Thurles did not disappoint this St Patrick’s Day.
An estimated 2,000 people turned up to what was a spectacular St Patrick’s parade in the Cathedral Town. The parade featured the breadth of talent in Thurles and the surrounding areas.
DAPA Studios and Dwan Academy entertained the crowd with dancing and gymnastics.
Both, the Thurles Musical Society and the Thurles Ukrainian Community Centre put on very colourful displays.
Tipperary Town’s CJ Kickham Band, the Sean Treacy Pipe Band marched to their own beat, providing those in attendance with music.
Thurles is probably best known for its sport. Local sports clubs Durlas Og, Peake Villa FC and Thurles Rugby Football Club made sure nobody was in doubt about why.
The villages surrounding Thurles were represented by the Two Mile Borris Transport Museum and the Clonoulty-Rossmore Vintage Club.
There was something for everyone and the variety of floats and groups shows off the very best Thurles has to offer.
The day’s festivities kicked off at 1pm with live music before the parade at 2:30pm.
The theme of this year’s parade was Youth: Our Hopes for the Future.
In that spirit, Luke Blackwell from the CBS Secondary School, Thurles was invited as this year’s guest of honour.
Luke won two prizes at this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Awards for this project titled, A statistical analysis of the wheelchair accessibility of different towns and a survey of public attitudes and awareness.
For his project, Luke came first in the individual intermediate social and behavioural science category and took home the National Disability Award.
After the parade, Thurles-Templemore Cathaoirleach Sean Ryan presented Luke with a special award for his research.
His participation in this year’s parade represents the work done by young people in Tipperary to make the future brighter. Young and old in Thurles turned out in an array of weird and wonderful costumes and had a lot of fun too.
Well done Thurles!
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