Irish, and those who want to be, celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Danny boy, ’tis the time of year when Irish bagpipes are calling in the concrete glens of New York City, across the swooning boughs of Savannah, Georgia, and in the halls of the White House as the U.S. celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with parades, pub crawls and a state visit.

Thousands of tourists and locals alike crowded the oak-shaded squares and downtown sidewalks of Savannah on Friday. The city’s parade, a 100-year-old tradition, is the South’s largest.

The annual parade in New York City — which bills itself as the world’s largest and oldest — drew throngs to Fifth Avenue to await bagpipes and bands, and give homage to Ireland’s patron saint.

“When we march up Fifth Avenue,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said during the St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast Reception, “it appears as though everything turns to green.”

Irish immigrants have a deep history in helping New York City become what it is today — one of the many groups, the mayor said, “that make up our city and that makes us great.”

Some cities including Chicago, which dyes its river green to commemorate

a day when everyone pretends to be Irish, held their parades last weekend. Other cities, including Boston, will stage festivities this weekend.

Also flowing green will be the fountain on the South Lawn of the White House as President Joe Biden, who often speaks of his Irish heritage, welcomes Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar for a meetup between the two heads of state that had been delayed two years by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With temperatures forecast to climb into the mid-70s in Savannah, many parade watchers wore shorts with green T-shirts and strands of green plastic beads.

“This is a lot of people,” said Sheila Barry, a Savannah native who staked out spots with a friend near the start of the parade route. They packed sandwiches, water and something else to drink that Barry described mischievously as “St. Patrick’s holy water.”

Barry, 55, wore a wide felt sash of emerald green embroidered with the names of her late parents, Irish immigrants who came to Savannah more than five decades ago. She said they loved Savannah’s Irish traditions and celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

“Everybody, they’re all Irish today,” Barry said. “Everybody’s just here to have a good time.”

STEPHEN B. MORTON / AP Julie Hensley pumps her fist as her friend Ally Womble downs a drink while partying in a square during Friday’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities, a big tourist draw in historic downtown Savannah.