As world goes green on St Patrick’s Day, Dublin goes Brown

On the day the world goes green for St Patrick’s Day, Dublin is going Brown this year. Mrs Brown’s Boys star and writer Brendan O’Carroll has been chosen by his native city to be Grand Marshal for the flagship St Patrick’s Day Parade in the Irish capital.

St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin last year Image by William Murphy / CC BY 2.0

Athough following in the footsteps of a number of sporting greats – cyclist Stephen Roche, Olympic boxing champion Katie Taylor and former soccer star Johnny Giles – O’Carroll’s fame  as an actor and comedian in Britain, Australia and the US through his Mrs Brown’s Boys series is expected to give March 17 an extra curiosity this year.

TheJournal.ie reports that organisers plan to draw inspiration from contemporary Ireland in contrast to 2014 where the emphasis was put on the past, while next year – the 100^th anniversary of the 1916 Rising against English rule in the country, is to focus on the future.

High jinks at last year’s St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin Image by William Murphy / CC BY 2.0

The St Patrick’s Day festival is now a four-day event, running over the weekend from Saturday 14th to Tuesday 17th of March. “It’s an amazing honour to be asked,” said O’Carroll who joked that he would be going as himself rather than his creation Mrs Brown. “I don’t want to scare the kids,” he laughed. The Evening Herald reports that he plans to have all his family there on the occasion. “They’re all so excited,” he added.