Thousands thronged the streets of towns and villages across Galway for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations on Monday, taking advantage of the fine weather for the annual parades.

In the city, crowds of more than 40,000 were out to watch Galway’s biggest ever parade, featuring over 3,200 participants from 60 different community and voluntary organisations.

At the helm was Grand Marshal, Sharon Shannon, who departed the starting point at University of Galway on an open-top bus – her accordion among the cacophony of music along the route which went from Newcastle up to Eyre Square, before finishing up at the Dyke Road having taken an hour to cross the city.

The renowned traditional musician wasn’t the only famous face in town on Monday morning, as Eugene Levy – of Schitt’s Creek and American Pie fame.

The Canadian actor was in town with his family, including his daughter Sarah who also featured in Schitt’s Creek, and is understood to be filming a travel show in Ireland for Apple TV.

The city parade was themed ‘Sea and Stone’, paying tribute to Galway’s position on the Atlantic coastline, with many of the floats and participants exhibiting a maritime flavour.

Artastic, Stuntworx and Drumadore masterfully hit the brief with their newly created pageant piece showcasing giant fish and sea creatures, the vibrancy of which drew huge applause from spectators.

Galway’s diverse population was represented throughout the parade with the Georgian, Indian, Ukrainian, Palestinian and Chinese communities among those taking part.

It was just one of several parades across Galway.

Caption: Canadian actor Eugene Levy, best known for his role in the television series Schitt’s Creek and the film American Pie, with his daughter Sarah on their arrival at Eyre Square to watch the Galway city St Patrick’s Day parade. Eugene, who was involved in the filming of part of an Apple TV travel programme. received the title of International Guest of Honour when he arrived at the parade. Photos: Joe O’Shaughnessy.

Get a flavour of the parades over six pages in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.