LIMERICK native and award winning actor Jon Kenny will take on another role next week when he leads this year’s Limerick St Patrick’s Day Parade as Grand Marshal.
The ‘Angela’s Ashes’, ‘D’Unbelievables’ and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ star is looking forward to a big turnout for the parade which will give people the opportunity to discover all that Limerick has to offer.
“There is no better occasion than to take a trip into town on St Patrick’s Day and line the streets. It’s something I did when our lads were smaller and the parade was just something that we did,” he explained.
“It is a big thing in the year for us. So, get up off the armchairs lads, get out there and get into town and do a bit. Wave your auld flags for the day!””
Calling Limerick home is special to Jon and he hopes that those who visit Limerick over the St Patrick’s Festival weekend think the same.
“Being part of this society or community, this greater thing called Limerick you just begin to identify, I suppose we are part of a tribe, in a nice way.
“It’s brilliant to feel you belong to part of something and to carry it with you in your work when you go away. It’s amazing no matter where I’ve been or performed whether you are in New York or Toronto or London or Belfast or any place or even in Dublin people come up to you and they say ‘you’re from Limerick aren’t you?’”
“I’m part of that group of people like a lot of people from County Limerick who are artists and musicians who have to travel for a living and so we do carry Limerick with us no matter where we go and with great pride.”
Limerick’s St.Patrick’s Festival celebrations will burst into life with a weekend of family fun activities, two parades and a feast of action at the heart of the Bank Holiday weekend.
Tens of thousands of spectators will be thrilled by the 2023 version of the Limerick St Patrick’s Day parade, with over 1,500 people set to march down O’Connell Street and Henry Street before finishing on Rutland Street from noon on Friday, March 17.
The “Discover Limerick” theme will be to the fore of this year’s parade, with Viking warriors reminding us all of who “discovered” Limerick first.
A digital guide outlining the festival events is available here
