Park Slope was painted emerald green as Irish Americans and the “Irish for a Day” celebrated Irish culture and tradition at the 51st Annual Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 15.
Brooklyn’s longest-running shamrock procession kicked off at 1 p.m. at Bartell Pritchard Square with the introduction of this year’s Grand Marshal, Pix 11 reporter Magee Hickey, and her aides Tara Hodgens, William B. Cullen Jr., Neil Patrick Callaghan, Mike Zwosta, Mark Barret, Maureen Shaffer Edison, John Patrick McGoldrick, Frank Sheridan, and Jim Donovan.
The ceremony included a dedication honoring the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Parade co-chair and historian Mary Hogan recalled that 25 years ago, the parade took place unaware that months later, a terror attack would kill thousands, including family, friends and neighbors.
“It’s up to us to remember these people, repeat their names. They’re not just names on a memorial. These are our friends. These were our New Yorkers. These were people who lived here with us,” Hogan said. “It’s up to us to remember September 11 and repeat these names so the next generations know who these people were and what happened that day.”
The pageantry of bagpipers, marching bands, Irish dancers, local politicians and community groups stepped off at 1:30 p.m. to the cheers of revelers — many decked out in shamrock green and proudly waving Irish flags — who lined the parade route along 15th Street, Seventh Avenue, Garfield Place and Prospect Park West.
Grand Marshal Hickey, a Brooklyn native, was joined by her husband, children, grandchildren and siblings. She told Brooklyn Paper that she thought of her parents when she learned she would lead this year’s parade.
“I’m 70 years old, and this means a lot to me to be here,” Hickey said. “How much I wish my parents were still alive to see this, because they would have been very proud.”
Donovan, who founded the Gerritsen Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade 16 years ago in memory of his parents, serves as drum major of the Knights of Columbus Pipes and Drums, Council #126 — the only Knights of Columbus Pipes and Drums in the world, he explained.
He told Brooklyn Paper he was honored to be an aide to the Grand Marshal and noted that marching in parades is steeped in family tradition.
“My whole family, we’ve all marched together for many, many years. Attending this parade is just an overwhelming joy, and Brooklyn parades are special to me. So being an aide is really special, because I’ve been giving out sashes for 20 years, and now I finally got one,” Donovan said, noting that the Manhattan St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Tuesday marks a historic day for the tri-state Knights of Columbus chapters, as all chapters will march together instead of separately.
“I was able to pull that together, working with the Supreme Council in New York State and New York councils,” he added.
Robert Murphy, aka “The Cardinal,” founded the Knights of Columbus Pipes and Drums, Council #126, in 1991 and handed over the baton to Donovan this year. He told Brooklyn Paper that celebrating Irish heritage is “in his blood.”
“My grandparents, their parents, came to the United States; that blood is in me. [We] carry on the tradition,” Murphy, who served as an aide in 2023, said.
At the parade’s pre-breakfast at Nitehawk Cinema on Prospect Park West, local lawmakers, including Assembly members Robert Carroll and Jo Ann Simon, State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Deputy Borough President Kim Council, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, and Council Member Shahana Hanif, joined members of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Irish LGBTQ Organization to celebrate the historical significance of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and the immigrant experience, not only for the Irish but for all immigrants.
Carroll, whose grandfather, John Carroll, was one of the founding members of the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Parade, said that “everyone was Irish” on St. Patrick’s Day because of their shared immigrant experience.
“When that parade started, it was about the Irish diaspora coming to America, and showing their pride,” Carroll said. “What I think is so important is that we’ve now seen hundreds of years of immigration and different groups show that exact same pride.”
Hanif, the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrant parents, highlighted similarities between Brooklyn’s Irish and Bangladeshi communities.
“Both of the countries were under [British] colonial rule, and Bangladesh fought for language preservation. It ultimately led to the country’s independence in 1971. It’s so incredibly empowering to know that we’re fighters; we believe in upholding the truth and justice,” Hanif said.
Matthews McMorrow, co-founder of the Brooklyn Irish LGBTQ Organization (BILO), which has marched in the parade since 2019, told Brooklyn Paper that supporting the LGBTQ community was more important given attacks from the federal government and the far right.
“LGBTQ people belong to every community, including the Irish American community,” McMorrow said. “We have to continue to show up, continue to be visible, continue to demonstrate that we are here and that we are part of the fabric of society.”
Dylan Yates joined the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Brooklyn, founded in 1861, three years ago. He told Brooklyn Paper that his Irish ancestors settled in Brooklyn 150 years ago.
“Seeing how Irish Americans were able to overcome adversity and become leaders in a country that initially reviled them, and then use that influence to free Ireland, which was a British colony when my ancestors came, and now is a free country, is pretty amazing,” Yates said. “A lot of the members of the Friendly Sons, we really, especially in this political moment, appreciate the fact that our ancestors were immigrants. We have to work to make it easier for the next generation, not forget that, and not take that for granted.”
