Every Galway town and village Saint Patrick’s Day parade route times including big city event
Gort’s St Patricks Day parade is famous for its fierce but fun competition, craic, and its vintage machinery and vehicles
St Patrick’s Day is always a highlight in Co Galway, with the city, towns and villages across the county buzzing as volunteers have already been grafting away for weeks ahead of the big celebration.
Clifden, Tuam, Gort, Athenry and Ballinasloe are amongst the renowned parades promising even more craic, ceol and colour on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.
Our rundown features a parade close to you, so dust off your green gear and your buckled brogues, and get stuck in with the festivities.
Ballinasloe
This year’s St Patrick’s Parade will gather at the Fair Green at 13:30 on Tuesday 17 March, and following some pre-parade entertainment, the procession will kick off at 14:00 on the dot. The route will travel along Society Street towards Main Street, up Slí Na hAbhann, down past Dunlo Street before concluding at a viewing stand in St Michael Square
This parade, led by a Grand Marshall who is yet to be announced, will embrace the National Feastday as its theme, inviting participants to celebrate or showcase any topic they fancy.
The parade will hand out cash prizes for the finest displays across five categories – Culture, Education, Voluntary Groups, Sporting and Commercial – plus the Tony Colohan Award for the overall champion.
Ballinasloe St. Patrick’s Day parade in previous years
Tuam
Tuam’s St Patrick’s Day parade will likewise be getting underway at 2pm on Tuesday 17 March, following the same route as 2026 – starting down on Link Road and making its way up to Shop Street, then onwards to the Reviewing Stand and onto Bishop Street, wrapping up back at the Link Road. The theme for this year’s parade is ‘Health is better than Wealth’ and there will be a prize for the best window display in the town.
St Patrick’s Day Parade in Tuam in 2022(Image: Tuam St. Patrick’s Day Parade facebook)
Loughrea
Loughrea’s parade will get underway at 1pm on Tuesday 17 March, with participants gathering at 12.30pm in Barrack Street Car Park. This year’s theme is “Connections”.
Organisers are determined to “bring everyone together, entertainers, dancers, and musicians, and make this a bigger better parade than last year”.
Gort
In the south of Galway, the Gort community has once again put together a brilliant parade that will feature numerous local businesses, schools and clubs from the area. The parade will commence at 12.30pm on St. Patrick’s Day with the theme being “Our Community”.
Gort has all the prizes ready for the parade(Image: Gort St Patrick facebook)
Athenry
Athenry’s parade will begin at approximately 11.30am, with the theme ‘Together we’re more than the sum of our parts’ to celebrate the United Nations ‘International Year of Co-operatives’.
Abbeyknockmoy’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is widely celebrated for its creativity(Image: Abbeyknockmoy Community page – Facebook)
Abbeyknockmoy
The Abbeyknockmoy parade will start at 2pm and the village is making a particularly special effort to share their parade with the local diaspora. They will livestream the parade from the Judges’ Viewing Stand.
Clifden
The stunning coastal town’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place on Tuesday 17th March at 12:30pm. There will be entertainment on the Town Square, live music, a kids disco and much more.
The village of Craughwell has big plans for St Patrick’s Day (Image: Craughwells St Patricks Day Celebrations facebook)
Craughwell
Craughwell has witnessed plenty of imaginative and creative floats glide through their annual parade, but for 2026 the village is presenting something special – the inaugural 2026 Craughwell St. Patrick’s Day trophy. Their parade will deliver the colour and craic to Craughwell from 3pm.
Moycullen
Moycullen’s St. Patrick’s Day parade kicks off at 2pm on Tuesday 17 March. Maigh Cuillin CLG’s own All-Star and intercounty captain Ailbhe Davoren will serve as Grand Marshall on a proud day for the parish.
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The Forgotten Horses Ireland float from the 2022 Kinvara parade(Image: St. Patrick’s Day parade, Kinvara – Facebook)
Kinvara
Kinvara will stage its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade from 2pm on 17 March 2026. Kinvara’s parade is a highly anticipated event as the spectacle and standard witnessed here every year sees it regarded as the most ambitious little town in the entire country on St. Patrick’s Day.
The Tidy Towns crew, proud Kinvara folk who maintain the town sparkling, are at the heart of this year’s parade as their tremendous work is celebrated.
Oughterard
Oughterard St Patrick’s Day parade 2026 begins at 1pm and is an unmissable occasion. The village celebrates its 20th annual parade on Tuesday 17 March with an extra special effort made by local businesses, council and community groups to mark the anniversary.
Oughterard St. Patrick’s Day Parade(Image: Oughterard St. Patrick’s Day – iDonate)
Portumna
The Shannonside town is gearing up for an entire weekend of St. Patrick’s Festivities. Live Music, the Road Race and the town’s St Patrick’s day Parade are the main events.
On Tuesday, 17 March at 12pm, Portumna’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade gets going. Organisers have revealed that a higher number of parade entrants have already registered – they’re even laying on additional prizes given the bumper entry list.
Roundstone
The Connemara village is preparing to hold its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade from 2:30pm on Tuesday, 17 March – fundraising activities continue with 50/50 and 9 by 9s raffle tickets available in local shops and directly from organisers.
People out enjoying the 2024 St. Patrick’s Day Parade(Image: Arthur Carron/Collins Photos)
Galway city
Galway city’s St Patrick’s Festival parade in Galway begins at 11.00am on Tuesday 17 March.
The huge parade is the highlight of the four-day celebration of Irish culture and will serve as a platform to showcase the creativity of local artists and community groups.
The parade runs through Galway city centre for over one hour, with ‘Legends and Rising Stars’ confirmed as this year’s theme. This year, up to 3000 participants are expected to take part.
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