South Side Irish Parade brings Irish pride, old and new, for Chicagoans

On yet another rainy day in March, 47 years after Morgan Park residents George Hendry and Pat Coakley started their own South Side Irish Parade, a crowd was once again waiting for the bagpipers and Irish dancers to march by.

As it has since 1981, the parade stepped off from 103rd Street down Western Avenue to 115th Street — despite intermittent sheets of rain and gusts of wind.

Tom Wognum, who brought his 8-year-old son Milo for the eighth time, said nothing would deter the duo.

“We have been out here in the snow, we have been out here in shorts and T-shirts,” Wognum said. “It’s Chicago in March, there’s no way to predict any of it. But whatever the weather, we’re going to come out.”

The original 79th Street South Side Irish parade was moved downtown in 1960. In 1979, Hendry and Coakley started their own parade of local folks down Washtenaw and Talman avenues at 109th Street in their Morgan Park neighbohood. Two years later, they moved it to its current home along Western.

Wognum comes for the Irish bands — a family friend used to play bagpipes in the CPD band and another family friend once played bass drum in the Shannon Rovers — and his son comes for the firetrucks, Scabby the Rat and as many 3 Musketeers bars as he can find.

But their connection to the parade is deeper than that. Wognum grew up five blocks away, first attending in 1980, and can point to his current home from where the two stood catching freebies.

Wognum isn’t Irish but said he cherishes childhood memories of marching alongside his father in the Boy Scouts. He enjoys himself even more with his son alongside him, especially now he no longer has to walk the full route.

“I enjoy the atmosphere, everything about it has always been fun,” Wognum said. “I'm just happy it’s still going on and I get to pass this down.”

DePaul students Grace Murphy, Cecilia Pelanza and Ava Patrowski came to the parade with a group of friends after spending Saturday downtown watching the Chicago River being dyed green. The parade, they said, was a breath of fresh air.

“This feels so much more community and family-centered,” said Pelanza, 18. “The river is very cool, but you barely see it, and you’re in a giant crowd. Here, you’re actually interacting with everybody.”

For Murphy, who grew up in Mount Greenwood, and Patrowski — who watched the parade from her family’s doorstep growing up — it was standard fare. But Massachusetts-raised Pelanza found new pride in her Irish background.

Her family hadn’t been big on the holiday, she said, and there was nothing like this at home. But she’s already planning to come back next year seeking the same community feeling.

“I didn’t have this growing up,” Pelanza said. “Chicago has turned me into a big St. Paddy’s fan, a big Irish pride individual. I love being Irish.”