Roscrea's 43rd St. Patrick's Day Parade showcased the best of community spirit

ROSCREA'S 43rd St. Patrick's Day Parade was a stunning success and a fantastic day out for all the family.

Running since 1979, the Roscrea Parade was only ever disrupted by the foot and mouth crisis in 2001 and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

The event has built a reputation for attracting strong participation and attendance and follows a traditional route up Castle Street to the review stand on Market Square, where MC John Lupton provides an explanation of the story behind the people and floats.

This year saw the start of the new Adrian Hewson Perpetual Trophy, which is a new category in the long and proud list for winners and entrants.

Winners of the 2023 Roscrea St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Best Overall Entry: Chamber of Commerce Perpetual Trophy and €200 sponsored by Roscrea Chamber - Scoil Iosef Naofa

Best Business Float – Lupton & Associates Perpetual Trophy and €100 - Theresa Larkin School of Music

Best local community group/sports club – Roscrea Tidy Towns Trophy and €100 - Age Friendly Roscrea

Special Recognition Award - Roscrea Credit Union Perpetual Trophy and €100 - Roscrea Red Cross

Special Merit Award and €100 with Adrian Hewson Perpetual Cup - Roscrea SPCA

Winners of the Shop Window Display: 1st Jazz Alley, 2nd Moloney Sports Store / Hurley Store, 3rd Sue Ryder.

The Roscrea Parade Organising Committee would like to thank the following Guest of Honour Mrs. Anne Ralph; MC for the day Mr. John Lupton; Fr. Ultan, Fr. Corbett, Rev. Jane Galbraith and Dom Malachy for the blessing of shamrock; Paul Fogarty and staff at The White House for hosting the pre-Parade reception and providing help on the street throughout the day and would like to especially thank the following: Edmond Koliko, Chinedu Precious, Akanazu, Lawrence Kolwane and Ibrahim Touaz, Shane Reynolds for the excellent job on sound and music; Teresa Delaney for the face painting,; Phelan’s Market House; the Marshals; Paddy Reidy of the C.E. Scheme.

Special thanks goes to Gearoid and Michael Doherty of Doherty Hardware and Ivan Hastings for providing the rigid truck; An Garda Siochana; all the participants of floats and Tom and Anne Ralph for the judging of the parade.
Thanks to the media for the fantastic coverage of the Parade and PJ Wright for the photographs.

Sincere thanks to the following sponsors/patrons: Tipperary County Council, Roscrea Chamber of Commerce and Roscrea Lion’s Club.