Community in Paris. In 2020, our Grand Marshal was due to be Ruth Algar, one of the finest track and filed athletes in Ireland in the 1970s. Ruth has represented both Ireland and France Internationally.

Participating Groups - 2020

American Childrens Theatre
An Ghaeltacht sur Seine
Blackrock & Vincennes Twin Towns
Connolly Cleary
Dublin City University
Irish Mams in Paris
Irish in France

Irish in France – Young Irish in France
Irish in France – Movers & Shakers (under 7s)
Lycée Maurice Ravel
National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Alumni
NetworkIrlande
Paris Gaels
Sofeir

Trinity College Dublin, Alumni
Thunderbird School,
Tourism Ireland
University College Cork, Alumni
University College Dublin, Alumni
University of Limerick, Alumni

Music for the 2020 parade was to be provided by The Paris & District Pipe Band , The Poil O’Brass Band and the Wandering Lads.

Kids Workshops

In preparation for the parade, the association ran two workshops for our younger members. During the sessions, young Irish in France members learned some Irish words and made cool “jellyfish” costumes from recycled materials. The workshop was led by one of our Advantage Partners, Rebecca Devaney.

SociAl Media

For those members who can’t attend the parade in Paris, there is a strong effort to engage with the community online both in France and abroad on our Facebook Group, on Twitter and on Instagram.

For example, every year our little Paris Leprechauns take trips around France and the world before coming back to Paris just in time for the parade. Our leprechauns were designed by Cork artist Ciara Chapman, who has given her time and wonderful illustrations for free.