Traffic Plan St. Patricks Day Parade Kilkenny

INTRODUCTION.

The Kilkenny City St. Patricks Day Parade will take place on the 17th of March 2025 at 1.30pm. The road closures will take effect commencing from 9am and will remain in place until the parade and subsequent concert has finished. This is a change from previous years when road closures were mainly closer to the commencement of the Parade. Due to the relocation of the Parade viewing stand back to Patrick Sat/High St and the subsequent concert there will be more Streets remaining closed for longer than last year.

Objectives

The objective of this Traffic Plan is:

To ensure that the Emergency Routes are kept clear.
To ensure that the parade runs without danger to the public.
To minimise traffic disruption and inconvenience to the general public.
To segregate and divert traffic to its appropriate destination.
To ensure that traffic flow is returned to normal as soon as possible after the event

Traffic will arrive from all major access routes to the city.

Emergency Route

From Parade Route:

In the event of an emergency vehicles may leave the parade route by Parliament Street towards Irishtown, from Maudlin Street towards The Dublin Road, or the Castle Road towards the ring road.

In the event of an alternative route being required the ring road, which is clearly marked with permanent local authority signs, will be used.

Traffic Restrictions:

The following road closures will be in place until the completion of the parade and crowds have dispersed:

The Parade/Castle Road - Closed from 9am at Nuncio Road, road will remain closed until approx. 7pm.

Rose Inn St – closed to all traffic from 9am – expected to reopen at 7pm

Patrick St@ Ormond Rd - Closed from 11am, road will remain closed until approx. 6pm.

John St/Bateman Quay/High St/Irishtown – closed from 11am until completion of Parade and will open on a phased basis following passing of the parade

The following road closures will commence at 11am and reopen upon completion of the parade:

Dublin Road – Closed between the junction of O’Loughlin Road and John Street – save for local access to MacDonagh Junction shopping centre and Irish Rail.

Market Yard Car Park – due to the deconstruction of the stage area there will be restrictions for vehicles exiting the carpark following the parade. When permitted by event control for a time while the stage is being removed traffic exiting the carpark at the court house side will only be permitted to turn left towards Parliament St. exit three at Lady Desart bridge will be facilitated for right turns only. It has to be emphasised that this will only be allowed to occur when called by event control and not by members on the ground. This will cause Irishtown to remain closed for a little longer than in previous years with restrictions also to traffic exiting Market Cross carpark.

Parking.

Parking will be available to the general public at

McDonagh Junction Shopping Centre
The Market Yard (Until road closures are put in place).
Market Cross Shopping Centre (access via James’s Street)
Ormonde Street Car Park.
All local authority and On Street Parking outside of the control zone.
Disabled parking will be available on The Parade as designated by Kilkenny County Council. Vehicles with disabled permits displayed will be allowed through the cordon at the junction of Castle Road and Nuncio Road.