North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

St. Patrick's Day Parade, Galway

Self-portrait on a rain-splattered tuba during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Galway this afternoon.

Ok, it didn't snow after all, but it was bitterly cold. Like last year, the Galway parade is really an occasion for kids - most of the schools marched, though it seemed to be more girls than boys (it's probably harder to persuade the young fellows to be cheerleaders). Thus, this year's gallery consists mainly of little moppets, none of whom needed much encouragement to pose for me. A big thanks to all the kids who repeatedly posed, bashed drums, shook pom-poms, did handstands or whatever else the guy with the camera asked them to do. And an even bigger thanks to the teachers who kept the little mites amused in freezing weather for an hour or two while they waited for their few minutes of parade glory. In this year's gallery of photos, I've tried to represent most of the schools and groups that took part in the parade but obviously, only an edited selection appears here. Eventually, I'll post a full set, when I get time. You can view the gallery here - I'd idvise you to step through the pictures one by one to read the captions (the slideshow option doesn't show them).

Camera=Canon 350D, lens= Canon 18-55@21mm, ISO=400, Aperture=f5.6, Speed=1/1250.

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