Thousands brave cold for East Islip’s 60th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade

Irish dance students spun and soared beneath a crisp blue sky. Bagpipers and drummers, clad in kilts despite the cold, filled the air with rousing marching tunes. And a drum major, towering in a bearskin hat, strode down Montauk Highway with a steely gaze and unwavering posture.

They were among the thousands of participants and spectators who turned out for East Islip’s 60th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, one of the earliest celebrations of the Irish Catholic holiday on Long Island, on Sunday afternoon.

Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 7, an Irish Catholic fraternal organization that has organized the parade since 1966, led the procession in top hats and Irish tricolor sashes. Other members followed in leprechaun and shamrock-bedazzled golf carts. More than a half-dozen pipe and marching bands came next — including the Roisin Dubh Pipe Band, St. Anthony’s High School Pipe Band from South Huntington, the East Islip Fire Department, and other police, fire department and area groups.

East Islip’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade was organized in 1966 by John P. Reilly, a schoolteacher who passed away in 2006, according to Hibernian James Connolly. The parade has grown into one of the hamlet’s major cultural events, supported by its large Irish American community, Connolly said.

“East Islip has a tremendous Irish American community. There were a lot of Irish immigrants who came over and worked in the Central Islip Psychiatric Center — as nurses and doctors — and that’s kind of been the genesis of the community,” he told Newsday.

The local branch of the Hibernians is named for Our Lady of Knock, a shrine in County Mayo, Ireland that is a Catholic pilgrimage site. The East Islip-based group selects a grand marshal to organize the parade, held each year on the first Sunday in March.

“This is our parade, it’s our community parade,” said John Davis, this year’s grand marshal.

The Hibernians carry out a variety of charitable work throughout the year, including a Christmas party for less fortunate kids in the community, Davis said.

Several founding members of the local chapter, which was created in 1963, marched or rode in vehicles in the parade Sunday.

“It’s a great parade. There’s no two ways about that,” said Charlie Fagan, a charter member of the Hibernians chapter, adding the parade has been blessed with mostly good weather over the years.

Sunday’s parade featured a commingling of cultures.

Color guards carried the Irish and American flags side by side, while group of karate students from Shaolin of East Islip in black dogis who punched and blocked their way down the street.

Young and old community members thronged the sidewalks for over a mile, imbibing Irish stouts, ales and nonalcoholic drinks as well as noshing on snacks — both Irish and not-so-Irish: takeout from the Irish Coffee Pub, pretzels sold from street vendors and wraps from Shrimpy’s Burrito Bar, among other food trucks.

Local residents John and Jackie Diaz said they have attended the parade for decades, which holds a special resonance for them as Irish Americans. John’s mother immigrated from Roscommon, Ireland, to Ellis Island in the 1920s, he said.

“Our son actually had a genealogy thing done, and we found a relative who’s still in Ireland,” Jackie said.

Connolly said he is reminded of the sacrifices made by his own father, who left Ireland in the 1950s, each St. Patrick’s Day.

“I think about my father, who had to leave his country, come to a new land, leaving his family, meeting his wife, and starting with nothing,” he said. “He started a family, five children. This is about honoring him.”