St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday that is celebrated on Mar. 17 to honor the anniversary of the patron saint of Ireland’s death. The importance of St. Patrick lies in his explanation of the Holy Trinity and how it was told through the leaves of the Irish clover, a shamrock.
Celebrated for over 1,000 years, the very first St. Patrick’s Day parade started in America in 1601. Since then, it has become a tradition for people to celebrate in many different ways; cities such as Chicago are known for specific traditions like dyeing the Chicago River green, while other cities have large parades. The first Cleveland St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in 1842 and was planned by the third resident Catholic priest, Rev. Peter McLaughlin. This year was Cleveland’s 177th year hosting the parade.
Logan Sindone ‘24 and Aliyah Shamatta ‘24 had the chance to march in the parade with Ohio City Inc., as the nonprofit organization promoted their most recent work on the new Irishtown Bend project that is expected to be finished in 2028. Shamatta and Sindone were able to capture photos of their trip starting on the Green Line Rapid RTA train, all the way to Tower City in downtown Cleveland. The streets were filled with families and friends dressed in green while the organizations gathered with their groups and set on the 30-minute march.
