Thousands of people gathered in Galway on Monday as the annual St Patrick's Day parade kicked off in the City of Tribes.

Tens of thousands of people wearing green thronged the streets across the land and around the world yesterday to celebrate our patron saint — and to drown a few shamrocks too. The national parade in Dublin saw an estimated half a million people line the route,

Ireland's earliest St Patrick's Day parade is already over. Thirty members of the local fife and drum band took to the streets of Dingle in Kerry at 6am. The tradition dates back to the Land War of the 1870s when British authorities banned gatherings between sunrise and sunset.