40. The St. Patrick's Day Parade: The Real History

The St. Patrick's Day Parade is the centrepiece of celebrations of Ireland's patron saint the world over. But how did it start--and just who started it? In this episode Fin and Damian are joined by noted historian of the Irish aboard, Dr Cian McMahon, who is currently working on a new history of the Parade. In a far-reaching episode we discuss the Parade's origins, influences and legacy down to contemporary times. Among the nuggets Cian discusses are the misconceptions that ihe Parade's origins are as a Catholic Irish American event, and the idea that Dublin's Parade has been increasingly "Americanised."

Cian T. McMahon is Professor of History at the Department of History and Honors College at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He was the co-editor of The Routledge History of Irish America and is the author The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine and The Global Dimensions of Irish Identity: Race, Nation and the Popular Press, 1840-1880.

Listen to Cian discuss his Coffin Ship book with Fin on the Irish History Podcast here

Read about some early St. Patrick's Day horrors in Temple Bar, involving a giant St. Patrick, a pint, and a plastic bag: https://www.thejournal.ie/st-patrick-temple-bar-pub-6968056-Feb2026/ 

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