| NEW YORK, NEW YORK | PATRICIAN PRIMARY PIPE AND
BRASS BAND In the St. Patrick's Day Parade |
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| In the short life of the
Patrician Primary Pipers, New York was always in the mind
of the founder and Bandmaster Francis T. Kirke. For those
not very au fait with marching bands in this country, a
visit to New York marks the pinnacle of achievement for
such bands. From the foundation of the band the children
were told that if they practised together often enough,
behaved themselves well enough, and stayed together long
enough, they could bring themselves to New
York - a truly monumental task. They did all that and
1999 saw the dream become a reality Having discussed such a venture with several other bands throughout the country, it was decided at a meeting of all the parents that we should pursue the matter. |
 Some members of the band entertaining people waiting for the boat to the Statue of Liberty |
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 St. Patrick's Day Parade |
On foot of representation made by
Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, on our behalf, to the St.
Patrick’s Day Committee in New York the Patrician
Primary Pipe Band was accepted as a participant in the
New York Parade. Using a network of ex-pat contacts the
committee was able to organise accommodation in the
Holiday Inn Orangeburg, food in the Orangeburg Tavern, (
owned by Aidan Ryan who at one stage taught in Kildare
Town) and a bus company was engaged for the week to ferry
us where we needed to go. Initially there was only one problem - the cost of financing the band’s trip to New York would be in the region of £50,000. The flight, accommodation and food costs would constitute the bulk of the expenses. It was decided to elect a separate committee who would fund-raise and organise the trip. We started in November 1998 and any band that had undertaken such a trip had started to fund-raise at least twelve months ahead. We had a maximum of four months in which to raise £50,000. As a result of hard work and the generosity of many sponsors and supporters, we reached our target. |
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| Everything went according
to plan and so we departed for the U.S.A. on Monday 15th
March and returned to Dublin on Monday morning March 22nd
In all a party of 71 people travelled. These
include 40 band members, 12 official minders and 19 other
parents. The highlight of the trip was of course marching and playing down 5th Avenue in the Parade. The band also played at the mass in St. Catherine's Church, Orangeburg on St. Patrick's Day where they brought a tear to the eyes of many in the congregation. Based on their performance they were requested to play again at mass on Sunday the 21st. As well as the obligatory shopping, the children while in the USA were brought to see the sights - the Natural History Museum, The Empire State, the Statue of Liberty, the Intrepid Museum and we also took in the show Titanic on Broadway. |
 St. Patrick's Day Parade |
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