Oldest St. Patricks Day Parade wasn't in NYC or Boston (1 Viewer)

[JaxBill]

St. Augustine

The sensational information was uncovered in December 2017 by historian Dr. J. Michael Francis in a gunpowder expenditures log in Spain's Archivo General de Indias, or AGI. The documents reveal that spring festivities which included a feast day of San Patricio (St. Patrick) was held in the year 1600 in St. Augustine, Florida.

"While artillery pieces often were fired to help guide ships safely across St. Augustine's protective sandbar, they were also fired during times of public celebrations and religious festivals," Francis wrote in his blog for PBS.

 

[belljr]

heh - i would have bet money on Savannah

*if it wasnt NY or Boston

 

[Joe Mammy]

That is very interesting. I would have guessed either Savannah or St. Augustine. I just found this regarding Savannah, which is without a doubt the biggest Irish blast I've attended:

James Oglethorpe established the first permanent settlement in 1733. At least nine of the settlers who were granted land were Irish. In the 19th century, Irishman came for another reason – the potato famine. The 1845 blight took one-third of Ireland’s potato crop. Thousands starved to death and thousands more left Ireland to avoid starvation. Many of these came to Savannah. “It was Irish muscle and sweat that built our highways and railroads, dug our canals, mined our coal, improved our commerce and trade,” claims historian Cas Robinson.

YaY Irish! Both my granddads worked on the railroad in NY and CN in the wee 1900's.

 

[The Z Machine]

“It was Irish muscle and sweat that built our highways and railroads, dug our canals, mined our coal, improved our commerce and trade,”

Along with quite a few others, namely those formerly enslaved and Chinese. 

 

[JaxBill]

heh - i would have bet money on Savannah

*if it wasnt NY or Boston

me too