St-Patrick’s parade a success
after pandemic interlude

Some eighty floats and twenty bands entertain thousands along Ste-Catherine Street

By Byron Toben

March 27, 2023

Montreal, with the longest continuous St-Patrick’s Day parade in the world – 195 years since 1824 – was at it again after a two-year COVID-19 interlude.

The Grand Marshall Tim Furlong, the Chief Reviewing Officer Sterling Downey, both of whom had been in waiting since 2021, and the new Queen, Samara O’Gorman, and her court of Princesses – Olivia Dawe, Caeleigh McDonald, Julia Meikle Rochford and Shaeleagh Rose Spracklin – were accompanied by about 80 floats and some 20 bands on Sunday, March 19 from Fort Street to the Peel Street reviewing stand. Thousands of pedestrians stood in the cold to witness it all, many seeking refreshment in nearby Irish pubs like Hurley’s, McKibben’s, The Old Dublin, and MacLean’s.

Mr. Downey, a Montreal city councillor from Verdun, had grown a foot-long beard which he was cutting down one inch at a time to raise money for charity. After the parade, he officiated in Mr. Furlong’s wedding.

Congrats to the United Irish Societies of Montreal, which organized this return to what we normally witness in mid-March.

The largest in Canada, it compares well to the eight largest in the USA, which are, in order, New York, Chicago, Savannah, Philadelphia, San Antonio, New Orleans, Boston and Atlanta.

Congrats to the United Irish Societies of Montreal, which organized this return to what we normally witness in mid-March.

Images: courtesy of the United Irish Societies of Montreal

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Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.