Mark Hamill tweeted Saturday that "today the whole galaxy is Irish" as he appeared as international guest of honor at Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade.
The "Star Wars" actor, whose great-grandmother was born in Ireland, was invited to represent the Irish diaspora at the celebration. Hamill spent time on Ireland's rocky Skellig Michael island filming the most recent "Star Wars" movie, "The Last Jedi."
Hamill sported a tweed cap, a green scarf and a shamrock sprig as he attended the parade, which had floats, colorfully clad performers and marching bands wind their way through the Irish capital.
"Game of Thrones" actor Liam Cunningham was the Grand Marshal of Saturday's parade, attended by Irish President Michael Higgins.
In the United States, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar joined along as Manhattan's Fifth Avenue came alive with the sound of bagpipes, trumpets and lots of green during the 257th running of New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade.
Several bagpipe bands led a parade made up of more than 100 marching bands after Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke briefly, calling it a "day of inclusion" and adding: "We're all immigrants."
Since the mid-1800s, the parade has been a big celebration of Irish culture and of Irish immigrants, who once faced nativist calls for their exclusion from the workforce — and from the country — when they began arriving in the city in huge numbers during the Irish Famine.
Associated Press
