The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Thurles is organised by a sub committee of the Thurles Town Council.
The committee is made up of members of the Thurles Town Council and other interested persons who have been co-opted onto the committee. The committee is known as the Thurles Town Council St. Patricks Day Celebration Committee. The Thurles parade takes place on the nearest Sunday to St. Patricks Day and is seen as both a local and a national celebration of our heritage and culture. The Parade is sponsored by the Thurles Town Council, local business people, clubs, organisations and individuals.
Over the past number of years the parade in Thurles has developed into one of the largest such parades in the country. Over 1,000 people participated in the 2008 parade. This included 10 marching bands, local school groups, floats, industrial entries, costumed groups and individuals and numerous walking groups. An estimated 6,000 enjoyed the parade and it was widely agreed that it was one of our best parades to date. Numerous prizes were awarded over a broad range of categories and over 700 medals were handed out to the young people who took part in the parade.The 2009 parade will take place on Sunday 15th March and leaves from Abbey Road at 3pm sharp. The parade route, of one mile, continues down Friar Street entering Liberty Square where the entries pass in front of the reviewing stand. The parade exits down Slievenamon Road and finishes at approximately 4.30pm. Entertainment will be provided in Liberty Square from 2.30pm with a wide variety of music, dancing and fun for the entire family.
Please Note: If you or your band are passing close to Thurles, (possibly you are destined to take part in celebrations elsewhere on March 17th) this town would love to meet you and we extend an open invitation to you all, to come join us in our celebrations on March 15th next.
Contact : Tom Gleeson.
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