Traffic Plan St. Patricks Day Parade Waterford City

Parade Route Tuesday 17th March 2026

Pedestrian performers assemble at The Glen, Thomas
Mechanical floats assemble along Merchants Quay from the junction with Vulcan Street to Rice Bridge. (Fitzgerald Life and Pensions)
Pedestrian performers proceed from The Glen, in an allocated and co-ordinated fashion via Thomas Street to meet the floats.
Pedestrians and floats proceed from Merchants Quay to Meagher’s Quay, to Coal Quay, to Custom House Parade turning on to The Mall to disperse over Parnell Street at St. Joseph’s school. The Parade commences at circa 1:00pm and runs until 3:30pm.
St Joseph’s School Yard Parnell St is the designated collection area for children.

ST PATRICK’S FESTIVAL WEEKEND 2026

Road Closures Tuesday 17th March 2026

March 17th	11am to 4pm
R680	Merchant’s Quay / Meagher’s Quay
R680	Coal Quay / Custom House / Parade Quay
R680 / R708	The Mall /Parnell Street / Catherine Street
L90024	Colbeck Street
L5530	Lady Lane – from Bakehouse Lane to Colbeck Street
L90024 / L90307 / L90023	Bank Lane / Beau Street / Mall Lane
R683	Lombard Street – from Rose Lane to The Mall
L90022	Adelphi Quay
L90021 / L90020 / L90019	Bailey’s New Street / Greyfriars / Coffee House Lane
L90018 / L90017 / L5534/35	Henrietta St / Keyser St / Exchange St / Conduit Lane
L91091 / L5501 / L1502	Barronstrand St / Gladstone St / O’Connell St
L15021	Thomas Hill to junction at Meeting House Lane / O’Connell St
L5506 / L5505	Vulcan St / Thomas Street
L1503 / L15033	The Glen Roads 1 +3

ST PATRICK’S FESTIVAL WEEKEND 2026

Diversions:

Travelling East on R680 Cork Road:

All traffic for M9, N25 and N24 via Rice Bridge shall be diverted at Cork Road Roundabout and directed to

Rice Bridge via R686. Cork Road inbound diverts to Rice Bridge from Paddy Browne’s Rd.

Traffic for Tramore, Waterford Airport, University Hospital Waterford or Williamstown/ Dunmore Road

area shall use the Inner Ring Road are unaffected.

Travelling West on R680 Rice Bridge: All traffic from New Ross / Kilkenny to go up Bridge St.

The left lane on Rice Bridge shall be closed and all traffic shall be diverted via R686 to R680 Cork Road at the Cork Road Roundabout. Rice Bridge to Norris’s Corner, Ashe Road, right at Cork Rd roundabout. All Traffic shall then use normal routes.

Other Routes:

Travelling to Rice Bridge from Tramore, Waterford Airport, University Hospital Waterford or Williamstown/Dunmore Road area shall be diverted via R709 Inner Ring Road to Cork Road Roundabout and the detour via R686.

Parking:

Parking within the main Quay car parks will be available until approximately 1 hour before the Parade Commences at 1pm and will be reopened 30 minutes after the all clear is called by Event Control. All on-street car parking on the closed roads will be removed 24hours before the parade begins. All other city car parks will be unaffected.

Special Needs Viewing Area / Autism Friendly zone

The viewing area for persons with special needs is located at The Mall outside Hooper Dolan Insurance company and persons requiring same shall be directed to The Mall.