St. Patricks Day

St. Patricks Day has been the most community focused evect with over 40 years running. Floats from as far away as Philadelphia have arrived to join the popularity of the 17th March, in Kiltimagh; County Mayo. (3pm)

In 2017 Kiltimagh sees the return of the Philadelphia Band, the parade market stalls, children’s entertainment and the local business floats. See what themes they come up with this year!

If you want to enter your float or to get involved, then you can contact us here.

Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius; Irish: Pádraig was a fisth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the “Apostle of Ireland”, he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, along with saints Brigit of Kildare and Columba. He is also venerated in the Anglican Communion, the Old Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church as equal-to-apostles and the Enlightener of Ireland.

The dates of Patrick’s life cannot be fixed with certainty but there is broad agreement that he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the fisth century. Early medieval tradition credits him with being the first bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, and they regard him as the founder of Christianity in Ireland, converting a society practising a form of Celtic polytheism. He has been generally so regarded ever since, despite evidence of some earlier Christian presence in Ireland.

According to the Confession of Patrick, when he was about 16, he was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Great Britain, and taken as a slave to Ireland, looking after animals, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland. In later life, he served as a bishop, but little is known about the places where he worked. By the seventh century, he had already come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

Saint Patrick’s Day is observed on 17th March, the supposed date of his death. It is celebrated inside and outside Ireland as a religious and cultural holiday. In the dioceses of Ireland, it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation; it is also a celebration of Ireland itself.