Tracing the origins of Five Points South’s Annual St. Patrick’s Celebration
February 20, 2025 · Culture & History, Engage, Entertainment, Family Friendly, Five Points South, Holidays, Live, St. Patrick's Day, Visit
When February gives way to March, a Celtic spirit awakens in Birmingham’s historic Five Points South neighborhood, setting the stage for one of the city’s most anticipated events: The Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration — featuring food and drink specials, live music and entertainment, a festive flag raising and a vibrant parade through the heart of the district. As excitement builds for this beloved tradition, one might wonder how it came to be. Well, the story behind it is just as captivating as people-watching on parade day! Let’s dive in.
Founding The Birmingham Irish Cultural Society and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
“It started as a keg party in your condo,” joked Caitlin Connors, Marty’s daughter and the current parade lineup organizer.
Indeed, in the early 1980s, Marty Connors and a co-worker discovered they shared Irish heritage and decided to honor their ancestry with a St. Patrick’s Day party.
The annual gatherings began evolving from casual parties to more formal receptions with expanded guest lists. As the event gained traction, the group adopted a name — The Birmingham Irish Cultural Society — and began selling tickets to raise funds for a charitable cause.
In 1984, Marty Connors and his friends approached Mayor Richard Arrington Jr. with an idea for a larger-scale celebration, one that would bring all of downtown Birmingham together.
“We felt Birmingham could benefit from celebrating the Celtic culture that was here,” said Connors. “America is known as a melting pot, and that’s especially true here in the South. Up north, cities like New York or Boston have distinct ethnic neighborhoods, but here, people may have surnames like ‘O’Something’ or ‘McSomething’ without ever realizing they have Irish or Scottish roots.”
According to the 2022 census, approximately 35,356 people in Jefferson County claim Irish ancestry, about 5% of the area’s population.
The early St. Patrick’s Day parades took place in the city center, with marchers making their way from Morris Avenue up Birmingham Green and finishing at Linn Park. The first procession had a distinctly grassroots feel, with only about 50 participants.
According to Marty Connors, the inaugural Grand Marshal was chosen on a whim: “I forget his name now, but a gentleman showed up and proclaimed, ‘I’m Irish!’ and we said, ‘Okay, you’re Grand Marshal,’ and that was that.”
A bagpiper’s story
One tradition from the first parade that continues today is the procession of bagpipers. Led by Ian Sturrock, a Scotsman from Kilmarnock, the Heritage Pipes and Drums band agreed to participate in the inaugural event — after some convincing.
“I asked if Ian could bring his band to the parade, but he refused, saying, ‘I’m Scottish!’ So, I asked Gilbert Douglas, one of his drummers, to talk to him,” said Connors. Gilbert persuaded Sturrock to join, on the condition that the Scottish pipers would always lead the parade and open with Scotland the Brave.
“We definitely appreciate the cheeky history,” said Ryan Joseph Morrison, the band’s current pipe leader. “There’s always been shared heritage and a familial tension between [the Scottish and the Irish]. Even the word ‘Scotland’ is derived from the Irish tribe of Scoti.”
In 2007, one of Morrison’s mentors and a former pupil of Ian Sturrock stumbled upon Sturrock’s old, battered pipe set, and Morrison set about restoring it to its former glory.
“I was struck by the idea of making Ian’s pipes sing again,” Morrison said.
Marching forward with the refurbished pipes, and with the blessing of the St. Andrew’s Society of the Middle South, the group was renamed the Ian Sturrock Memorial Pipe Band.
2027 will mark the 50th anniversary of the band’s founding.
“The function of this group is truly honoring the legacy of Ian Sturrock,” Morrison explained. “Through him, we have a real connection to the homeland that not every American bagpipe group can claim.”
A new beginning in Five Points South
In 1991, the sixth annual St. Patrick’s Day parade marked a pivotal moment in its history: the move to Five Points South. As the parade became a staple tradition for downtown Birmingham, its steering committee, led by Connors, aimed to expand its footprint beyond the city center and into the city’s southside.
