Dublin stayed mostly dry for the St Patrick’s Day parade – and not just because city retailers imposed a voluntary but well-observed prohibition on the sale of alcohol until 4pm.
Dark and heavy clouds hung over the city early on with the threat of rain ever-present but, by the time the parade started at midday, many clouds had silver linings, reflecting, maybe, the first pandemic restriction-free festive weekend since 2019.
The alcohol curtailment did not go unnoticed by some of the 400,000 or so people lining the parade route from Parnell Square to Christ Church.
“This is my first St Patrick’s Day in Ireland,” said Victor Roya from the Spanish city of Zaragoza.
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Besuited in a green shamrock-flecked number, he had arrived early to get the best view and to “have the most craic”.
“I was expecting more people to be drinking on the street even at this hour, that’s what you get in Spain,” he said.
“I don’t want to be drunk right now but I would like a drink.”
In the shadow of the GPO stood Zhana Krot, a New York City police officer who was in Ireland for 48 hours having flown over specifically for the parade.
“I work the parade in New York and wanted to compare the two,” she said. “I think the New York one is bigger but you’ve more enthusiasm.”
As she spoke, Alan Murphy and Carl Wilson from the Dublin Fire Brigade were nearby giving history lessons with two props as teaching aids.
Murphy is the Lord Mayor’s official sword-bearer and carried a weapon once wielded by King Henry IV, while Wilson was showing off a mace the city has owned for more than 400 years.
“It has been has been blooded,” confirmed Murphy of the sword.
“It was used for beheadings,” he added, to oohs from the crowd. “You can see nicks on the blade suggesting it was used for more than one beheading.”
[ Stories, song and shades of green at St Patrick’s Day parades around the countryOpens in new window ]
As a soft rain fell Shannon Nicholson from Downpatrick stood under an umbrella. “I think I see a rainbow,” she said to her mother huddled under the umbrella with her. “I love St Patrick’s Day. There’s something really special about being in Dublin for it.”
Her mother, Dana, nodded her agreement and sighed when asked if she was in the city to see all kinds of everything. “My name sort of gives my age away, doesn’t it?” she said. “My parents couldn’t think of a name for me and then Dana won the Eurovision so that was that.”
With a name like Patrick Duffy and a March 17th birthday, the international guest of honour – and one-time protagonist in all manner of Dallas oilfield shenanigans – looked like he had filled his Irish-American bingo card almost at birth.
But he came to his Irishness late. “The Montana town I was born in had a population of 600 and, growing up, I didn’t appreciate what my heritage was. I just knew I got a birthday cake in the shape of a shamrock or a hat or something,” he told The Irish Times at a press event before he climbed into the vintage car that drove him through the city.
It wasn’t until he “got out of the small town” that be “began to appreciate my family’s history”.
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The one-time Man From Atlantis and good-hearted oil baron Bobby Ewing said that while he was recognised on his trips to Ireland, people leave him be. “I’m very big with grandmothers and mothers. I think part of that is because the part I played was a good person. You know, they appreciated that character. He was a moral compass.”
The Republic of Ireland women’s football team were grand marshals; they were represented at the parade by manager Vera Pauw, squad member Diane Caldwell and pioneering former Irish international Paula Gorham.
“I’m so humbled, especially by the way that Ireland has supported me this difficult year,” Pauw said. “I feel embraced by such a love of the Irish people. That makes me emotional, it makes me proud.”
Festival director Richard Tierney had promised the best parade yet and it didn’t disappoint.
“Mar a chéile sinn – we are one” was the theme and it highlighted the unifying power of global culture and saw more than 4,000 people take part, with displays from Macnas, Junk Kouture, Dublin Pride, Spraoi and the Inishowen Carnival as well as traditional marching bands from across the US and Canada and Ireland.