I have several Irish friends who find it all acutely embarrassing, being so blatantly Irish. My father was a bit like that, a shy Irishman practising medicine in England. We never celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in the English town where I grew up, except for the Cronin girls, who always used to arrive at school with shamrock as big as broccoli tacked to their jackets. They got it in the post, they told us, direct from Ireland. They used to give bits to kids who claimed to be Irish, so most kids did, even the Italians.
For me, there is nothing quite like sailing down Ste. Catherine’s Street with John Meaney’s gang of citizens on the Kirkland boat-float to the tune of the “Stripper” played by their own brass band. Meaney is a real Montreal Irish, born and brought up in Griffintown. Montreal Irishman of the Year 2009, he led the parade last year. He doesn’t get sentimental about his childhood community, but his pride is palpable …

See the full article from “Montreal Gazette”