The Irish in France association organises an annual Saint Patrick’s Day event in Paris. The parade or event usually takes place on the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day. The first Paris St. Patrick’s Day Parade took place in 2018 when a dedicated group of 500 people braved the snow to parade around the Pantheon.

In 2019, a crowd of over 2000 people walked and the parade was addressed by Junior Minister John Halligan and led by H.E. Ambassador Patricia O’Brien, then 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 received 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.  But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and in 2021 we celebrated together online, until finally, in March 2022, we were able to be together again in person.

For 2023, we’re back again, on March 12th, for music, dancing, burgers and more…there might even be a touch of rugby on the day! Our Members receive a regular newsletter with the latest information on our upcoming events, sign up to discover what 2023 has in store!