Which group has organized Montreal's annual Saint Patrick's Day parade since 1929?

Montreal's annual Saint Patrick's Day parade has been organized by the United Irish Societies of Montreal since 1929.

The parade itself is older than that organizing body. Montreal held its first recorded Saint Patrick's Day parade in 1824, making it one of the longest-running such celebrations in North America. The event was interrupted during World War I, then revived in 1918 under the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians directed the parade through 1928. Responsibility then passed to the United Irish Societies of Montreal, a coordinating body representing several Irish organizations. That handover explains a common mix-up: the Hibernians were associated with an earlier period, but they are not the answer for the post-1928 organization.

Montreal's Irish heritage reaches back even further. Irish soldiers in the Montreal Garrison reportedly celebrated Saint Patrick's Day as early as 1759, during the British conquest of New France. The parade remains a major expression of the city's Irish-Canadian history.