Manchester - St Patrick's Day Parade
The first St
Patrick’s Day Parade in Manchester was held on the 17 March 1990, organised by the Irish World Heritage Centre. It led to St Chad’s Church and finished with a Mass before returning to the Irish Centre. It was for the Irish community, kept rather private.
A lot has changed since then. Now Manchester's St. Patrick's Parades is part of the Irish Festival, over four days. The celebrations include music, dance, literature at the launch night, Irish Markets, and various charity events, and finally, St Patrick's Day Parade, on Sundays - closest to 17th March, each year. This allows many onlookers and participants to join in and to promote the Irish culture over a wider spread of society.
The parade still starts at the Irish World Heritage Centre, at noon, but goes through the city centre, along Deansgate.
Over the years, there have been numbers of the Irish Government representatives present, including the Taoiseach of Ireland and ministers. Usually, hundreds of people turn out to line the route of the parade, depends on the weather.
There is always a showcase o (f)lorries and tractors of which connection with Ireland we have not been aware, unless you take on track the American 'country music' with its origins in the Irish tunes. Modern celebrations have been greatly invented by the North American Irish diaspora.
The annual Manchester Irish Festival is the largest in the UK and one of the biggest in the world. The city has a long-established Irish connection – estimated 35 per cent of the population has some Irish ancestry, many of them live in Levenshulme. More Irish-dense is probably only Liverpool. The difference is that some pray at Anfield, some at Old Trafford. Apparently, thousands of Irish supporters travel across the Irish Sea each week to watch their beloved teams.
Saint Patrick's Day was made an official festival in the early 17th century and is a public holiday in Ireland. It is also widely celebrated in the United Kingdom, Spain, United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand - wherever the Irish diaspora found its confluence. The influence is quite remarkable - this national festival is celebrated in more countries than any other could have imagined.
On platforms of the lorries and tractors are live displays of Irish School of Dance and music.
The Irish migration to the North West picked at the time of Great Famine (1845-49) although by 1841 already a tenth of the city's population was Irish.
Most of them had lived in "Little Ireland", an area which Friedrich Engels described in detail in his 1845 Condition of the Working Class In England. It was a new settlement, where 'all the features of a city are lost'. Not even a stem of grass was seen on the hard clay soil. The slummy windowless cabins, filthy and damp, had rooms with little or no furniture where several people had lived at the same time, in utter poverty. Engels was invited to visit Manchester by his companion and lover, Mary Burns, a young Irish woman...
They were migrant from Ireland's emerald fields, unprepared for the city life. They took any job available, low-paid and dangerous. But life in Manchester was better than back home, under the British infamous rule. Would the stubborn donkeys symbolize the Irish character - survive against all odds - and yearn for the lost green Irish pastures, with a cheeky smile on display?
The Irish had the stamina to endure the centuries-long 'occupation' by the English and sprung in the 20th century with a novel enthusiasm for their own culture, inspiring other nations. Earlier, Engels writings, along with others, about the life-conditions in Manchester in 'Little Ireland', had sparked a massive social change.
Manchester led the way with social reform with its Sanitary Improvement Act, followed by many others; prohibiting the use of cellars as dwellings, with a requirement to have access to a fireplace and a privy for tenants, and for landlords - to be registered and regularly inspected.
However, across Britain there was a great deal of anti-Irish, anti-Catholic sentiment. It lasted throughout the 19th century and well into the second half of the 20th century. People were persecuted on being Irish or they could have never seen enough justice if harm was done to them.
This has sparked criticism of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations for having become too commercialised and shallow. They are certainly better than the British National Day of Saint George! There are hardly any celebrations at all. St Patrick's festivity involves wearing green attire, shamrocks and waving Irish flags, at least.
The focal point of Manchester St Patrick's Parade is in Albert Square. Instead of the Mass in the church (which surely is still held) in the end, there is a mass celebration in front of the Manchester Town Hall, under a canopy where spirits of another kind than Holy is infatuated in.
The celebrations of the Irish heritage and culture nowadays revel in the party atmosphere. It has a sufficient explanation and cause. The Lent restrictions on eating and drinking, especially alcohol, during the time before Easter, were lifted for the day. It probably encouraged this holiday to be associated with merry-making under alcohol over-consumption.
There are most, if not all, of the 32 counties banners of Éire, hanging from the ceiling in the main tent on Albert Square. As with other celebrations, one has to drink to involve in public dance. The tent is equiped with a stage and dance floor. It has to wait to be filled until enough Guinness has been poured out of the barrels.
To summarise the history, today the area of the worst living conditions described by Engels, during the Irish forced inhabitance, is home to some of the most expensive city-centre apartments. Ireland is one of the most modern countries in the world.
There are many sites around Manchester steeped in Irish history which are worth visiting, both relating to the past and present. One of which combines the two is the Manchester Reform Club. Victorian gentleman’s club, an eye-catching Gothic building in the city centre. It was designed by an Irish architect from Cork. Now it is home to the Pretty Green store, owned by Liam Gallagher, former Oasis frontman and singer on his own now. His parents are from Mayo, the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht. This is how the Irish took over the world. A pretty damn interesting thing.
