In many locations around Ireland, it was a day of dodging showers. A downpour in Galway ended just before the parade began. The rain held off in Cork, but puppet-watchers and float-fanciers had to endure blustery conditions. In the pictures below, the people of Bantry grin valiantly in what look like quintessentially miserable St Patrick’s Day conditions. In Dublin, the sun shone on parade grand marshal Vogue Williams and a few hundred thousand others. And if you weren’t too exposed to the wind or rain, temperatures were mild for March 17th, hitting 14 degrees in many towns and cities as Ireland reached peak parade.
The St Patrick’s Day parade in Kilkenny. Photograph: Liam Murphy 
Kilkenny parade. Photograph: Liam Murphy 
Performers from Polish Arts Festival in Limerick City. Photograph: Don Moloney 
Dún Laoghaire. Photograph: Mark Stedman 
Sisters Imogen (6) and Elodie Barry (8) in Dún Laoghaire. Photograph: Mark Stedman 
Eight-year-olds Kaizen Aquino and Hillary Tapiwan watch the Dún Laoghaire parade. Photograph: Mark Stedman 
Members of the local men’s shed in the Dún Laoghaire St Patrick’s Day Parade. Photograph: Mark Stedman 
Taekwondo Tigers in the Dún Laoghaire parade. Photograph: Mark Stedman 
Twins Seánín and Dáithí Fortune of Cavan Gaels GAA club in the Cavan town parade. Photograph: Lorraine Teevan 
Catherine Connolly impersonator at the Galway parade. Photograph: Hany Marzouk 
Enjoying the Bantry parade, despite some wet weather, was Seán Harnedy from Caheragh. Photograph: Andy Gibson 
Michael and Michaela Lebe from Germany at the Bantry parade. Photograph: Andy Gibson