Two days before St. Patrick’s Day, the O’Neill clan was parked along Blake Street ready to show off their Irish Pride.
Pride that has followed this family back to the Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade for 36 years.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s the luck of the Irish, but we got engaged 36 years ago today,” said Nancy O’Neill of Aurora. “My in-laws were engaged on this day, and so was my son.”
The O’Neills were among an estimated 200,000 spectators at the 46th annual Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday.
The three-hour parade kicked off at 10 a.m. with about 236 entries — bagpipers, step dancers and marching bands — with 10,000 marchers.
The O’Neills love the Denver parade, not just because it links their family to the past, but because it embraces everything O’Neill.
Everything Irish, that is.
“We’ve always had great times,” O’Neill said. “Now we bring our five leprechauns: Megan, Molly, Brady, Katie, and Brian. All of which have Irish names.”
And everywhere you looked, it was “Dublin to Denver . . . Shamrocks to Columbines.”
“I am pretty sure it’s the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade west of the Mississippi River,” said Tom Barry, a spokesman for the parade committee.
Cyndi Murren, a parade marshal, said close to 100 volunteers worked with the parade committee and its sponsors to bring the three-hour event to the city.
The parade received no funding from Denver.
In keeping with her family’s St. Patrick’s celebration, Megan O’Neill had a treat of her own for her nieces viewing the parade.
“I call it Aunt Megan’s magic potion,” said Megan, the eldest daughter of O’Neill clan. “It’s actually green food coloring that I add to the kids’ water, and they love it.”
As the parade drew to a close, the O’Neills were ready to head home for some traditional corned beef and cabbage.
Anna Haislip: 303-954-1638 or ahaislip@denverpost.com
