Greystones’ Paddy’s Day Parade 2019

The man himself. And his sister.

ax and GG headed out early on St Patrick’s Day, to catch that early morning battle of sun and rain, and to see how the town was getting its green on.

The shops may not have pulled out any of the stops, but, as it became clear that the sun had got his Kiss Me, I’m Irish hat on, this year’s parade looked pretty darned promising.

And so it came to pass. With barely a cloud in the sky, Irish eyes were smiling, from that Church Lane judges stand all the way down to the parade holding pen at the South Beach.

And since the mighty John McGowan was out doing his no.1 roving photographer groove thang [that’s our boy at 7.35, below], we thought it best if we stuck to getting one complete video of all the floats that brightened up Greystones’ main street today.

And there were some humdingers, to be sure, to be sure. From the Irish Defence Forces leading the parade once again – including the Civil Defence, Greystones Fire Brigade and Greystones Community First Responders – to visitors such as the Tallaght Marching Band and those happy, drum-thumping Germans in the fancy knickerbockers , as well as the town’s many clubs and schools for our younger, smarter, faster, stronger, more dynamic generation. Unsurprisingly, for many of these leaders of tomorrow, saving the planet was the theme of the day.

Gotta love the house brass band down at the train station blasting through that much-loved, old Irish ballad The Time Warp, from Seó Pictiúr Rocky Horror. Catch ’em on the video below, at 10.30. Fair brings a tear to de eye.

The winning floats this year are – Most Original: Wicklow Sudbury School, Best Musical: Music Generation Wicklow Samba Band, Best Social/Cultural: Greystones Churches Together, Best Sports: Greystones Tennis Club, Noble Prize: Kelly Recovery, Best Traditional Irish: Dunphy School Of Irish Dancing, Most Entertaining: Greystones Baton Twirlers, Most Colourful: 1st Wicklow Scout Group, Best Uniformed Organisation: Civil Defence, Most Topical: 1st Wicklow, 2nd Wicklow, St Kilian’s Scout Group, Overall Parade Winners: Greystones Community School, and Best Window Display once again went to Select Interiors.

Most importantly, after five hours of editing, John McGowan has delivered his many, many, many pics of the day, added now to our sister site. 

Oh, after close to 1,000 views, we had to re-upload our parade video, after a copyright claim on Win A Kool House blasting Shakin Steven’s This Ole House. D’oh!

You can check out all 525 John McGowan pics here, and catch up with Greystones’ previous Paddy’s Days right here. You can also see those winning floats get their just awards right here.