Pittsburgh St. Patrick's Day parade celebrates Irish heritage
Adorned in their signature green, the people who walk in Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade will be following in the footsteps of those who marched before them.
“We are making history,” said Ray Werner, the parade’s grand marshal, during Sunday’s Communion breakfast at Salvatore’s in Baldwin. “This is living history.”
Green glory, indeed.
Werner of Oakland will lead the way wearing a sash with his name and those of the previous grand marshals’ names inscribed on it.
The city hosts one of the biggest parades in the country. Several events culminate on parade day, from the Communion Breakfast to the Button Party and the ceremony for Miss Smiling Irish Eyes and her court maidens.
The parade route is 1.4 miles and attracts from 200,000-350,000 spectators, according to VisitPittsburgh. Pittsburgh Public Safety announced details on Wednesday.
Parade chairman Jeff “Mac” McCafferty, of Swisshelm Park, said 20,000 participants and 200 groups are expected.
The number of Irish people in Allegheny County is second only to German residents, according to data from the county, said Sierra Green, an archivist at the Senator John Heinz History Center in the Strip District. She facilitates genealogy workshops and has seen a consistent interest in Irish heritage.
After the parade
Downtown Pittsburgh will be illuminated in green hues on parade night and St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.
The day begins at St. Patrick’s church in the Strip District, one of the Shrines of Pittsburgh, and the first Catholic Church established in the city, founded in 1808.
Bishop David Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will celebrate Mass at 8 a.m. and will bless the parade.
“We strive to do what St. Patrick did,” Zubik said after the Communion breakfast. “This parade celebrates Irish culture past and present. It’s about reaching out to people in need like St. Patrick did.”
Parade history
Earliest records show the parade dates back to 1869. Over the years, the parade route has changed, according to Michael “Murph” Murphy, of Bloomfield, an archivist for Allegheny County court records. He is the father of this year’s Miss Smiling Irish Eyes, Marigrace Murphy, a senior at Oakland Catholic High School.
He found that the parades typically ended at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland and never took place on Sunday. There were no parades from 1904 until 1950. Michael Murphy said he doesn’t know for sure why not but surmises that World War I and World War II and the Great Depression probably had something to do with it.
Mayor David L. Lawrence, who served as mayor from 1946-1959, was Irish and supported the parade’s return.
There has been a parade every year since. There was a time it marched through several Pittsburgh neighborhoods, starting in the Hill District.
In 1903, a storm prompted the cancellation of the parade. During 1956, because of impending snow, then Pittsburgh Police Chief Maloney canceled the parade but relented and joined in marching down Fifth Avenue, Murphy said.
The worst snowstorm in Pittsburgh in 100 years — the Blizzard of ’93 — wasn’t going to stop the Irish.
Kevin Conboy, of Whitehall, was there and drove his Jeep Cherokee Downtown.
He’s attended every parade. His grandfather was a member of The Ancient Order of Hibernians, the oldest Irish Catholic Fraternal Organization in the U.S., according to its website.
“The snow was really coming down,” he said at a recent meeting of the parade committee in Greenfield. “I was asking people at the bar why they weren’t leaving. They had all booked hotel rooms. I made it home, but could not get in my driveway because of the snowdrifts. I wasn’t going to miss it.”
Michael McGeever, of Lincoln Place, was also there, dressed in a suit and good shoes. He got a ride part of the way home but had to walk some and ruined his suit and shoes.
“At the parade you often see people you don’t always see,” McGeever said. “It’s a time to rekindle friendships.”
This year’s St. Patrick is Michael Moog of Whitehall, who will walk the parade route dressed as the saint.
The parade has continually increased in size according to Peggy Cooney, of Westwood, who attended her first parade committee meeting in 1974. Her mother was its secretary.
Cooney is vice-president of The Irish Society for Education and Charity and chairperson of Miss Smiling Irish Eyes. Marigrace Murphy and her court, Aibreann Shovlin of Greentree and Emalee Eakin of Shaler, will ride in a carriage and followed by several former Miss Smiling Irish Eyes. One of the most well known was the late KDKA-TV anchor Patti Burns.
Marigrace Murphy remembers wearing her favorite green pajamas as a child to the parade.
“This is a time to celebrate the Irish and St. Patrick,” she said, wearing her sash and a green dress. “It brings religion and culture together.”
Keeping such a storied past going is the reason that during the pandemic year a parade was held, McCafferty said. A few dozen people walked the route.
“We had a parade,” he said. “I was persistent. I understood why it was canceled, but I wanted to keep the tradition alive.”
A small parade was also held in March of 2021 followed by mini-parade in September of 2021.
Last year, the parade was close to near normal.
McCafferty leads a committee of 50-60 people who work year round to secure sponsors and raise money through events such as the annual Button Party on March 3 at the Priory on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Each year, a new commemorative button is designed and sold and often collected.
The buttons were being worn at the Communion breakfast, where Tim Regan was named Hibernian of the Year.
The parade and all the festivities leading up to it are a big part of continuing to honor their legacies, McCafferty said.
“The parade is a celebration of Irish heritage,” said Trisha Marner Murphy, mother of Miss Smiling Irish Eyes. “It’s about St Patrick. There is a spiritual aspect to it. You can just feel the energy in Downtown from the people who are in the parade and the people who come to see the parade. It’s a rite of spring … when everything comes back to life…the coming of the green.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region’s diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of “A Daughter’s Promise.” She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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