Photograph by Faith
For one weekend this month, Atlanta, like Chicago, will flood with green. But lacking a river as we do, it’s Peachtree Street that will run emerald when the Irish and their friends march in celebration of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
This year marks the 141st St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Atlanta, making it one of the longest continuously running parades in the city. The event was started in 1858 by the Hibernian Benevolent Society, an Irish cultural organization, for Atlanta’s then-small Irish immigrant community.
The first parade, as reported by the Atlanta Constitution, was held in 1872. It began at the corner of Broad and Marietta Streets downtown and followed a Catholic mass delivered by a priest named by the paper only as Father Duggan. The parade has paused just three times: during World Wars I and II and for the pandemic.
Throughout its long history, Atlanta’s celebration has migrated around the city. In 1996, the parade moved from downtown to Buckhead after Fado Irish Pub opened there. “It’s not official that we go where the Irish pubs are, but that might be the reality,” says Sinead Connaughton, a member of the parade committee and Irish Network Atlanta. “When the Buckhead location closed, the Midtown Fado essentially became our HQ.” The parade now begins at Woodruff Arts Center and heads 10 blocks down Peachtree Street to Fifth Street, with an after-party at Fado.
Irish Network Atlanta took over operations from the Hibernians in 2016, with goals to grow the parade to rival larger celebrations in Savannah and the Northeast. To do so, the parade committee has embraced any and all groups with even modest Irish connections, which brings attractions one can’t find elsewhere.
Alongside traditional Irish dancing and music, there are notable Irish athletes, a float designed as an Irish pub by the O’Riordan family, and terriers and dachshunds—traditional Irish dog breeds—from DREAM Rescue in Marietta. Somewhat more off-brand, but no less popular, are Atlanta’s Nocturnal Pirates and Atlanta Ghostbusters, as well as a contingent of llamas, spiffily dressed in leprechaun hats. “Some things are odd, but it creates the atmosphere that does the country proud,” Connaughton says. “It also attracts more than just Irish to attend, and our goal is to share this celebration.”
Last year, more than 3,000 people participated in the parade, representing 100 Irish organizations, and were viewed by more than 20,000 spectators. This year, Peachtree TV will broadcast the parade live, which the committee hopes will convert more viewers into parade attendees.
Connaughton, who moved from Dublin, Ireland, to Atlanta in 2016, is married to an American and raising her family here. She belongs to several Irish groups, including the parade committee, to remain connected to her heritage. “The parade has become even more important for me to share Ireland with my two-year-old daughter,” says Connaughton. “Last year, she actually thought the parade was for her. In a way, it is, because we want to pass it down.”
This article appears in our March 2025 issue.
