Tom Deignan looks at the rich and diverse influence of the Irish in the South
Statistics regarding the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Savannah, Georgia, are well known. When the 2006 festivities kicked off on March 17 at Abercorn Street, not far from Forsyth Park, it was the 182nd time the Irish in and around Savannah celebrated their heritage. “This parade has been named the second largest Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the United States and rates as the largest annual single day celebration in the Southeastern United States,” parade chairman Jay Burke noted, adding that attendance to the parade has swelled to 400,000 in recent years.