Macroom’s St Patrick’s Day parade sees bumper to bumper pre-bypass traffic return

The rain held off and the streets of Macroom were thronged to welcome the town’s traditional St. Patrick’s Day parade, featuring a steam engine, massive tractors, local sporting clubs and the, guests of honour, all the way from Pennsylvania, Philadelphi’s Woodland String Band.

The Woodland String Band and around 100 followers brought the parade to a colourful finale as they made a welcome return to the town, three years after their last visit to participate in the festivities were so rudely interrupted by the onset of the Covid pandemic and associated lockdown. 

That year the band and its 100 supporters from Pennsylvania, the state named after Macroom’s own William Penn, had to spend a week locked down in Macroom’s Castle Hotel while they awaited their return flights. 

This week the band has been royally entertained with music sessions and other festivities such as school visits and a 70s night.   But the climax of their weeklong visit to mid Cork was their participation in the town’s St Patrick’s Day parade, the first of the post bypass era as N22 bypass is taking the bulk of the traffic off the town’s streets since before Christmas. 

The Flower of Macroom, Aoife Ní Cholmáin, was the Grand Marshall of the Parade and she got a military escort as she was chauffeur driven in a classic car along the town’s Main Street.    

Then Minnie Mouse paved the way for the award winning Cullen Pipe and Drum band as they played their traditional take on Irish airs before townspeople greeted a motorcade of vintage vehicles from the Muskerry Vintage Club.   The bumper to bumper traffic recalled for many the days of pre bypass Macroom during the first parade of the bypass era!