In preparing to don green today for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, Darren Cowart said he has enjoyed researching the namesake.

Cowart, the sitting captain of the Krewe of Killarney, was chosen to serve as St. Patrick XXVII. Cowart was chosen by former St. Patricks, who nominate and vote on the each year’s selection.

“As the captain of the krewe for the last two years, I did not think they select me,” Cowart said. “It was a huge honor that they did select me.

“Hopefully I can live up to that name.”

Cowart said he has been inspired reading about St. Patrick.

“He not only brought Catholicism to Ireland, but Christianity as a whole because Ireland had been a pagan society,” Cowart said. “Everyone knows about the fun stuff, but you do not hear a lot about what he actually did.”

Of course, Cowart said Ireland has too cold of a climate to actually have snakes, but he still thinks the banishing of the snakes has a figurative meaning in getting rid of the serpent, also known as the devil.

Cowart said he recently had his DNA work done and discovered he is approximately 10 percent Irish. Cowart said he also is catholic.

“I always knew I had some Irish in me, but I wasn’t sure how much,” he said. “The rest is a little bit of everything, from Native American to Eastern European.”

Cowart has been with the krewe for approximately 15 years and said he joined for the charity work.

The Krewe of Killarney raises money each year for Pleasant Acre Day School, Holy Family Early Learning Center and awards $500 scholarships each year to one senior at five area high schools.

Cowart said at the Krewe auction earlier this month, $2,800 was raised and each charity would receive $1,000. Cowart said money to support the charities and scholarships also comes from membership dues.

The krewe has approximately 150 members.

Cowart is an electrician for the hydroelectric plant in Vidalia and also a member of the Knights of Columbus.

The parade is set to begin at 6 p.m. today on Main Street in front of Memorial Park. Parade members — 200 to 300 people, Cowart said — will march to the gazebo bandstand on the bluff, where St. Patrick will perform the traditional banishing of snakes.

“The parade is the fun part,” Cowart said. “It is a walking parade — all downhill — and we will be throwing candy, beads and other trinkets. It’ll be a lot of fun and we hope for good weather and a good crowd.”

While the National Weather Service in Jackson forecasts Friday will be mostly cloudy, no precipitation is projected, though the day could be windy. The high will be near 75 and the low at 56.

Cowart said, for those interested, the Rev. David O’Connor would have a 12:05 p.m. St. Patrick’s Day Mass at St. Mary Basilica.