Tipperary pulls out all the stops to mark St Patrick's Day in style

Nenagh finally got to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in style after a three-year absence due to Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

While there was no traditional parade, crowds flocked to the grounds of Nenagh Courthouse to mark the national holiday where they were entertained by some of the finest local talent in the area, and could sample the best of local products from, among others, Nenagh Country Market.

Tipperary Fire and Rescue are normally first out of the blocks for the parade as they are on duty 24/7, and this year they again made their mark, displaying the vast array of equipment that they have in the event of an emergency.

However, sales at the hot dog stand proved to hot to handle even for them and were long sold out before the brave firefighters got to quench their hunger.

Organisers Spain AV, in association with Tipperary County Council and Nenagh Municipal District Council revealed that the concert - hosted by Tom Bán - and market was attended by almost 4,200 people throughout the day with the gates opening a full hour early due to the sheer size of the crowd waiting to get in.

“The weather was all we could have hoped for and the response from the local people, vendors, artists and local business was absolutely huge. The onsite vendors and the local businesses that chose to open around the town all had a fantastic day’s trading. Numerous vendors on site sold out completely. The Rambling Rosie Coffee caravan went through 33 three-litre containers of milk,” said David Spain of Spain AV.

The event featured fire engines, rescue vehicles, custom motorcycles and artists of all shapes and sizes, with a total of 21 different musical artists; a mixture of bands, DJs, solo singers, dance schools, Nenagh Ormond Brass Band and Ormond Comhaltas all performing live on the main stage.

The festival atmosphere was evident throughout the town as local entertainment channel Nenagh Live had arranged for several musical artists to perform live in the heritage centre and the newly-opened tourist office.

Before their appearance on the main festival stage, both Bubba Shakespeare and No More Mossies performed live in the tourist office, with Emma Fitzgerald and Juliette Kerin rocking the heritage centre.

Cllr Michael O’Meara, cathaoirleach of Nenagh Municipal District Council, received a rapturous response from the audience when he said: “This takes me back to the days of the Féile in the 90s, queuing outside the Sound of Music to take the bus to the Trip to Tipp - only this time it’s in Nenagh.”