Ireland's tiniest and shortest St Patrick's Day parade celebrates 25th anniversary

Ireland’s tiniest and shortest St Patrick’s Day parade kicked off the bank holiday festivities, Monday, March 16. Picture: David Raleigh

Ireland’s tiniest and shortest St Patrick’s Day parade kicked off the bank holiday festivities Monday, celebrating 25 years of marching from a pre-school in Limerick.

Twenty pupils attending the Busy Bees pre-school, at Park Gardens, Corbally, marched alongside a local lone piper, five hundred metres to a roundabout and back to their classroom.

Neighbours of the school and past pupils also marched behind the parade organised by Busy Bees owner Vivienne Vereker Campbell.

“It’s just incredible to bring the community out every year,” said Ms Vereker Campbell.

“If I wasn't for the community I wouldn't be here, they’ve kept me alive and kept me going through recession, covid, and we kept our piper and our parade going.”

“We are marking our 25th year here in Park Gardens so I just wanted to give something back,” said Ms Vereker Campbell, who organised free ice-creams and coffee for all the neighbourhood outside the school.

“I’m just so proud to be still here 25 years on, I didn't think it would last when I started, when I had three children on my first day, and it’s grown and grown every year since,” she added.

The lone piper, Paul McMahon, has led the parade for 25 years, including in 2020, when during covid-19 social distancing rules, he continued the march on his own without the pre-school pupils.

Twenty pupils attending the Busy Bees pre-school, at Park Gardens, Corbally, Limerick, marched alongside a local piper, Paul McMahon, five hundred metres to a roundabout, and back to their classroom. Picture: David Raleigh

“I’ve had four kids that have come through Busy Bees, it’s a fantastic school,” said Mr McMahon.

What keeps him coming back year after year, “is the delight on the kids faces”.

It’s their parade, it’s their chance to wave, and to shine and to see their parents smiling back at them.

“It’s a small little giving up of our time, but its such a rewarding cause, and fair play to Busy Bees, it’s amazing they have been keeping this going for 25 years, and it’s a privilege to be part of it," said Mr McMahon. 

Three -year-old Sonny J Lawlor was dressed all in green for the big day:

“It was brilliant, I’m sonny, I’m three.” 

Four-year-old Chloe Healy, who donned a shamrock hat and green top and dress said the parade was “the best” part of her day and she “liked the ice cream”.

Three-year-old Liadh Cunnane who also took part in the parade said: “I loved the ice cream and the marching.” 

Four-year-old Twyla Avni Bhaskar said she would not eat the ice cream, but she loved the “marching”.

The main Limerick City St Patrick’s Day parade on Tuesday will be live-streamed for the first time ever.

Fifteen bands from across Ireland, UK, Ghana and the United States participated in the city’s 54th Day International Band Championship on Sunday, with Banna Chluain Meala, from Clonmel Co Tipperary, taking the overall parade champions title.