Coleman’s shamrock painting tradition continues despite ‘sludgey’ semi-frozen paint – This is CNY

Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Rick Carlesco (middle) stands with his fellow painters over the shamrock they painted on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan)

The paint almost froze but the party went on.

Due to below-freezing temperatures on Tipperary Hill Tuesday morning, the traditional shamrock painting outside of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub had some textural difficulties.

One painter described the semi-frozen green paint as “sludgey.”

“It was 60 [degrees] when I bought the paint,” said Dennis Coleman, third-generation owner of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub.

He bought the green paint yesterday, and said it “stayed in the car all night.”

Shivering on the frozen sidewalk and peering through the pub windows, people watched as painters shaped a shamrock on the pavement with plastic brooms.

Even with the frigid difficulties, the tradition drew a crowd, some even traveling to Syracuse specifically for the celebration.

Paul and Debra Sweeney have a tradition of traveling up from Pennsylvania.

“We live on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border in Greencastle,” Paul Sweeney said. “We’ve been coming and journeying up here for 19 years.”

Tipperary Hill shamrock painting Debra and Paul Sweeney stand beside the newly painted shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Debra’s hand is green with paint after she stamped her handprint onto Paul’s shirt in a shamrock shape. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan)

Before the paint could completely freeze over on the sidewalk, Debra dipped her hand into the shamrock to stamp green handprints on Paul’s shirt.

After the shamrock was officially completed, crowds escaped the cold to continue celebrating in the pub, tracking green footprints through the snow and onto the sidewalk.

“I honestly think it was the best shamrock I’ve seen in the past few years, despite the conditions,” Coleman said. “I think they did a really good job, even with bad paint.”

Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Rick Carlesco (middle) stands with his fellow painters over the shamrock they painted on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Rick Carlesco, one of the painters, gives a small speech before the painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub begins on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters step on the ‘sludgey’ green paint used to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint People in the crowd photograph and take videos of the shamrock painting outsideColeman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters step on the ‘sludgey’ green paint used to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters step on the ‘sludgey’ green paint used to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters brush green paint with brooms to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters step on the ‘sludgey’ green paint used to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters brush green paint with brooms to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Debra Sweeney stamps her handprint on the back of Paul Sweeney’s shirt with paint from the shamrock on the road by Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Debra and Paul Sweeney stand beside the newly painted shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Debra’s hand is green with paint after she stamped her handprint onto Paul’s shirt in a shamrock shape. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters step on the ‘sludgey’ green paint used to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters step on the ‘sludgey’ green paint used to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Brooms were left green-tipped after their use in the painting of the shamrock outside of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters step on the ‘sludgey’ green paint used to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Debra and Paul Sweeney stand beside the newly painted shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Painters step on the ‘sludgey’ green paint used to create the shamrock on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Green footprints are left on the road and snow as paint from the shamrock painted on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub is tracked from shoes on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Rick Carlesco hugs a friend over the shamrock after the painting on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub is completed on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Rick Carlesco (middle) stands with his fellow painters over the shamrock they paitned on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Green footprints are left on the road and snow as paint from the shamrock painted on the road in front of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub is tracked from shoes on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint People enter Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub after the shamrock painting on the road outside on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Green paint is cleaned off the floor of Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub after it was tracked inside on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub features various merchandise in their gift shop. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Rick Carlesco wears his pins celebrating every year he has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. His very first one is dated from 1981. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Rick Carlesco wears his pins celebrating every year he has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. His very first one is dated from 1981. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Rick Carlesco wears his pins celebrating every year he has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. His very first one is dated from 1981. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint Bartenders serve customers celebrating in Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint People celebrate in Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub after the shamrock painting on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan) Shamrock painting at Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub sees ‘sludgey’ paint People celebrate in Coleman’s Authentic Irish Pub after the shamrock painting on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Ella Chan/Ella Chan)