About Us:
The St. Patrick's Day Parade and Faire Committee meets each month to discuss upcoming events and plan community activities.
The St. Patrick's Day Parade and Faire Committee is composed by a group of hard working elected individuals that make the Phoenix St. Patrick's Day Parade and Faire happen. Each year they spend many hours meeting and planning this event to make sure each year is better than the last. For more information on each of these individuals, please click the 'View Profile' link next to the individual's name.
Our History:
The Phoenix St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee began in 1983 to preserve and enhance the heritage and traditions of the Irish Culture as well as share that culture with our fellow citizens of Arizona. The Phoenix St. Patrick's Day Parade is one of the largest parades in Arizona second only to the Fiesta Bowl Parade.
Lorraine Flynn, owner of the Irish Cottage, a gift shop then located on Camelback Road was one of the founders of the St. Patrick's Day Parade. She remembers inviting a group of community members to hold their meetings in her shop for the purpose of planning a St. Patrick's Day Parade. Members of the first committee included Lorraine's husband, Mike Flynn, Chuck Collins, John Corcoran, John Dacey, Mike Dumas, Ed Hannan, Maureen Hannon, Frank and Eileen Leavy, Seamus McCaffrey, John McKeever, Bill Quinn, Audrey Rajec, Dottie Wood, Paul Kennedy, Tim Moynihan and Jim Cunningham. The meetings were later moved to Paul Kennedy's office. Our current Parade Committee still lists a number of these early visionaries on its Board today.
City Councilman, Howard Adams arranged to have a green stripe painted down Central Avenue for the first parade. The original parade started on Virginia Ave. and went to McDowell. The first parades did not feature fabulous floats because money was scarce in those days and bands were hard to get also because the parade happened during spring break when many high schools were on vacation. So in the early years it mainly consisted of decorated cars and people on foot carrying signs and flags. Maureen O'Hannon made the flags of Ireland's thirty-two counties. Lorraine said that everyone had fun. Kids helped with the decorations as well as volunteers who were not members of the parade committee. People like Kathy Adams (Howard Adams daughter), Father Joe Gillespie and Tim Hogan worked hard to insure the early parades were successful. Bob Graham, who started The Desert Shamrock, was also a big help promoting and shaping the event.