--------------------------
Sources:
Friedrich Engels, The Conditions of the Working-Class in England (Oxford University Press, 2009)
To be continued
A lot has changed since then. Now Manchester's St. Patrick's Parades is part of the Irish Festival, over four days. The celebrations include music, dance, literature at the launch night, Irish Markets, and various charity events, and finally, St Patrick's Day Parade, on Sundays - closest to 17th March, each year. This allows many onlookers and participants to join in and to promote the Irish culture over a wider spread of society.
The parade still starts at the Irish World Heritage Centre, at noon, but goes through the city centre, along Deansgate.
Over the years, there have been numbers of the Irish Government representatives present, including the Taoiseach of Ireland and ministers. Usually, hundreds of people turn out to line the route of the parade, depends on the weather.
There is always a showcase o (f)lorries and tractors of which connection with Ireland we have not been aware, unless you take on track the American 'country music' with its origins in the Irish tunes. Modern celebrations have been greatly invented by the North American Irish diaspora.
The annual Manchester Irish Festival is the largest in the UK and one of the biggest in the world. The city has a long-established Irish connection – estimated 35 per cent of the population has some Irish ancestry, many of them live in Levenshulme. More Irish-dense is probably only Liverpool. The difference is that some pray at Anfield, some at Old Trafford. Apparently, thousands of Irish supporters travel across the Irish Sea each week to watch their beloved teams.
Saint Patrick's Day was made an official festival in the early 17th century and is a public holiday in Ireland. It is also widely celebrated in the United Kingdom, Spain, United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand - wherever the Irish diaspora found its confluence. The influence is quite remarkable - this national festival is celebrated in more countries than any other could have imagined.
On platforms of the lorries and tractors are live displays of Irish School of Dance and music.
The Irish migration to the North West picked at the time of Great Famine (1845-49) although by 1841 already a tenth of the city's population was Irish.
Most of them had lived in "Little Ireland", an area which Friedrich Engels described in detail in his 1845 Condition of the Working Class In England. It was a new settlement, where 'all the features of a city are lost'. Not even a stem of grass was seen on the hard clay soil. The slummy windowless cabins, filthy and damp, had rooms with little or no furniture where several people had lived at the same time, in utter poverty. Engels was invited to visit Manchester by his companion and lover, Mary Burns, a young Irish woman...
They were migrant from Ireland's emerald fields, unprepared for the city life. They took any job available, low-paid and dangerous. But life in Manchester was better than back home, under the British infamous rule. Would the stubborn donkeys symbolize the Irish character - survive against all odds - and yearn for the lost green Irish pastures, with a cheeky smile on display?
The Irish had the stamina to endure the centuries-long 'occupation' by the English and sprung in the 20th century with a novel enthusiasm for their own culture, inspiring other nations. Earlier, Engels writings, along with others, about the life-conditions in Manchester in 'Little Ireland', had sparked a massive social change.
Manchester led the way with social reform with its Sanitary Improvement Act, followed by many others; prohibiting the use of cellars as dwellings, with a requirement to have access to a fireplace and a privy for tenants, and for landlords - to be registered and regularly inspected.
However, across Britain there was a great deal of anti-Irish, anti-Catholic sentiment. It lasted throughout the 19th century and well into the second half of the 20th century. People were persecuted on being Irish or they could have never seen enough justice if harm was done to them.
This has sparked criticism of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations for having become too commercialised and shallow. They are certainly better than the British National Day of Saint George! There are hardly any celebrations at all. St Patrick's festivity involves wearing green attire, shamrocks and waving Irish flags, at least.
The focal point of Manchester St Patrick's Parade is in Albert Square. Instead of the Mass in the church (which surely is still held) in the end, there is a mass celebration in front of the Manchester Town Hall, under a canopy where spirits of another kind than Holy is infatuated in.
The celebrations of the Irish heritage and culture nowadays revel in the party atmosphere. It has a sufficient explanation and cause. The Lent restrictions on eating and drinking, especially alcohol, during the time before Easter, were lifted for the day. It probably encouraged this holiday to be associated with merry-making under alcohol over-consumption.
There are most, if not all, of the 32 counties banners of Éire, hanging from the ceiling in the main tent on Albert Square. As with other celebrations, one has to drink to involve in public dance. The tent is equiped with a stage and dance floor. It has to wait to be filled until enough Guinness has been poured out of the barrels.
To summarise the history, today the area of the worst living conditions described by Engels, during the Irish forced inhabitance, is home to some of the most expensive city-centre apartments. Ireland is one of the most modern countries in the world.
There are many sites around Manchester steeped in Irish history which are worth visiting, both relating to the past and present. One of which combines the two is the Manchester Reform Club. Victorian gentleman’s club, an eye-catching Gothic building in the city centre. It was designed by an Irish architect from Cork. Now it is home to the Pretty Green store, owned by Liam Gallagher, former Oasis frontman and singer on his own now. His parents are from Mayo, the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht. This is how the Irish took over the world. A pretty damn interesting thing.
--------------------------
Sources:
Friedrich Engels, The Conditions of the Working-Class in England (Oxford University Press, 2009)
To be continued