Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade to step off on Saturday after two-week postponement

The Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade will finally be marching up McLean Avenue on Saturday, April 6 after being postponed from Saturday, March 23.

The Parade, which is usually hosted the first Saturday after St. Patrick’s Day each year, was postponed on March 21 due to concerns about "extreme weather," mainly heavy rain.

Indeed, rain pelted the would-be parade route and local highways were subject to some flooding on March 23, proving organizers made the right call.

While the weather for April 6 doesn't look particularly warm or sunny, it thankfully looks dry. 

Organizers joked on Friday that they even managed to avoid an earthquake after a 4.8 magnitude quake rattled the east coast earlier that day.

Irish eyes are bound to smiling as the parade steps off at 1 pm outside the Chapel of St. Barnabas at McLean and Hyatt Avenues in Yonkers.

Deirdre O'Mara, a Dublin native and co-chairperson of the parade, previously said that an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 spectators lined McLean Avenue in 2023 to view the parade's nearly 6,000 marchers.

While there was understandable concern that the postponed parade might not draw the same crowds, in a stroke of luck, it was rescheduled to the same weekend as the sold-out Connacht GAA Senior Football Championship quarter-final which will be played in nearby Gaelic Park on Sunday afternoon.

The annual match, this year a showdown between New York and Mayo, is always a bolster to the Irish American community of Yonkers and neighboring Woodlawn as people travel from far and wide to attend - or, at least watch in one of the local Irish pubs and restaurants. The influx of traffic is likely to be good news for the parade and, in turn, local businesses, many of them Irish-owned.

Earlier in the week, organizers shared the line of march for the rescheduled parade. The first groups will step off at 1 pm, with the final group setting out at 2:10 pm.

Moira Kiernan, a long-time Parade Committee member, is serving as Grand Marshal of the 67th Yonkers St. Patrick's Day Parade on McLean Avenue. The eight aides to the Grand Marshal are Martin Bellew, Marge Delaney, Dawn Doherty, Ailish Doran, Andrew Hayden, Andrew McLaughlin, Jennifer McSpedon, and Kiera O'Connor.