True meaning of St. Patrick’s Day not overlooked by Pittsburgh’s Irish community
STARTED OUT. SO MUCH GREEN, GREEN BEER AND PLENTY OF DRINKING. BUT WHAT DO SAINT PATRICK’S DAY REVELERS REALLY KNOW ABOUT SAINT PATRICK? SAINT PATRICK CAME TO IRELAND IN THE MIDDLE FOUR HUNDREDS. HE WAS TAKEN TO IRELAND BY IRISH PIRATES FROM FROM BRITAIN. IRELAND HAD BEEN A POLYTHEISTIC RELIGION. YOU KNOW, THEY HAD MANY, MANY DIFFERENT GODS. AND SAINT PATRICK WENT OVER AND HE UNITED THE IRISH AND AND BROUGHT CHRISTIANITY TO THE LAND. DURING THE MID 1800S, IRELAND WAS STRUCK BY THE GREAT HUNGER, ALSO KNOWN AS THE GREAT FAMINE. MANY FLED THE COUNTRY, BUT TOOK WITH THEM THEIR SACRED BELIEF IN SAINT PATRICK AND CREATED THE ANNUAL CELEBRATION. SO SAINT PATRICK WAS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT TO US. AND OBVIOUSLY, AS OUR PATRON SAINT, WE BROUGHT THAT HERE. IRISH COME TO AMERICA. AS A RESULT, THE ORIGINAL SAINT PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION CENTERED AROUND CHURCH PRAYER, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY. MY GRANDFATHER CAME FROM IRELAND 100 YEARS AGO THIS YEAR, AND WHEN HE CAME, SAINT PATRICK’S DAY WAS THE FEAST DAY OF SAINT PATRICK, AND IT REALLY WAS A RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY WE SPENT OUR DAY WITH GOING TO CHURCH, HAVING SOME REFLECTION ABOUT THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK. AND THEN OF COURSE, THERE WAS THE PARADE AND PITTSBURGH SAINT PATRICK’S DAY PARADE IS RANKED AMONG THE TEN BEST IN THE UNITED STATES. RIGHT UP THERE WITH NEW YORK, BOSTON AND CHICAGO. BUT THE CELEBRATION HAS ALSO TURNED INTO A MASSIVE DRINK FEST, WITH GREEN BEING THE OFFICIAL COLOR TO SOME, SAINT PATRICK’S DAY HAS TURNED INTO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, SO I THINK MOST PEOPLE WHO HAVE TURNED IT INTO A PARTY PROBABLY HAVE SORT OF CHANGED WHAT THE TRUE SPIRIT OF SAINT PATRICK’S DAY IS ALL ABOUT. EVERYONE IN THE COMMUNITY IN PITTSBURGH AND BEYOND CAN COME TOGETHER AND CELEBRATE SOMETHING THAT MEANS SO MUCH IN TERMS OF LIKE BEING A COLLECTIVE TRADITION. SO IT BRINGS A SENSE OF UNITY TO ANY COMMUNITY. AND HERE ON GRANT STREET IS THE HEART OF THE PARADE ROUTE FOR TOMORROW, WHERE THEY EXPECT UP TO 400,000 SPECTATORS. REPORTIN
True meaning of St. Patrick’s Day not overlooked by Pittsburgh’s Irish community
Updated: 9:03 PM EDT Mar 14, 2025
One of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the United States revs up Saturday with a parade that is expected to draw up to 400,000 spectators.Festivities kicked off Friday with the crowning of Miss Smiling Irish Eyes at Oxford Center, where parade organizers and historians celebrated the patron saint.Many generations ago, heavy drinking and partying was not the staple for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, according to historian Sean O’Connell.”My grandfather came from Ireland a hundred years ago this year. When he came, St. Patrick’s Day was a feast day of St. Patrick, and it really was a religious holiday. We spent our day going to church, reflecting on the feast of St. Patrick, and then, of course, there was the parade,” O’Connell said. Pittsburgh’s parade and weekend celebration is ranked among the 10 best in the United States by three different sources, right up there with New York, Boston and Chicago.Local parade organizers are honored to hold that distinction.”They’re great Irish towns, I’ll admit that. They have a lot of Irish people, but so do we. It’s an honor to be mentioned with those, but we really do put on a heck of a parade and we’re really proud of it,” parade chairman Kevin Conboy said.
PITTSBURGH —One of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the United States revs up Saturday with a parade that is expected to draw up to 400,000 spectators.
Festivities kicked off Friday with the crowning of Miss Smiling Irish Eyes at Oxford Center, where parade organizers and historians celebrated the patron saint.
Many generations ago, heavy drinking and partying was not the staple for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, according to historian Sean O’Connell.
“My grandfather came from Ireland a hundred years ago this year. When he came, St. Patrick’s Day was a feast day of St. Patrick, and it really was a religious holiday. We spent our day going to church, reflecting on the feast of St. Patrick, and then, of course, there was the parade,” O’Connell said.
Pittsburgh’s parade and weekend celebration is ranked among the 10 best in the United States by three different sources, right up there with New York, Boston and Chicago.
Local parade organizers are honored to hold that distinction.
“They’re great Irish towns, I’ll admit that. They have a lot of Irish people, but so do we. It’s an honor to be mentioned with those, but we really do put on a heck of a parade and we’re really proud of it,” parade chairman Kevin Conboy said.
