Sunday, March 15, 2015

Cead Mile Failte


That means a hundred thousand welcomes in Irish, the language of kings.

Yesterday the St. Patrick's Day parade wound its way from City Hall, along Laurier Avenue and Bank Street, to Lansdowne Park. I snapped some shots, which I'll be sharing today, tomorrow, and Tuesday before moving onto other things. There is a large Irish population here in Ottawa and the surrounding area, and as such, it was a long parade group and a long route. There were a lot of people along the route, though I took my shots from places where gaps could be found, so the number of onlookers isn't quite that apparent.


I really liked these two big horses, bearing the parade's grand marshal in the carriage.


42 comments:

  1. A great day for the Irish!


    /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\\//\\//\\//\\\/


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  2. And a great day for Ottawa. The snow has melted and color has returned to the streets! Spring is upon us!

    Janis
    GDP

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  3. Interesting to know, William, here we have not a large Irish population and consequently not a St. Patrick's Day parade ...

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  4. Looks they want to please people, which has been saddened at with the cold has made.

    Tomás.

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  5. It looks a bit wet in the street for the parades.

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  6. A fun time of year, although it's not really celebrated much here.

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  7. Very nice! I saw a lot of green on the train today - I suspect we had a celebration somewhere too...

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  8. The horses are gorgeous and I do love a pipe band :)

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  9. Our parade is today. Small but effective. Good pipe bands and Guinness at an Irish pub after. Nice.

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  10. nice when a parade gets good turnout!

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  11. A combination of things make a good parade...colorful floats, lots of music, great weather and a good crowd. Then somebody like you takes advantage of the situation and gets great photos.

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  12. I think the sound was very present as well! ;)

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  13. I totally forgot about St. Patrick's Day. Looks like it was a lovely parade!

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  14. Looks like fun. I bet we had a parade....I missed it.

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  15. Fun, William. I also love the two horses, and I prefer to see two horses on carriages as opposed to just one.

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  16. That's a nice parade, but it would have been even more fun with some sun, I think.

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  17. Ah, what fun, William! St. Paddy would be pleased with these photos. :)

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  18. Our parade is today. It's windy but not too cold so there should be a lot of people out here too! Slainte!

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  19. @Cloudia: and those who'd like to be Irish!

    @Janis: oh, we've still got a lot of snow around, and got more of it in the night.

    @Karl: there wouldn't be in your part of Europe.

    @Tomas: there was actually freezing rain falling during the parade.

    @Marianne: this time of year, it's to be expected.

    @Luis: so do I.

    @Halcyon: it all depends on where you are.

    @Hilary: it was.

    @Aimee: it's a good celebration.

    @Grace: I like the pipes too.

    @Birdman: the pubs will be busy on Tuesday.

    @Tex: even in this weather.

    @Red: I was lucky getting these shots in.

    @Marleen: I love the sound of the pipes.

    @Tamago: it's very big here. I'll have to wear something green on Tuesday.

    @Judy: some of them here are on Saturday, some on Sunday.

    @Linda: these two were huge.

    @Jan: sun on a parade like this seems to be rare!

    @EG: and St. Paddy will be forthcoming!

    @RedPat: hopefully a crack smoking ex-mayor stays away!

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    Replies
    1. I wonder if they were Clydesdales. Whatever they are, they are beautiful and majestic.

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  20. Love this! My only St. Patrick's Day parade was a few years ago in... London!

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  21. I love the big horses too. The bagpipers are neat too. Pouring rain here---boo hiss!
    MB

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  22. Didn't realize Canada celebrated St. Paddy's day, too! Good shots!

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  23. @Sharon: I'm glad that shot came through.

    @Norma: I saw some of the pics in Bob's blog!

    @Ciel: plenty of green, too.

    @VP: I enjoy attending these.

    @MB: more of it to come!

    @Jen: thanks!

    @Cheryl: we certainly do.

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  24. Sorry about the freezing rain. The photos are great!

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  25. March is a terrible time to have a parade. But I guess the Irish are hardy souls!

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  26. A hundred thousand thank yous for your welcomes? LOL

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  27. William we both had parades, I'm sure they were as splendid as each other...

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  28. i love their clothing ... i hope they were warm. brrr!! ( :

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  29. Freezing rain? That would dampen my enthusiasm!
    Those are gorgeous draft horses!

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  30. My children's father was of Irish descent. My daughter, Caitlin, did an independent project learning Gaelic! What a fun time of year for all!

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  31. Looks like Shire draft horses. That would make sense as they are an English breed.

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  32. Was there anything good to eat at the parade?

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  33. So love the stylish carriage. And the horses seem very intent on their serious duty.

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  34. @Joanna: freezing rain is the only winter weather I dislike.

    @Hamilton: but when else to have a St. Pats parade?

    @Eve: thank you!

    @Geoff: this one's a big one.

    @Beth: they were well dressed for it.

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  35. @Kay: that they are.

    @Jennifer: I've got no Irish in me.

    @Mari: they could be.

    @Whisk: oddly no, that's left to the pubs!

    @Gemma: they were!

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