Thousands celebrate St Pat's day

Three parades converged on Belfast city centre for a concert

St Patrick's Day has been celebrated in colourful style with parades across Northern Ireland.

Three parades converged in Belfast city centre at a free open air concert compered by Coronation Street and Boyzone star Keith Duffy.

A concert at the Waterfront Hall has featured a host of stars including Clannad singer Moya Brennan and the Ulster Orchestra.

The largest cross-community carnival was held in Downpatrick.

Up to 1,500 people took part in the County Down parade which featured dancers, steel and pipe bands.

Traditional ceili bands performed at venues across Londonderry as the city celebrated with its largest parade in 10 years.

A street theatre puppet inspired by the Notting Hill carnival was one of the highlights of the parade, which also featured a Chinese lion dance and a samba band.

Traditions of celebrating St Patrick's Day have been developing over the last decade in Belfast, Dublin, London, New York and further afield Dr Dominic Bryan Institute of Irish Studies

Over 20,000 people were expected to attend the Enniskillen parade in which St Patrick was celebrated as "a saint for all".

Flags and emblems were banned from the parade which featured floats, bands and a troup of tribal dancers.

The Archbishop of Armagh blessed shamrock at a special Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in the city before distributing it to local scouts and girl guides.

An outdoor music concert and parade were just some of the family entertainment on offer while the "shamrock walk" tour of Armagh city combined humour and history to tell the story of St Patrick's links with the area.

Children signal their delight at Belfast's carnival atmosphere

Up to 2,000 people were expected to brave the elements to take part in the annual climb of Slemish Mountain in County Antrim.

Children's artwork was displayed on the approaches to the County Antrim hilltop which is reputed to be the place where St Patrick herded animals as a boy slave.

In the Irish Republic, the highlight of a five-day programme of events was Thursday's traditional parade through Dublin.

And in Cork, currently the European city of Culture, organisers said their festival was the biggest the city had ever seen.

Meanwhile, researchers at Queen's University Belfast are preparing to publish the results of a web survey into the variety of St Patrick's celebrations around the world.

The survey invited opinions from people in countries as far away as Japan and Russia to have their say on what celebrating St Patrick's Day means to them.

"Traditions of celebrating St Patrick's Day have been developing over the last decade in Belfast, Dublin, London, New York and further afield," said Dr Dominic Bryan of the Institute of Irish Studies at the university.

"St Patrick's Day is enthusiastically celebrated by many outside Ireland, north and south, who adopt an Irish state of mind for the day, donning green wigs, drinking green beer and playing Irish music.

"This research will lead to improved understanding of the reasons behind the celebrations and create a valuable research resource."