Galway city and county out in force for St Patrick’s Day parades

The sunshine and summer-like atmosphere resulted in record crowds turning out across County Galway for the St. Patrick’s Day parades.

Green top-hats, plenty of shamrock on the lapels and quite short sleeves were the order of the day on Tuesday as tens of thousands attended the parades.

Galway city as usual drew the biggest crowds with a spectacle that lasted for an hour and a half – and the streets were thronged with visitors who ensured a tourism bonanza at the start of the season.

Out the county, the bigger parades were held in Tuam, Ballinasloe, Loughrea and Clifden.

But even at some of the smaller parades like Ahascragh near Ballinasloe there was a major turnout. This parade is only in its second year.

The weather resulted in the Ballinasloe parade being attended by around 3,200 people, according to the organizers – the best attended parade in years.

Some of those who attended the parade in Loughrea expressed concern over the lack of floats and believed that it was something that should be addressed in the future.

In Clifden, the local bridge club had a theme about the upcoming Rugby World Cup, according to Cllr. Eileen Mannion. She said that it was a great success and even involved a local nursing home getting involved.

“There were a few zimmer frames involved,” Cllr. Mannion said. “It was great. There were a lot of schools who got involved which was excellent”.

It is unusual to have a parade in Portumna as they are normally involved in the club hurling final but on this occasion they held the event on time.

But on this occasion they were not involved in the finals and the parade had a record crowd. It was led by the oldest person in the parish Peg Kennedy who is 92 years of age.

See full coverage of the St Patrick’s Day parades across seven pages in this week’s Connacht Tribune.