Dogtown St. Patrick's Day 101: Study Guide

key takeaways

1. The first recorded St. Patrick’s Day festivities in St. Louis were put on in 1820 in an old Irish enclave called Kerry Patch (near where the Dome and America center are today).

2. In 1876, mining projects at Graham’s Well (where Graham and West Park intersect today) attracted Irish miners to the area. Thus, began the life of Dogtown.

3. The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Clayton in 1984. As an alternative to the downtown parade, the AOH parade was meant to evoke the more intimate St. Patrick’s Day parades held in small towns in Ireland.

   • Click here to learn more about the first St. Patrick’s Day parade.

4. The AOH parade has always been held on March 17, the actual Feast of St. Patrick.

5. The AOH parade strives to celebrate the many Irish families of St. Louis, Ireland’s independence from Britain and St. Louis’s rich Irish Catholic history.

6. In 1986, the AOH parade was moved to Dogtown with just a few hundred onlookers.

7. Today, parade attendance has grown to the 10,000s.

8. In 2018, Dogtown United was formed to organize a street festival in conjunction with the parade.

9. The parade has been held every year since it started in 1984, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 (due to COVID 19).

10. The Dogtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Irish Festival are put on through a harmonious collaboration between:

    • Ancient Order of Hibernians

    • Dogtown United

    • St. James the Greater

    • City of St. Louis

    • Dogtown Volunteers and Residents

Additional Reading

• Map of Dogtown

• Bob Corbett’s History of Dogtown

• Clayton-Tamm Neighborhood

• Clayton-Tamm Neighborhood Association

Bonus Points

Did you know you can sign up for a Dogtown Walking Tour through the Missouri History Museum?

Visit their website to book a tour today!