Sydney St Patrick’s Day
St Patrick’s Day is not just a celebration of all things Irish.
It's also a chance for Irish communities all over the world to connect with home, no matter the distance.
Sydney might be some 17,000km away from Ireland, but that hasn’t stopped the local Irish population celebrating the 17 March with passion.
Annual festival
Karen Murphy is President of Sydney St Patrick’s Day, the group responsible for organising the city’s annual festival. According to her, it’s much more than simply a chance to get dressed up in green.
“We turn the area into a massive Irish village,’
Karen explains with passion. “By doing this, we’re bring a bit of the culture and the sense of home to the city. It's important because there are so many people who come out to Australia on their own.”
Irish-related events
For four days, The Rocks, a historic neighbourhood in Sydney, is filled with Irish-related events, including a parade, Irish language lessons, uilleann pipe demonstrations, Irish dancing and traditional music.
The Sydney Opera House is “greened” for the day itself, providing an iconic image that is broadcast all over the world. The festival also features a citizenship ceremony where eligible Irish people receive their Australian citizenship status.
Irish community in Sydney
The Sydney Irish community includes recent emigrants as well as second-generation families. Karen thinks St Patrick’s Day is especially important for children of Irish emigrants who are looking for a way to connect with their heritage.
“These things are important for the children, because they create memories. As they’re growing up, those are the things they remember. Take the parade - some of the children haven’t been to Ireland and haven’t seen a St Patrick’s Day parade there, with the dancers and the pipers and the stilt walkers. I think the second generation really start to crave that sense of identity.”
Sense of identity
Murphy counts herself among that cohort, too. “My mum and dad were from Cork, and I grew up in Brighton during the Troubles,” she says. “It’s funny, because you were Irish, but you were English, and when you visited home they’d comment on your English accent. There isn’t an ‘Irish-Englishness’ in the way there is an Irish-American identity, and it leaves you in a bit of a dilemma.”
It wasn’t until she saw a call for volunteers for the festival in 2014, four years after moving to Australia, that she really started to connect with her own heritage. In recent years, the festival has benefitted from funding through the Emigrant Support Programme, which has enabled Murphy and her team to broaden their scope and bring together different Irish community groups across Sydney for the annual celebration.
Creating a home from home
For her, organising the St Patrick’s Day events comes with an added element of personal fulfilment. “In a way, we’re creating a home from home for those second-generation children,” she says. “I think I’m quite passionate about that part because that sense of identity is something I didn’t always have growing up.”