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| St. Patrick's Day Parade, Lowell, 1903 |
The St Patrick’s Day parade of
1903 would be one that would go down in history. Thousands lined the parade route. Every man, woman, and child, wore a green
ribbon or sprig of shamrocks. In this
city of textiles, days before the parade, it was near impossible to buy any
type of green trim. Storefronts and
homes festooned windows and doorways with green crepe. There were so many marchers it was difficult
to count; someone said it approached 2000.
Every marching band practiced their rendition of McNamara’s Band. The Mathew
Temperance Society, the AOH, the St Patrick’s Cadet band, Holy Name Society, St
Vincent de Paul Society, CYML, you name it, they all marched. Before the parade even began, the strains of
“Hail Glorious Apostle” could be heard in every Catholic church in the
city. (By the way, even the French
churches marched.) Saint Patrick’s was filled
to the point of standing room only. Following
the parade families and friends gathered to share a meal and toast the heroes
and saints of the auld sod.
That was over 100 years
ago. The first St. Patrick’s Day celebration
recorded in Lowell was in 1833. The
tradition carries on to this day. For
the past 30 years the Irish Cultural Committee of Saint Patrick Parish has
carried on the proud tradition of celebrating the Saint’s day. They have presented hundreds of cultural and
social events while preserving our common past.
Any profit goes directly to support St. Patrick’s Church and its mission
to serve.
President John F. Kennedy once
said, “We celebrate the past, to awaken the future.” The members of the Irish
Cultural Committee recognize that as we celebrate our past, we are ensuring
that the deeds of those who have gone before us will not be forgotten. It is
our responsibility to tell of their struggles, to share their love of life, and
the faith they held on to, so that we can recognize and celebrate the diversity
the Creator has given to us all.
We extend a warm and heartfelt invitation
to come share in any of the events that we present this year. Let us gather together as our ancestors did
to honor our past, otherwise what will be our future?
The Irish Cultural Committee’s
Facebook page has all the information you need.
https://www.facebook.com/LowellIrish Or just drop a
line and we’ll email a calendar of events.
Irish.lowell@gmail.com Please
share this post with folks who may be interested.
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