Neighborhood News: Céad míle fáilte awaits you at Chicago’s Northwest Side Irish Parade
Céad míle fáilte= 100,000 welcomes!!
All told, one-fifth of Chicago’s population is Irish. And in the Far Northwest Side of Chicago includes neighborhoods long associated with Chicago’s Irish-American community…like Edison Park, Norwood Park, and Jefferson Park.
So it stands to reason that on Sunday, March 15, the 23rd Annual Northwest Side Irish Parade is expected to draw around 50,000 attendees in celebration of “faith, family, and heritage.”
What’s the Parade Route?
The family-friendly parade steps off from Onahan School, 6633 W. Raven, at noon and runs until approximately 1:30pm. With the staging area at William J. Onahan Elementary School, they’ll march down North Neola Ave. to North Northwest Highway, then march down North Northwest Highway. The Parade Review Stand will be stationed at Northwest Highway and Raven.
Honored Guests
Serving as Grand Marshal is Mick O’Rourke, President and CEO of Signature Bank. Honored as this year’s Humanitarian is Will Attig, Downstate Director for Senator Tammy Duckworth and an area labor leader.
All eyes will likely be focused on the 2026 Northwest Side St. Patrick’s Day Queen Tara Eileen Deane, raised in Chicago to parents from counties Mayo and Kerry. The athletic Keane works for the San Jose Sharks NHL hockey team and plays Gaelic football for the Fog City Harps, which is gearing up for the 2026 World Games in Waterford. As a child, she studied Irish dance at the Northwest Side’s Foy School of Traditional Irish Dance.
History
The Northwest Side Irish Parade was founded by Elizabeth ‘Liz” Murray-Belcaster, along with her father, Army veteran Daniel Murray, as a way to honor Murray-Belcaster’s late mother. As a volunteer with the long-running, but dwindling, Norwood Park Memorial Day Parade, Murray-Belcaster used her experience to form the Northwest Side St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee 24 years ago.
“I think everybody’s neighborhood has a culture of Irish, and the Irish love the parades,” Murray-Belcaster told Block Club Chicago in 2025. “[There’s] always been a need to have the community together for these things.”
In 2003, the parade started with approximately 200 participants and spectators. The parade quickly expanded, with 2026 marking the 23rd edition of this tradition, with the purpose of bringing Chicago’s Northwest side a celebration of Irish involvement in the American experience.
The parade is a merry assortment of what makes every St. Patrick’s Day Parade so special…local groups, Irish step dancers, bagpipers, and marching bands.
And with the Illinois primaries coming up on the actual St. Patrick’s Day…Tuesday, March 17…it’s a good bet that a fair number of politicians, their families and representatives will also be in attendance.
One thing that’s always impressed me about the parade is the number of family clans who gather and march in support of their heritage. It’s impressive to see several generations of Kellys, O’Learys, Houlihans, Callahans and Murphys…and their family pets…celebrating together!
Good Works= Celtic Pride
As the parade has grown, so has their commitment to their community. The Northwest Irish Parade Foundation preserves and promotes American-Irish, Celtic and Gaelic traditions and histories, and provides the parade with a charitable focus as well. The Northwest Side Irish Parade Foundation raises awareness and funds for community efforts and charitable groups.
Over the past seven years, they’ve supported many philanthropic causes as the result of the support received through the Foundation. Some of the charities they’ve supported include Misericordia, Muscular Dystrophy, Chicagoland Food Depository, and the Dixon Center for Veterans and Military Community Services.
Why Celebrate St. St Patrick’s Day in Chicago?
According to ChicagoCrimeTours.com, St. Patrick’s Day is the city’s way of giving everyone permission to be Irish. It’ s about community, traditions, and honoring the generations of Irish immigrants who helped to build the loud, proud masterpiece the city is today.
For more religious purposes, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th to honor the patron saint of Ireland, marking the anniversary of his death in the 5th century. St. Patrick famously used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the natives of Ireland, bringing Christianity to the people.
Over the centuries, as the Irish spread across the ‘New World,’ St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a global celebration of Irish culture, heritage, and “the luck of the Irish,” featuring parades, wearing green, and festive meals.
Lá Fhéile Pádraig, all!
Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago
