When Sarah McAuliffe-Bellin learned she would be the grand marshal for Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year, she realized that she wasn’t familiar with the details of her pending trip through Downtown streets.
“I’ve never been close enough to the front to see the grand marshal. I always am way in the back,” she said. “I believe I do get a sash. But whether it’s a car or a horse and wagon or a truck or a bicycle built for two, I have no idea. I will be up front, though I’m pretty sure I’m behind the bishop.”
In addition to Bishop David A. Zubik of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, the lineup for Saturday’s parade of more than 20,000 participants includes the traditional throng of police and firefighters, city and county officials, marching bands and mascots, and athletes and celebrities. Oh, and Miss Smiling Irish Eyes and her court.
The parade, which will begin at 10 a.m. and follow its usual route from Liberty Avenue and 11th Street to the reviewing stand at the Boulevard of the Allies and Stanwix Street, dates back to 1869, though there were entire decades when Pittsburgh didn’t have one. The current tradition — with the exception of a few snow-related cancellations — was revived in 1950 by Mayor David L. Lawrence. More than 200,000 people, depending on the weather, line the streets to applaud it. Temperatures can range from 70 degrees and beautiful as in 2012 or a record-setting blizzard as in 1993.
This year is special to the Irish community because it marks the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising that led to Ireland’s status as a free republic. The centennial will be marked in Pittsburgh with numerous special events the weekend of April 15-17.
But first comes St. Patrick’s Day and the parade, one of the largest in the country.
“I’m always amazed by how many people show up and really get into the spirit of the celebration,” Ms. McAuliffe-Bellin said. “It may not necessarily be how I celebrate it, or how it’s celebrated by a lot of the people I know in the community who live their Irish identity more than one day a year. But it’s great to see people clap and have a good time and to see so many children coming out.”
A Scott resident, Ms. McAuliffe-Bellin said she is a study coordinator at a local teaching hospital and describes herself as being on the other side of 50. She also is president of the Pittsburgh/Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the Irish American Unity Conference. Serving as one of the co-chairs of Pittsburgh’s 2016 Easter Rising centenary effort, she said she was stunned when the Irish Society for Education & Charity named her grand marshal for this year’s parade.
Ms. McAuliffe-Bellin said she is three-quarters Irish but, of course, everyone claims to be part Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. And, to her, that’s wonderful.
“I learned at a very early age what being Irish was all about,” she said. “Part of it is that our family history is something to be very proud of. Our ancestors were very important back in Ireland. It’s important to be proud of who you are.
“And I think, for everyone, it’s really important to know what your roots are. The immigration story that we all have, if we forget that, it sort of means that we’re unable to appreciate newer immigrants and remember the connections with struggle and trying to make our way to the American success story. We all have to find a place in this wonderful melting pot.
“If anybody uses a nationality to denigrate another nationality, that’s different. But being proud of who you are and your family and what they encountered and needed to do to make our lives so much easier, I think that that’s valuable. And shouldn’t we all have a little bit of curiosity about where we’re from?”
Dan Majors: dmajors@post-gazette.com and 412-263-1456.
First Published: March 11, 2016, 5:00 a.m.