South Side Irish is the term that refers to the large Irish-American community on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois.

Contents 1 South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade 2 South Side Irish Song 3 Notable South Side Irish People 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade

The South Side Irish Parade is one of two annual St. Patrick's Day parades in Chicago. The South Side Irish Parade originally started in 1979. There was another South Side parade called the Southtown Parade started in the early 1950s. The original Southtown Parade route was on 79th Street from Ashland Avenue to Halsted Avenue in the St. Sabina Parish in Auburn Gresham neighborhood. The year after Richard J. Daley was elected mayor in 1955, he moved the Southtown Parade downtown and changed the name to the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The Southtown Parade ended in 1960. In 1979, families on the 109th block of S. Washtenaw and Talman streets (known forever in parade lore as the "Wee Folks of Washtenaw and Talman") began their own parade, simply marching around the block. The South Side Irish Parade was born. It has grown since then and was moved to its current route, down Western Avenue from 103rd Street to 115th Street through the Beverly and Morgan Park neighborhoods, in 1981. The parade, lead by the Chicago Stockyard Kilty Band and held on either the Sunday before or the Sunday of St. Patrick's Day every year, is considered to be one of the largest St. Patrick's Day community celebrations outside of Dublin. The 2008 parade was the 30th annual parade, which was held on Sunday, March 9, 2008^[1]. Of the two Chicago parades, the other being in downtown, the South Side Irish Parade is the more raucous occasion. The 2009 parade was presumably the last parade. On March 25, 2009, the South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee announced that they were not planning to stage a parade in its present form in March of 2010.^[2] They noted that the event had become too large for the community to accommodate and the difficulty in policing such a large crowd while maintaining the dignity of the event.

[edit] South Side Irish Song

Written by Tom Walsh, Tom Black and Terry McEldowney

We're the Windy City Irish-where the craic is always best
Where every day is Paddy's Day and everyone's a guest
If you're Irish on the North Side or Irish on the West
Welcome to the South Side come join our Irish Fest!

(Chorus) We're the South Side Irish as our fathers were before
We come from the Windy City and we're Irish to the core
From Bridgeport to Beverly from Midway to South Shore
We're the South Side Irish-Let's sing it out once more!

Our parents came from Mayo, from Cork and Donegal.
We come from Sabina, St. Kilian's and St. Gall
St. Leo, Visitation, Little Flower and the rest.
The South Side parishes are mighty-they're the best!

Chorus

We live on the South Side-Mayor Daley lived here too
The Greatest Irish Leader that Chicago ever knew
he was always proud of his South Side Irish roots!
So here's to Hizzonor to his memory we'll be true.

Chorus

We sing the songs our fathers sang when they were growing up
Rebel songs of Erin's Isle in South Side Irish Pubs
and when it comes to baseball-we have two favorite clubs
The Go-Go White Sox... and whoever plays the Cubs!

[edit] Notable South Side Irish People

[edit] See also

• Beverly, Chicago
• Bridgeport, Chicago
• Mount Greenwood, Chicago
• Clearing, Chicago
• Garfield Ridge, Chicago
• Canaryville, Chicago

[edit] External links

• South Side Irish Parade

[edit] References