By Paddy McCarthy
First of all I want to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you who have been reading my Out&About, and to all who might not have as I know people are busy doing their Christmas shopping for me, ha-ha. I just hope that Santa Clause will be very good to you all, naughty or nice yes; I’m sure he will be as he never lets anybody down whether it’s big or small as its always nice for Santa Clause to leave presents to all.
What a couple of great pre-Christmas weeks it has been so far and I must say I am enjoying every moment of it. I also want to take a time to reflect to give thanks to you all for making this year the most rewarding, as it has been the most transformative year that we ever have has in the last 20 years here at The Irish Examiner USA. As we are now ending 2024, it has been a very good year for us, and it’s all thanks to you! Thank you so much again for all the support that we have received from sponsors, editors, readers and you! Again, I would like to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart for all you have done with your support.
Between everything else for the last week or so it has been hectic as far as going to events that I must say were brilliant. It all started when I was Out&About and I visited a couple of Irish establishments before I headed over to the Knights of Saint Patrick’s Christmas party. It all started on Wednesday when I stopped at Sean’s Bar & Kitchen in Midtown on West 48th Street. I did get the names of the bar staff there but I lost them, please forgive me. I can tell you this though, that they were just fabulous with the customers and I’d like to thank them for that. I do have a photos of Sean’s to give you an idea how nice it is though. I then went a few doors down to visit the Pig ’N’ Whistle Irish Gastro Pub and there to greet me was the owner and partner Eugene Smith, wow! That was great. Again the staff there were fabulous and what a beautiful place it is. Both bars are well worth visiting for your Christmas holidays celebrations. It was very comfortable there, but I had to leave for the Knights of Saint Patrick annual Christmas party. That I must tell you was superb and again the host John Tully was wonderful as always.
I must I must say that they are top of the league as far as Irish promotions that I’ve ever seen. It was great to meet the Consul General Of Ireland Helena Nolan and her husband Sami at the event. It was also nice to see a lot of other people like Brian Sharkey and his wife Marie, Patrick McGowan of McGowan Builders, Inc., Mae O’Driscoll and lots more guests I wish I could mention that I got to meet for this excellent evening. Thanks again to John Tully for inviting myself and my friend Paul Wickel to the party. The entertainment for the evening was provided by none other than Mary Courtney and companion who are one of the top Irish entertainers in North America.
On Thursday when I left Penn Station, I walked a few blocks up to the Pig ’N’ Whistle on 36th Street to visit Cormac McCormack, one of the partners there with my editor Grahame Curtis and, of course, I had a Christmas cocktail that was a nice cold one. The Pig ’N’ Whistle is well known to rugby fans who come from all over to watch the games and Cormac is always there to greet you with his hospitality. It will be a great place to celebrate Christmas and on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2025.
The next Christmas dinner party was on Friday that was hosted by Liffey Van Lines and I have to give thanks to Rose Maloney for inviting me to this brilliant Christmas party at the famous Bobby Van’s on Park Avenue. This party is always top-of-the-line as it’s held in Bobby Van’s Steakhouse and again there were lots of people there to say hello to. I got to meet the Consul General of Ireland Helena Nolan and her husband Sami again, boy twice in one week, my friend John Egan from back in the music days in Ireland and I met Garrett Doyle and his mom and a lot of others including the one and only John Healy, who has a number one podcast here in New York City for everybody to tune into. There were a lot of other people that I haven’t seen for a while and it was very nice to see again on a wonderful evening with a delicious dinner; everything was just first class and I have to applaud Rose Maloney and her family for setting up this beautiful Christmas party that they do every year, and I’m so privileged to be invited and I want to thank them so much. I have to thank all those at Liffey Van Lines who are like one big family and host one of New York City’s best events, thank you again.
To finish off my week I went to the Christmas with the New York Tenors concert that was held at the Patchogue Theatre in Patchogue on Long Island on Sunday. It was a charity event for Hope House Ministries. Their founder and CEO, Father Francis Pizzarelli is a Montfort Missionary and takes care of the homeless and others who need help on Long Island, catering to the most disadvantaged among us with food, clothing, accommodations and more. Those experiencing mental illness can return to healthy lifestyles while those living with addictions experience the freedom of recovery. He has been doing it for over 50 years. I will be giving lots more on Father Pizzarelli at a later date.
The Christmas with New York Tenors Concert had all the joyful sights and sounds of New York, wrapped in this season’s best show and combining the vocal talents of Andy Cooney, Daniel Rodriguez and Christopher Macchio, all good Irish names, just kidding. They combine the best of Italian, Irish and Puerto Rican and boy can they sing, wow, just unbelievably brilliant, and what a beautiful venue is the Patchogue Theatre.
I like end by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and I hope to see you all again in the New Year 2025 when I am Out&About again…