1 of 9 | Parade goers cheer as participants in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade march up Fifth Avenue in New York City on Saturday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
March 16 (UPI) — Manhattan was alive with Irish pride as the 236rd New York St. Patrick’s Day parade kicked off Saturday.
The iconic celebration of Irish Heritage ran along Fifth Avenue and featured the traditional stop at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The parade opened with the “Fighting Sixty-Ninth” infantry regiment, which has led the procession since 1851.
Marching bands played renditions of iconic Irish band U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, as well as the folk song Hills of Donegal and the Dropkick Murphys’ Shipping up to Boston.
Other appearances in the parade included contingents from every Irish county and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, the women’s contingent of the oldest and largest Catholic fraternal organization in the world.
Visitors from around the United States and Ireland travel every year to the New York St. Patrick’s Day parade, which is regarded as the oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world, dating back to 1762.
“This parade means, I think, so much to the city. Not just Irish Americans, but the entire