When the Hibernian Society led those first parades through downtown Savannah nearly 200 years ago, they were followed by families proudly sporting their Irish American bona fides. In the years since, however, the parade took on less of a family affair and transformed into something akin to a sloshfest — but called a festival — of which the centerpiece parade grew into a three-hour intermission.
After a two-year COVID-induced hiatus, the City of Savannah voted to implement a series of changes to scale-down the event, a welcome return to those calmer days when celebrating the city's Irish-American heritage gave it heart and purpose. The parade once again will wind — slowly — through downtown with some familiar family clans leading the way. Among them: the Butlers, the McCarthys, and the Fogartys.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
‘Big Family Day’
Tom Butler Jr. represents the fifth generation of Butlers to march in the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. He and his brother started young, walking with their father, Tommy Sr., who was a member of the Irish Heritage Society. A few years later, Tom and six siblings (one brother and five sisters) strolled with their classmates at Blessed Sacrament. In high school, he and his brother marched alongside their fellow cadets at Benedictine Military School.
In 1984, he and his wife Lisa, who grew up on Tybee, helped decorate a pickup truck, the first “float” emblazoned with the Tommy Butler family banner. Now that the family has grown to include 14 nieces and nephews and 22 great-nieces and -nephews, they need two floats.
“It’s a big family day,” he said with evident pride.
Tom has passed the planning and decorating down to the next generation. But, one thing’s for sure, just like generations before, they’ll all gather in Madison Square after they finish walking for a picnic and to watch the end of the parade.
Credit: Special Photo
Credit: Special Photo
'Cart of McCarthys'
If Michael McCarthy, who came to Savannah from County Mayo in 1851, could see his legacy, he would bear witness to four generations of McCarthys marching together on Thursday, led by his great-great-great grandson Patrick McCarthy.
Pat’s father, Michael, now 91, in 1972 founded the Fenian Society, one of the sponsors of the annual Celtic Cross Ceremony. As in years past, the Fenians will gather once again for breakfast on March 17 before joining their families for the parade. The McCarthys will ride on the decorated farm trailer that has served as their float for the past several, said Pat’s wife Gail, after years of walking the parade route, first under the shade of umbrellas and then with their growing broods in strollers and wagons.
Credit: Special Photo
Credit: Special Photo
“We called it a ‘cart of McCarthys,’” she said.
The sixth and seventh generation of McCarthys, which includes 17 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren who will come in from all over for the celebration, will keep the tradition alive. After the parade, they all will gather at Pat’s parents’ home in Thunderbolt for a family meal.
Fogarty 'family reunion'
Edward, Pat, Mike, and Lynn Fogarty – part of the extended Fogarty clan that includes John, Ed’s son, who is general chairman of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee – have been marching together, sometimes riding on a handmade float adorned with an eponymous banner, for upwards of 25 years now.
Their roots here, though, were planted when their great-grandfather migrated from England to the United States in the early years of the 20th century. He was a ship captain, a merchant marine, who moved from England to Boston, before relocating to work at the port of Savannah. He got married, had kids, and founded a turpentine factory. He went back out to sea to fight in World War II, where he died.
Credit: Savannah Morning News file photo
Credit: Savannah Morning News file photo
Three Fogarty’s have served as the parade’s grand marshal: William L. Fogarty in 1986, John J. Fogarty in 1950, and Thomas J. Fogarty, the Savannah Fire Chief, in 1937.
They have lots of stories to tell.
Mike, now 65, remembers marching as a 10-year-old alongside other Irish Catholic middle schoolers. “It was not the big party it is today,” he explained. “It was really just a parade.”
When their brother Chris passed away 10 years ago, Lynn Fogarty, along with Chris’ son, also named Chris, honored Chris’s last wishes to spread his ashes throughout the parade route, from the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist onward.
“When he got sick, he got real sentimental,” said Mike. “He started marching in fifth grade at St. James.”
“He really enjoyed the parade. He was one of the ones who really got into building the float,” said Lynn.
During preparations for the last parade n 2019, John Fogarty remembers getting an unexpected call from the U.S. Secret Service. Then-Vice President Mike Pence wanted to attend.
How did he deal with them?
“Do whatever they say,” John said with a chortle.
More: Savannah St. Patrick's Day is back, and Grand Marshal Danny Powers is ready
Security amplified. Snipers lined rooftops. Protestors and supporters gathered behind double-stacked barricades.
It’s not unusual for the parade committee to encounter major political figures. Before he was elected the 39th U.S. President, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter took part in the parade. This year, John Fogarty said, the Irish Minister of Justice Helen McEntee will be making an appearance at the parade, as will mayors from counties in Ireland.
But for him, and his uncles, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade is really like “a family reunion.”
History: Timeline: St. Patrick's party changes marked by gates, wristbands, porta-potties, snakes
Other branches of the Fogarty family, distant relatives originally hailing from County Tipperary in Ireland, will march alongside them. A couple of years ago, a Fogarty family from Australia, who was on vacation in Savannah, marched with them.
“I see people from third and fourth grade,” said Mike. “And they look a little different. You’re reconnecting with friends and family. And then after the parade, we'll go to one of the squares and have a Thanksgiving or Christmas basically.”
On the menu: Mike's slow-cooked corned beef sandwiches.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: 'Family reunion': Savannah's legacy families celebrate return of St. Patrick's Day parade
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