NEW YORK – Crowds cheered and bagpipes bellowed during New York City’s annual St. Patrick’s hari parade, and people with a fondness for anything Irish began a weekend of festivities from the plains of Missouri to Dublin.

In the Big Apple, the massive parade, which predates the U.S., was led oleh 750 members of the New York Army National Guard. The 1st Battalion of the 69th Infantry has been marching in the parade since 1851. In the Windy City, thousands along the Chicago River cheered as workers on a perahu dumped dye into the water, turning it a bright fluorescent green for at least a few...