Scenes from the 49th annual Brooklyn St. Patrick's Day Parade

Some 6,000 people showed up on a gorgeous Sunday to watch locals march, celebrate and imbibe

The 49th iteration of the annual Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade — the oldest in the borough — took place on a gloriously sunny, springlike Sunday, bringing attendees from all over the city to watch, cheer, imbibe and celebrate. Many of the folks who came out were not only locals, but many had been born and raised in the neighborhood and are now raising their own kids here.

“Me and my sister walked in the parade when we were kids and now we’re bringing our kids to watch the parade too,” said Claire Sweeney a 37-year-old stay at home mom of three. ”Both my sister and I still live in the neighborhood. Our children are growing up together like they’re siblings; we bring them to the parade every year, our parents still live here and the best thing is we know everyone.”

Retired bus mechanic Tom Aversion, 61, rocks the pipes (Photo by Stephanie Keith)

Organized by the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade got its start in 1975 as a way for locals of Irish descent to celebrate their shared heritage and to commemorate the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776. Officials estimate that 6,000 people attended Sunday’s parade to watch the marching bands, dancers, community groups, bagpipers and local organizations march by. Clann Eireann Irish Pipe Band, the oldest in the U.S., kicked things off along with with Irish step dancers from the Buckley School of Dance.

Dancers form the Buckley School of Irish Dance get to steppin’ (Photo by Stephanie Keith)

Parade co-chair Michelle Brennan stood, mic-in-hand, in Bartel-Pritchard Square, at the 15th Street entrance to Prospect Park, wearing a flowing green shirt, calling out the participant groups as they passed by. Most she knew by name, making the largest borough in the country’s largest city feel more like a small town: “The.Academy of Irish Dance. Erin O’Donnell is a Director. IS 107 track team, Diane Ditono, the head coach. Alongside of them is John Brennan with the NYPD. The Brooklyn Irish LGBTQ organization now, Lisa Marie, Matthew McMorrow with the cofounders …”

From left: Windsor Terrace neighbors Laura Szapiro, 70, Terry Skinner, 63, and Ann Dolan, 86, chat on the sidelines (Photo by Stephanie Keith)

She called out families who not only had a hand in starting the parade nearly a half-century ago but still live in the area. The Brennans. The McDonoughs. The Buckleys. The Carrolls.

The parade itself started in front of Nighthawk Cinema, wound through Park Slope along Seventh Avenue and then looped around to Prospect Park West back to Bartel-Pritchard Square for performances by local groups including The Buckley School of Irish Dance and the Xaverian High School Pipe and Drum band. Kathleen McDonagh, the 80-year-old founder of the parade, was on hand striding through the square with her Irish flag and Irish colored sash. Before, during and after the parade, hundreds of green-attired revelers gathered inside and out of the historic Farrell’s Bar, the unofficial parade afterparty.

Revelers at Farrell’s Bar, including Juice Standerwick, 66, dressed as a leprechaun (Photo by Stephanie Keith)

“I had to come support my Irish roots and have fun,” said Michael Carrano, 28, half Italian and half Irish, who grew up in Park Slope and still lives there. “I’m watching my kid watch the parade, that’s about it. I used to walk in the parade when I was a kid as well.”

Here are a few more scenes from Sunday’s festivities.