Upwards of 50,000 people lined the streets of Cork City for the welcome return of the St Patrick's Day Parade.
In the country's second city, it was a parade marked by plenty of colour, music and pageantry watched by a clearly delighted public.
With Olympian Rob Heffernan as MC, a fast pace was set from the outset - this year's Grand Marshals - the biker charity Blood Bike South choosing to abandon their trusty steeds to walk the route!
In all, some 2,500 people took part from community, arts and sporting groups across the city, and there were plenty of overseas visitors too, including a delegation from the Massachusetts State Troopers, and the Bixby Ruby group from Oklahoma.
The city's young sports people were out in huge numbers and clearly very glad to be back - among the clubs who took part, hurlers and footballers from St Finbarrs and Nemo Rangers, and cricketers the Cork Cricket Club.
A contingent of serving and former gardaí also took to the beat to mark the centenary of the An Garda Síochána.
Leading the way - a vintage Vauxhall Victor Garda car, used for a US presidential visit in 1971.
While it was a day full of joy, the war in Ukraine was also on people's minds, with loud and sustained applause all along the route for the Together4Ukraine group representing Ukrainian, Georgian, Lituanian, Hungarian and Moldovan communties in Cork.
From the main stand, they received a standing ovation from the City's councillors and management led by Lord Mayor Colm Kelleher and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney.
And with the Barrack Street Brass Band setting the pace, the Cork Arts Collective and Luxe from Donegal - with their gigantic multi coloured floats - ensured that even when it rained, which it did, the mood remained sunny!
Iconic Kerry buildings go green for St Patrick's Day
Perhaps it's in part to make up for the two-year delay since the last St Patrick's Day parades, but the 'greening' of Kerry began early this year.
In Killarney, St Patrick's Day is traditionally regarded as the unofficial start of the tourist season. This year, the town's most prominent buildings have been floodlit in green a week in advance of the national holiday.
It reinforces the theme of a St Patrick's Festival, rather than St Patrick's Day.
The iconic Ross Castle, on the edge of the magnificent Killarney National Park, and St Mary's Cathedral in the town centre have been matched in green by the Franciscan Friary, Killarney Methodist Church and the local courthouse, among others. Business and home owners were also encouraged to floodlight their buildings in green.
"It's amazing to be back and, after enduring so much yellow with Covid signs for the last two years, what a difference it makes to be able to embrace the green once again," said Festival Chairman Paul Sherry.
The festival centrepiece was a parade of local cultural and sporting groups through the streets of the town. The theme was "Earth/An Chré" - a celebration of the world in which we live.
The organisers stayed close to home for inspiration, with the parade led by giant-size models of 12 species of butterfly indigenous to Killarney National Park.
Over 50 groups take part in Tralee parade
In Tralee, a dozen Little Blue Heroes were given the honour of being grand marshals of the St Patrick's Day parade there earlier in the day.
The 12 boys and girls were made honorary members of the force for the day. Old garda uniforms were also on show. Serving gardaí were joined by retired members, as An Garda Siochána participated in the parade for the first time to mark the force's centenary.
The theme of the parade in Tralee was "Let's Go Green", to celebrate the development of a 13-kilometre greenway between the town and the port of Fenit.
The greenway will be opened later this year. It will follow a route along the northern edge of Tralee Bay, with the spectacular Slieve Mish mountain range as a backdrop on the southern side.
More than 50 groups and sports clubs participated in the parade in Tralee, with the local Tralee Pipes and Drums Band joined by Newcastlewest Pipe Band and the Gleneagle Concert Band.
Siamsa Tíre, the national folk theatre, performed before and after the parade.
Limerick hurlers lead festivities
Limerick's All-Ireland winning hurling team - winners of the Liam MacCarthy cup in 2018, 2020 and 2021 were Grand Marshals of this year's Limerick city St Patrick's Day parade.
They carried the trophy as part of the parade, as they led this year's city centre festivities. 250 club GAA members took part in the parade.
The theme of the parade was 'Belonging and Identity', which marked the comeback of the national celebrations' live events on the streets after an absence of two years due to the Covid pandemic.
Before the parade commenced, Limerick hurling star Aaron Gillane said: "It's a great honour for us to be the Grand Marshals for the parade, and it’s a huge privilege for us as a team.
"I know there will be plenty of clubs from all over Limerick that we haven’t been able to get to see over the past two years, so we are looking forward to seeing them all."
In many ways this was the first time the public were able to properly celebrate their last two All-Ireland wins, as Covid prevented on-street celebrations, so this was an occasion for Limerick fans and loyal supporters to show their appreciation and admiration and thanks to the team.
The route of the parade was altered this year because of upgrading and revitalisation works on the city’s main O’Connell Street.
The parade began at midday and proceeded from The Crescent down a portion of O’Connell Street before diverting down Cecil Street, and then Henry Street and down by Arthurs Quay where the reviewing stand was located.
The parade kicked off a four-day festival weekend in the city, which will see an aerial and fire festival at the potato market on Saturday.
It will feature aerial dance group Fidget Feet and the ROGU fire performance company, the panoramic wheel at Arthurs Quay park.
The 50th International Band parade will take place on Sunday, with 15 bands from the US and the UK, as well as local bands, taking part.
Frontline workers make up Ennis grand marshalls
The theme of this year’s Ennis parade was 'Coming Together' - appropriate for an occasion when people reconnected and came together in Clare’s capital town for the first time since 2019.
It was also dedicated to its frontline workers who make up its grand marshals this year with nurse Mhairi Barron from Ennis hospital, Dr Bruce O'Donnell from Ennis Medical, and Julia Fitzgibbon Hayes, a family support worker from Enable Ireland.
Almost 40 groups and floats took part this year representing the vast array of cultural, music, drama, dance, sporting and community organisations for which Co Clare is famous.
Musical entertainment was provided before the parade kicked off at 11am with the Ennis Gospel Choir and Comhaltas both performing in the town.
Ennis Tidy Towns, which has brought the town such pride as national winners, also took part as well as Clare youth theatre groups and international and local bands.
Waterford celebrates Ukrainian community
Waterford is another place that claims to be one of the oldest venues for St Patrick's Day parades in the country and this year's version did notlet anyone down, with an eclectic mix of music, marching and costume.
Finn Ryan from Ferrybank, who touched many hearts when he appeared on the Late Late Toy Show in November after ringing the cancer-free bell, was the Grand Marshall for the city parade and once again was on bell-ringing duty, this time with the fire brigade.
There was another poignant moment as a large contingent from the Ukrainian community in Waterford made their way along the quays and the streets and attracted loud applause throughout the route, with banners thanking Irish people for their support and urging solidarity with their people back home.
Other nationalities strongly represented in this parade included the Indian community, Pakistani community and Polish community, while a large section from Biafra added to the colour.
Gymnastics and dance dazzle in Clonmel
There was pride of place for the Clonmel Majorettes today as up to 300 of them, from just three-years-old to teenagers, took part in today's St Patrick's Day parade in the town.
A first for the parade this year was participation by the Tipperary Pride Group, while strong support was also shown to the Ukrainian community.
The town's gymnastics club and a hip-hop group from the DR2 dance group were also among those taking part.
There was also a display of traditional dance and theatre from the Tipperary Indian community, who have a strong medical presence in the county.
Additional reporting Jennie O'Sullivan, Cathy Halloran, Paschal Sheehy, Conor Kane
