Brooklyn shows how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Parade takes place on Sunday

March 20, 2018 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The deputy grand marshals of the Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade march up Third Avenue in last year’s parade. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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The Saint Patrick’s Day Parade that takes place in Manhattan every year is grand, but it has some heavy duty competition from Brooklyn.

Not to be outdone by Manhattan, Brooklyn hosted several parades celebrating the legacy of St. Patrick and a delightful march in Bay Ridge this Sunday will cap off the celebrations.

The 25th Annual Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Parade will take place on March 25 on Third Avenue, starting at 1 p.m.

The parade comes a week after the 43rd Annual Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade drew large enthusiastic crowds of spectators in Park Slope. Richard J. Moylan, president of The Green-Wood Cemetery, was the grand marshal. The parade route stretched for several blocks along Prospect Park West.

And two days before that, a parade and luncheon took place in Brooklyn Heights. Hon. Nancy T. Sunshine, the county clerk for Kings County, served as the grand marshal. The festivities began with a special mass at St. Charles Borromeo Church. The parade followed the mass and took the marchers through the streets of Brooklyn Heights to the New York State Supreme Court.

The Bay Ridge parade will be led by Grand Marshal Martin J. Cottingham, president of the Irish American Building Society.

The deputy marshals are Mary M. Koren, Stephen G. Gorton, Deirdre Cronin Butler, Brother Campion F. Lally, Angela Connolly-Coyle, Greg McGuinness, Liza Schneider-Lloyd, Brendan Moloney, Mary McDonagh Manning and Connor P. O’Mara.

The parade committee, led by President Linda Gallagher-Lomanto and Vice President Denise Frederick, also selects an Irish Family of the Year. This year, the honor will go to the Long Family.

Mike Long, the family patriarch, is the chairman of the New York State Conservative Party. He also served as the parade’s grand marshal many years ago. His wife Eileen was a deputy grand marshal. The Longs have nine children.

For more information on the Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade, visit http://www.brparade.com/home.