newjerseynewsroom.com

Area boasts rich history on both sides of the Hudson

BY ERIC MODEL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

JOURNEYS INTO NEW JERSEY

Around here, come St. Patrick's Day most eyes tend to turn towards New York and the grand parade up Fifth Avenue.

Yes, there is a long and distinguished history to the city parade, and over the years many from the Garden State have participated and/or attended. At the same, New Jersey boasts some top-notch St. Patty's Day parade traditions of its own, too.

On the New York side of the Hudson, the first celebration of Saint Patrick's Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1766. The parades were held as political and social statements because the Irish immigrants were being treated unfairly.

New York's first Saint Patrick's Day Parade was held on the 17th of March, 1762 (The Irish Society of Boston organized what was the first Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the colonies on March 17, 1737). It took place on lower Broadway in 1762 and was attended by a band of homesick Irish ex-patriots and Irish military serving with the British Army stationed in the American colonies in New York City. It occurred during a time when the wearing of green was a sign of Irish pride and was banned in Ireland. The parade participants reveled in the freedom to speak Irish, wear the green, sing Irish songs and play the pipes to Irish tunes that were very meaningful to the Irish immigrants who had fled their homeland.

Over the years Irish societies joined together at their respective meeting places and moved in a procession towards St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, St. James Church, or one of the many other Catholic churches in the city. However, as the years passed, the size of the parade increased and around the year 1851, as individual societies merged under a single grand marshal, the size of the parade grew.

Over time a new impressive St. Patrick's Cathedral was built on Fifth Avenue (dedicated 1879), and that's how the parade came to march up Fifth Avenue.

The New York parade has become the largest Saint Patrick's Day parade in the world. In a typical year, 150,000 marchers participate in it, including bands, firefighters, military and police groups, county associations, emigrant societies, and social and cultural clubs. And 2 million spectators line the streets.

The march up Fifth Avenue is always led by the 69th Infantry Regiment when the Commissioner of the parade asks the Commanding Officer if the 69th is ready. To which the response is "The 69th is always ready." New York politicians — or those running for office — are always found prominently marching in the parade. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch once proclaimed himself "Ed O'Koch" for the day, and he continues to don an Irish sweater and march every year up until 2003, even though he is no longer in office.

Today it remains a day and parade steeped in history, tradition and emotion. It also continues to make the news for its share of controversy.

Across the river in New Jersey, there is St. Patrick's Day history and tradition to be found as well.

In the midst of the American Revolution, General George Washington issued an official proclamation in recognition of St. Patrick's Day. In honor of the high percentage of Irish-born and Irish-American troops under his command, the proclamation declared March 17, 1780 a holiday for the Continental Army stationed in Morristown, New Jersey. It was the first holiday granted to the troops in two years. General Washington awarded this holiday "as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence."

This event became known as The St. Patrick's Day Encampment of 1780, and is thought to be the first St. Patrick's Day event in New Jersey.

These days as NYC is just a short ride away, many head to the Big Apple for the grand parade up Fifth Avenue.

There are, however, numerous places and ways the green is celebrated in the Garden State.

For example, every year, that encampment of 1780 in Morristown is recalled with the Washington's St. Patrick's Day Ball, fittingly held within a stone's throw of Washington's Headquarters National Park in the Morris County capital. An annual gala to benefit the established educational, arts, and cultural programming of the Irish American Cultural Institute (IACI), the evening is a blend of history, pageantry, music, and dance.

Many parades are to be found as well.

You can find out about many at, www.st-patricks-day.com website with information about celebrations in New Jersey and beyond. According to the site, there are parades in Belmar, Bergen County, Highlands, Atlantic City, Hoboken, Jersey City, Keansburg, Keyport, Morris County, Mount Holly, Newark, North Wildwood, Nutley, Ocean County, Ringwood, Seaside, Somerville, South Amboy, Sussex County, Trenton, Union County, West Hudson, West Orange and Woodbridge.

Back in Morristown, the parade day, set for March 13, starts with a mass at 10 a.m. at the Church of Assumption, off Maple Avenue. The parade itself kicks off at the corner of South and James Streets, and continues down South Street to Atno Avenue.

In all, some 20 bands march, and with an estimated 50,000 watching, it is billed as "the largest family oriented St. Patrick's Day in all of New Jersey."

So, as in New York, there are plenty of places in the Garden State to celebrate the wearin' of the Green.

For information about St. Patrick's Day in Morristown, see: www.iaci-usa.org/washington.html

Eric Model explores the "offbeat, off the beaten path overlooked and forgotten" on SIRIUS-XM Radio and at journeysinto.com.

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