Get ready for the Rockville Centre St. Patrick's Parade on Saturday

The parade will step off promptly at noon on Saturday and make its way down Maple Avenue.

Christina Daly/Herald

Michael O’Reilly, Grand marshal

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The 20th annual St. Patrick’s Parade will fill the streets of downtown Rockville Centre with Irish cheer this Saturday.

The parade will step off at noon from Parking Field 12, on Sunrise Highway, and head north on Long Beach Road. Marchers will hang a left on Maple Avenue and head west until the street ends, then make a sharp right onto College Place and a left onto Quealy Place, where they will parade past Village Hall and the St. Agnes Cathedral. The route continues onto Washington Street, and ends at Parking Field 2.

“The Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Parade, also known as ‘The Parade that Cares and Shares,’ is one of the most exciting days here in the village,” said Mayor Francis X. Murray. “The downtown shops are booming, the streets are full of Rockville Centre pride and we are able to give back to three worthy causes. This year marks the parade’s 20th anniversary, and we have a well-deserved grand marshal, Michael O’Reilly. I look forward to seeing all of our residents and visitors at the parade this Saturday.”

O’Reilly has long been involved with the parade. He was born in Brisbane, Australia, to Irish parents, and his family moved to the U.S. and settled in New York City when he was 6. He went to school in New York, and graduated from Fordham University at Lincoln Center.

A banker, O’Reilly has more than 35 years of experience with Bankers Trust, Barclay’s Bank and Fuji Bank, and is currently senior vice president in the Americas Division of Mizuho Bank. A resident of Rockville Centre for 24 years, he was married to the late Colleen O’Sullivan, who died of leukemia in 2004.

O’Reilly is an active member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 14 of Rockville Centre and Lynbrook, and served as chair of the Building Fund from 2000 to 2005. He was a member of the St. Agnes Cathedral school board from 1996 to 1999, and was also a member of the school’s Fathers Club, the Friends of Mercy Medical Center and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick on Long Island.