SATURDAY, MARCH 9 

9 am - 4 pm

6 pm, F X McRory's. This annual fundraiser for Seattle's downtown Homeless Program named for Dubliner Matt Talbot, completely closes down F X McRory's to raise funds for the Belltown area treatment program serving the homeless, addicted and mentally ill, and also to fund their 56-units of transitional housing and a new transitional housing unit for women. Tickets ($100 suggested) at Talbot@irishclub.org or mtcenter.org.

John Doyle Bishop Memorial Green Stripe 

7 pm, on 4^th Ave from Jefferson to Westlake Park. This month is the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Doyle Bishop who started this custom of painting a Seattle street green for St. Patrick's Day. Join members of the Seattle Police Pipes and Drums and the Seafair Pirates in this mini-Parade to mark a green stripe down the center of 4th Avenue marking the route of the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The painting starts on 4th Avenue from Jefferson St at 7 pm. You can participate by climbing on board the covered flat-bed truck or the Trolley at 6:30 pm at F X McRory's. Children are very welcome and there is no charge! For more information, call Heather at 206-548-9859 or click on www.irishclub.org.

Irish Flag-Raising and the

St Patrick's Day Parade

At 12:20 pm, the Parade Grand Marshal Frank Finneran, the Honorary Grand Marshals Joan and Dan Flanagan, Galway Deputy Mayor Frank Fahy, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Congressman Jim McDermott, Congresswoman Suzan Delbene, and many other dignitaries, will raise the Irish Tricolor in front of the King-County Administration Building at 4th Ave at Jefferson. 

That will immediately be followed by trumpeters playing the Irish and US National Anthems.

Then at 12:30 pm, the whistle will sound to officially start Seattle's 42nd annual St Patrick's Day Parade heading north on up 4^th Ave toward Westlake Park. 

While all marching groups must pre-register (see the current list of Parade Registrations), anybody with an Irish connection (and everybody is Irish on St. Patrick's Day!) is invited to walk in the Parade without any pre-registration. Seniors and others are welcome to ride for free in the  "Seniors Shamrock Shuttle", a Greyline Trolley which can be boarded at 4th Ave and James starting at 12 noon. 

Parade closing ceremonies will be held  in the Armory at the Seattle Center during the Irish festival at approx. 2:30 pm. 

Note that the Monorail will be free from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm for travel after the Parade from Westlake to the Seattle Center.

For more details, visit irishclub.org.

Friends of St Patrick 73rd Annual Banquet

7:30 pm, Harbor Club, 801 2nd Ave, Seattle, on the 17th Floor of the Norton Building. A black-tie (optional) dinner and dance, it's the 73rd Annual Banquet of the Society of the Friends of St. Patrick in Seattle. The dinner and auction will raise funds for scholarships.Tickets are $120 per person (or a table of 10 for $1,000) and include parking, the Irish Community Happy Hour, wine with the meal and dancing afterwards. For tickets, call 425-290-7839, email Friends@irishclub.org, or visit fosp.org.

 IRISH FESTIVAL

at the Seattle Center's Armory 

Saturday Noon - 6 pm

Sunday 10 am - 6 pm (8 hours)

Admission to all activities on both days is FREE. The Festival features non-stop Irish music, singing and dancing, booths selling Irish and Celtic products, Irish workshops, lectures, cultural displays, children's contests and activities, Irish Language, Genealogy and History Workshops, Art Exhibits and more. Family-oriented activities include wonderful Irish Musicians along with Champion Irish Stepdancers from around the Pacific Northwest. Events for children include the "Smilingest Irish Eyes Contest" and the "Most Irish-Looking Face Contest", and there's a Children's Activities Center. Contemporary Irish short films will be screened noon-5 pm each day during the Irish Reels Film Festival. 

Click here to see the Main Stage schedule of performances and schedule of workshops on Irish history, Irish language, Irish genealogy, information on the art gallery exhibition of paintings by Sean Griffin, John Cooper's collection of antique postcards and engravings, Charles Hadrann's rare Irish manuscripts, etc.

On Sunday afternoon, a lucky winner will go home after winning two free trips to Ireland. You do not have to be present to win, but you must visit the Tangerine Travel booth in order to participate in the draw.

Irish Reels Film Festival

Noon - 5 pm Saturday and Sunday during the Irish Festival. Now in its fifteenth year, Irish Reels presents a wonderful collection of refreshing and exciting new works in Irish cinema. Free admission both days. For film details and to see the full schedule, visit irishreels.org.  

For more details on any Irish Week event, email IrishWeek@irishclub.org, or visit

Click to see the Irish Week Program

IRISH WEEK DESIGN - The basic design of Seattle's 2013 Irish Week Poster and Button marks the 50th anniversary of the death on November 22, 1963 of Irish author C. S. Lewis. Few authors of fantasy literature are as beloved as Lewis who was born in Belfast on November 29, 1898. In September 1947, Time magazine listed his book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as one of the top 100 English language novels written in the twentieth century and featured Lewis on its cover. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was made into a movie in 2005, was one of the seven volumes of Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia.