Mullingar needs you for St Patrick's Day

Síofra Grant

Heroes and creatures from Ireland’s past will be taking to the streets of Mullingar this St Patrick’s Day, and the organising committee are looking for more help ahead of the big day.

This year’s theme, Myths and Legends, has been announced by the Mullingar parade organising committee, who are busy with preparations for March 17.

Mythology is a huge part of Ireland’s cultural heritage, and it’s woven into the fabric of Westmeath, through places like the Hill of Uisneach and Lough Derravaragh.

The legend of The Children of Lír, who lived on Lough Derravaragh, will be acknowledged on St Patrick’s Day, says Seamus Dunne, one of the organising committee, who said they are hoping to acquire a “20 foot swan” for the day.

The parade will also pay homage to some of the local legends who sadly passed away in the last year.

“So you talk about legends, we were thinking you could focus on the fantasy and ancient history side of it, but you can also focus on local legends that may have done a lot for the town,” said Seamus.

One of those local legends was in many ways the inspiration behind this year’s theme – the late great Manchán Magan, who moved to Westmeath in 1997 and dedicated his life to documenting and sharing the history, culture, language, and magic of this Island.

“Manchán has such a great legacy, you could see that by the amount of people that paid tributes to him online, including Bressie.

“We went with this theme because Manchán unfortunately passed away in the year gone by and he was a big lover of history, culture, and mythical legends.

“We’re hoping to do it as a tribute to him.”

The planning behind the parades is meticulous and this year’s committee are aiming to match the success of 2025, which drew a record breaking attendance.

In an effort to raise funds for the festivities, the committee are hosting a launch event on February 3 in the Annebrook House Hotel, when there will be a table quiz, further information about what’s to come, finger food, and raffle prizes.

The St Patrick’s festival will run over several days, starting with the Westlife Brunch, also in the Annebrook on Sunday March 15.

The committee are hoping to repeat some of last year’s events as well.

“Last year we had the Trad Trail as part of the festival.

That was six pubs that all had trad music, so you could go between them.

“Ruth Illingworth, local historian, will do historic walks, she’ll guide people around and talk about the history of Mullingar and local legends. But not just local, she’s clued in with Irish history and mythical culture.”

Seamus has high hopes that this year will be better than ever.

“There will already be a massive buzz in Mullingar as well because the half marathon is on the morning of St Patrick’s Day as well.”

The committee anticipate more events to be announced and confirmed in the coming weeks.

“There should be a good few things planned from different premises in the town, and we’re hoping to have a fun fair as well.”

Currently they are working on sponsorship and funding, insurance and health and safety requirements.

“At the moment there are four or five of us on the committee, there were only two or three a few weeks ago to organise the whole thing, so it’s quite difficult, but more people are starting to come on from the last few years.

“We have to raise funds for it, we do get brilliant support from Westmeath County Council, who gives grants, we get brilliant support from the gardaí because they have to work with us with road closures and all that.”

“We have to organise barriers, obviously you can’t have the parade without safety, and then there’s insurance. There are loads of other things to think about like organising volunteers. You need two volunteers at least at every road closure.

So it’s a lot of things to put together.” “We’re hoping to make it bigger and better,” Seamus concluded.