Gerry to lead St Patrick’s Day parade

This year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Gort will be led by one of the town’s best-known businessmen.
Clare man Gerry O’Donoghue has owned his own shop in the town for nearly 25 years and for the past decade, has consistently taken part in the local parade.

Gerry, who owns a butcher shop on George’s Street, was announced this week as the grand marshall of the Gort St Patrick’s Day parade, which will be held on Wednesday, March 17.
“I suppose it’s an honour. I always enjoy the day itself and taking part in the parade. The parade has been very good in the town. It is thriving in recent years. It has really improved,” Gerry told The Clare Champion.
“The businesses on George’s Street put in a float every year. It is something for the community, I suppose and the community is very important when you have a business here in town.
“The shop depends on the local people. I take that quite seriously and make a special effort to stock local produce,” he continued.
Gerry began an apprenticeship in the butchery trade in Ennis at the age of 14 in 1979 and set up his own business in Gort seven years later. Although originally from Boston close to Tubber in Clare, Gerry and his wife Marie, from Laughtyshaughnessy, now live in Gort with their family, Brenda, Louise, Gerard, Darren, Jason and Michelle.
Gerry has many and varied interests outside the business world. He is a greyhound owner and trainer and has had a number of successes at Galway and other tracks over the years.
Another of his passions is horses. Gerry is well known all over Clare and South Galway for breeding horses and cobs. He is an avid follower of hurling in his native Clare and adopted Galway.
He played underage hurling with Tubber in his earlier years, a family tradition which saw his son Gerard become a prominent member of last year’s All-Ireland winning Galway minor hurling panel.
“The new grand marshall has been a strong supporter of the St Patrick’s Day parade since it started in the year 2000, having organised the George’s Street float for a number of years.
“He would like to see the annual parade develop further and this week he encouraged other business people, community groups, voluntary organisations and individuals to take an active part in the parade. He feels the parade is an ideal opportunity for the community to show itself off in a fun way, while giving a welcome fillip to business in difficult times,” a spokesperson for the parade committee stated.
“We chose Gerry because he has been very enthusiastic about the parade over the years. He is a popular businessperson in the town. Being a native of County Clare, it is an acknowledgement of the importance of Clare people in the social and business life of Gort,” he continued.
Meanwhile, the parade committee is busy putting the final touches to organising the event.
It was decided to introduce a registration system this year for participating groups, which should help greatly in having a meaningful commentary made on the various acts as they pass the review stand on floats or on foot and in organising the parade in a more efficient manner.
The registration forms are available at the Family Resource Centre (opposite the church), at the community centre and in local shops. The forms can also be downloaded from or completed online at www.gortchamber.com.
The theme of this year’s parade is Water but entrants are welcome to adopt whatever theme they wish.