This shift was also driven by the need for more funding. Since its inception, the Downtown Action Committee (DAC), a group of downtown merchants, had provided the parade’s logistical support and financial backing. But as time passed, their contribution dwindled, prompting Connors and the steering committee to seek support from the Five Points South Merchant’s Association. In exchange for financial backing from the association, the parade would broaden its reach, concluding in Five Points South rather than Linn Park.
This proposal didn’t sit well with DAC. At the time, Five Points South wasn’t yet widely considered part of downtown Birmingham, but rather a gateway to the city center. DAC Chairman Ferd Weil was quoted in the press saying, “DAC was started to keep downtown alive and keep the city going. [The steering committee] wanted [the parade] to go to Five Points and take people out of the city… [Southside] is part of greater Birmingham, but it isn’t downtown Birmingham.”
Ultimately, DAC withdrew its financial support, effectively canceling the event. To make matters worse, Mother Nature seemed intent on derailing the celebration too. On parade day, a storm rolled in.
“But it rains every damn day in Ireland,” Connors remarked. Undeterred, the group resolved to go on with the celebration — come rain or shine. Although the official parade was canceled, the Five Points South Merchants Association hosted a three-day St. Patrick’s Day celebration that Friday through Sunday in a parking lot behind 11th Avenue South.
“We had about 20 people gather in Five Points South to walk through the middle of the street in protest,” Connors recalled. This “protest parade” was followed by heated back-and-forth in the press between the steering committee and DAC. In fact, an editorial titled “Should Have Had Parade” ran in the Birmingham News, expressing the paper’s disappointment in both parties for failing to find a compromise: “The parade is good for this city. Birmingham provides too few opportunities for its people to forget their differences and come together in the spirit of celebration… Come on, people, work together on this. St. Patrick would have wanted it that way, don’t you think?”
Although the 1991 event didn’t unfold as many had imagined, it laid the groundwork for what would become an iconic tradition in Five Points South.
But why did Five Points become the event’s permanent home? The answer lies in the district’s unique role as a connector for Birmingham’s diverse communities. “It draws in the downtown crowd, as well as folks from over the mountain,” said Caitlin Connors.
Ironically, the district’s position — straddling the city center and Red Mountain — once seen as a barrier to the parade in 1991, is what made it an ideal location to unite people from all corners of the city.
But more important than that is how the event was so readily embraced and nurtured by the community. “It’s something treasured and preserved in Five Points South,” said Steve Alexander, a longtime resident and Chair of the Five Points Alliance. “It means a lot that the people of Five Points have kept the tradition unbroken.”
The celebration today: A tradition transforms
The story of Five Points South’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration is one of growth in every sense of the word.
Attendance has grown exponentially over the years. A Birmingham News article from 1987 proudly announced that “some 3,000 green-clad merrymakers [were] expected to convene” for the festivities that year. Fast forward to today, and more than five times that number now flock to Five Points South’s historic streets each year.
“District businesses have shaped the event into what it is now, making an entire weekend out of it. It’s been the biggest retail weekend for them for many, many years,” said Connors.
More events have been packed into the weekend celebration — from the raising of the Irish flag to the Alchemy Run Crew’s St. Patty’s 5K. While the parade traditionally takes place on Saturday, food and drink specials stretch through to the end of the holiday on March 17 – no matter where that date falls during the week!
And while you will still see many a green beer across Five Points, the organizers are working to make sure the event is family friendly, with increased special programming for kids in addition to the all-ages parade and musical performances.
A legacy in green
While the roots of St. Patrick’s Day lie in honoring Ireland’s patron saint and his role in bringing Christianity to the island (not to mention ridding it of snakes, according to legend), many in Birmingham see Five Points South’s celebration as something uniquely local.
“This is a slice of history for Birmingham,” said Caitlin Connors. “If you haven’t done it yet, you’re missing out. It’s been here a long time — 41 years and counting — and it’s great. I get surprised every year when we turn the corner, and you can see the heart of Five Points is just a sea of people.”
Want to be part of a legacy in green? Learn more about this year’s festivities here.
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