Historic Leitrim banner returns home after nine decades in New York
The cherished banner, carried by generations of Leitrim emigrants in New York’s St Patrick’s Day Parade, will take its place in a permanent exhibition at Kiltyclogher Heritage Centre
When Sharon Brady returned to Ireland last week ahead of her wedding in Sligo on August 13, she had two particularly precious pieces of luggage to worry about — her wedding dress and an almost 90-year-old piece of Leitrim history.
A long-time member of the County Leitrim Society of New York, Sharon was entrusted with carrying the organisation's historic parade banner home to Ireland ahead of its permanent return to Kiltyclogher. It left her facing an unusual dilemma at the airport. "I had to decide, was I checking in the banner or the wedding dress?" she laughed. The carefully wrapped banner also attracted some attention.
"The banner looked like a body bag," Sharon said. "I said to the guy at check-in, 'Careful — that's a 100-year-old artefact.'" Safely back on Irish soil, the banner will be formally presented to the Kiltyclogher Heritage Centre on Friday, August 14, where it will become part of a permanent exhibition beside the birthplace of 1916 leader Seán Mac Diarmada.
A historic banner that has marched through New York City’s St Patrick’s Day Parade for almost 90 years is returning to County Leitrim, where it will go on permanent display at the Kiltyclogher Heritage Centre and Seán Mac Diarmada Homestead after being donated by the County Leitrim Society of New York.
A historic banner that has marched through New York City’s St Patrick’s Day Parade for almost 90 years is returning to County Leitrim, where it will go on permanent display at the Kiltyclogher Heritage Centre and Seán Mac Diarmada Homestead after being donated by the County Leitrim Society of New York.
For almost nine decades, the banner was carried proudly up Fifth Avenue by generations of Leitrim emigrants who never forgot home. On Friday, August 14, it will begin a new chapter when it is formally presented to the Kiltyclogher Heritage Centre, where it will become part of a permanent exhibition beside the birthplace of 1916 leader Seán Mac Diarmada.
“It is a tremendous privilege to return this remarkable piece of our shared history to County Leitrim,” said Noeleen Bohan McGovern, President of the County Leitrim Society of New York.
“We are returning far more than a piece of fabric. We are returning a cherished symbol of Irish-American heritage and the enduring connection between County Leitrim and its people across the Atlantic.”
The banner isn’t simply a ceremonial flag. It represents generations of Leitrim people who left Ireland in search of opportunity in America but never lost their connection to home. Commissioned in 1936 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Easter Rising, the hand-stitched banner first appeared in New York’s St Patrick’s Day Parade in 1937. It features Saint Patrick on one side and Leitrim patriot Seán Mac Diarmada on the other.
Since then, it has marched up Fifth Avenue through sunshine, rain and snow, carried by generations of proud Leitrim men and women. Over the decades it has become a powerful symbol of Leitrim’s enduring connection with its emigrant community in the United States.
The banner has witnessed history unfold. When it first appeared, Gone With the Wind had just been published, Ireland was still known as the Irish Free State, Franklin D. Roosevelt was President of the United States, the Second World War had yet to begin and many parts of rural Leitrim, including Kiltyclogher, had still not been connected to the national electricity grid.
Its story is closely intertwined with New York’s St Patrick’s Day Parade itself, which dates back to 1762, making it older than the United States. The County Leitrim Society of New York first joined the parade in 1899 and has proudly represented the county ever since, with the only interruption coming during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Retired after the 2024 parade, the banner has since been carefully restored through the generosity of the Gallagher family of Leitrim and Kent before making its final journey home. The public ceremony takes place at 1pm on Friday, August 14, at the Kiltyclogher Heritage Centre, where the banner will become part of a permanent exhibition honouring the shared history between County Leitrim and its emigrants.
“There could be no more fitting home than the birthplace of Seán Mac Diarmada,” Ms Bohan McGovern said. “We hope the banner will inspire future generations and continue telling the story of those who left, those who remained and the enduring bond that unites us all.”