There’s an old Chicago saying that goes something like this: “Southside Irish think they’re the toughest, Westside Irish think they’re the smartest, and Northside Irish think they’re British!”
Like many old adages, it’s riddled with elements of truth, particularly for South Siders. Sure Southside Irish are notorious. They like to fight and some might even be said to have a chip on their shoulder, while takin’ the mickey out of rival Northside Irish friends and relations.
One of the Southside’s greatest institutions over almost fifty years has been the Southside Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which takes place in the Beverly neighborhood, where I grew up, on Western Avenue.
Founded in 1979, the parade began as a rag tag group of 17 kids walking around the block on St. Patrick’s Day, “the wee folks of Wasthenaw Avenue”. From there it has grown to become the largest St. Patrick's Day community-based parade outside of Ireland.
In 2009 the Southside Irish Parade was cancelled for three years, because of bad behavior by many parade goers: drinking, puking, and even peeing on people’s lawns, although that was mostly done by north-siders who took the Rock Island train south from downtown for the parade and showed up blotto at 103rd Street Station.
Southsiders were bereft at the loss of their parade, and we even held a wake one Sunday at the Beverly Woods Restaurant, where I delivered a eulogy for the parade and former Irish TD Jimmy Deenihan mourned with us. It was a sad affair but fortunately the bar was open.
My old pal Skinny Sheahan then got involved with resurrecting the parade with “family values” and cleansing the image of the Southside Irish. The parade triumphantly returned in 2012. Marianne and Bill Leslie
That’s about the time Marianne Rowan Leslie got more involved. She admits to having her wild times back in the eighties and nineties, “We would go on Spring Break and get tans for the parade, it was so much fun, it was hilarious, yeah we did lots of fun stuff in the parades, it was phenomenal. But as you get older you realize you might kind of tone it down for your family.”
Marianne is currently the Chairperson of the Southside Irish St. Patrick’s Day parade. Now retired after 37 years as Senior Relationship Manager at Northern Trust Bank, she fondly remembers having lunch with former Taoiseach John Bruton in Chicago. She was invited that day because of her parade history . Bruton asked her what she did for the parade and Marianne smiled and told him, ”Well I’m head of the porta potties Taoiseach!” He just looked at me like ‘what?”
Leslie and the famly in Dubllin
Organizing this parade is daunting to be sure. Marianne tells the Echo, “Well, raising money is a big thing because we are a public charity. But then after that, there's so many other things. There are so many moving parts that must be put together to get going. And I think my favorite part is working with all the department heads of the City of Chicago.
Marianne and family
"They all meet and the 22nd Chicago Police District gets together and counterterrorism people come. I mean, it's a different world where you must think about that kind of crazy stuff now. The City of Chicago Police Department, they do such a wonderful job keeping us safe. And you never hear of anything happening. The incident rate has dropped dramatically.”
If you thought Pulaski Day was crazy, wait till Sunday.
The southside Irish no parade is back. @SSIrishParade pic.twitter.com/RGLG7etsyi
— Windy City Dash Cam (@WindyCityDshCam) March 8, 2023
It’s a showcase for the Beverly neighborhood, where many natives grew up and moved away. They love to return ‘home” for the parade each year. Marianne Roowan Leslie
“It’s so beneficial to the neighborhood. It really is such a wonderful vehicle for getting people back into the neighborhood to see what’s going on.”
Marianne also salutes her Southside Irish Parade sponsors who help finance this extraordinary endeavor. “Tullamore D.E.W. has been very good to us. So we appreciate them.”
Marianne with CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling
The 2024 Southside Irish St. Patrick’s Day parade is scheduled to step off once again at 103rd & Western on Sunday March 16th.
Marianne and her husband Bill will be heading back to Ireland in September to visit their daughter Tara, who got her Masters degree at National University of Ireland at Galway. “She loved it so much she stayed! She’s still in Galway and she’s just applied for dual citizenship!”
Marianne, Tara, and Bill Leslie
They also plan on visiting their nephew Patrick Hickey, who plays for Galway United Football Club. “He’s the Yank with the big foot they call him!”
Marianne confides to me, “He’s a Northsider!”
Yikes!
