John Ridge, historian and author of the new book, “Celebrating 250 Years of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” has been an avid collector of “all things Irish” for over 50 years, with special emphasis on New York and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
At age 13, Ridge walked into a used book store and stumbled upon Seamus MacManus’ “The Story of the Irish Race.”
“It told the history of Ireland and I was completely fascinated by it,” he says, recognizing that it was also his history. Ridge’s Gaelic-speaking parents were Irish immigrants who came to America in the 1920s and settled in Brooklyn, where Ridge was born and still lives.
His pride in his Irish heritage became even stronger when, as a young lad, his parents took him to his first St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
“I’ve been to almost all the parades on Fifth Avenue!” Ridge says, revisiting the parade through his eyes as a 3-year-old child. Then, he was fascinated by “all the different colors, the bands and the flags.” Today, he is an active participant who organizes a contingent of marchers from the Brooklyn Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Over the years, Ridge has collected any and everything he could find on the history of Irish heritage and culture, focusing on New York and the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. He has countless banners, pictures, memorabilia and Irish newspapers covering the parades from as far back as 1871 which he keeps at home as an homage to his ancestors.
In 1998, Ridge wrote his first book on the St. Patrick’s Day parade because “it’s the largest parade in the world that celebrates Ireland and the Irish culture but no one had ever written about it.”
His new book dates back to 1772 when the parade first started in New York and has “wonderful photographs and illustrations that tell the story of the parade from the beginning up to today. Some pictures date back over 150 years and have not been seen in a long time,” he says.
Ridge collected data from old books on Ireland, visiting archives, frequenting antique shows and also going back to Irish newspapers that covered the parades as far back as the 1820s.
The book documents the changes throughout the history of the parade. Grand marshals from the early years led the parade riding horses, while in 1918 the first group of women joined the march.
Ridge, now retired, still scours bookstores looking for Irish history and artifacts. To keep his heritage flowing at home, he listens to Irish music and speaks Gaelic with his wife of 28 years, whom he met in an Irish language class.
Ridge, a past president of the New York Irish History Round Table organization, hopes that his book will inspire Irish-Americans to delve into their history and be proud of it.
“I want Irish-Americans to look at the pictures of the past — the families, the good times they have enjoyed over the years at the parade,” he says.
“I hope it will make them think of their ancestors — a largely successful, strong people who came over here with nothing and built themselves up. They are Americans but they should never forget their Irish roots.
“I also want New Yorkers, in general, to feel part of the parade and be Irish for a day.”