By Paddy McCarthy
Hot off the press here’s the biggest gossip that I just got from the Chairman himself, Hilary Bierne: we have a New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade again! He said “we are happy to be hosting the 2022 Parade on Fifth Avenue. Now you can start preparing as this will the greatest parade ever after we have been cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic for the last two years and now were back.”
Here is a little history on the Parade that is one of New York City’s greatest traditions. The first parade was on March 17, 1762 – fourteen years before the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. The first NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade was comprised of a band of homesick, ex-patriots and Irish military members serving with the British army stationed in the colonies in New York. This was a time when the wearing of green was a sign of Irish pride but was banned in Ireland. In that 1762 parade, participants reveled in the freedom to speak Irish, wear green, sing Irish songs and play the pipes to Irish tunes that were meaningful to the Irish immigrants of the time.
The 2022 NYC Parade will, march up Fifth Avenue and it will be reviewed from St. Patrick’s Cathedral by His Eminence, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. Since it began, this tradition of marching past St. Patrick’s Cathedral has remained unchanged with the exception of the address. So, are you ready? Of course, you are as we all are and I’m giving you plenty of notice so mark it down.
I was out Out&About last Friday again at one of the most prestigious events that has been held in New York for many years and that is The Ireland-US Council Dinner. It was held at the Metropolitan Club, located on 60th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues. Again, it’s the first one held since the start on the pandemic two years ago and again it was a blast and so well run by David O’Sullivan, their Executive Director, who gave the guests a warm welcome. The honorees for this year’s event were Domhnal Slattery and Barbara Koster who were very well received on this great evening for their outstanding leadership. I cannot forget their President Tom Higgins either, who gave the opening remarks and presentations to the honored guests. To top it all off we had violinist Gregory Harrington accomplished by celloist Sebastian Stroger who were superb. I got to meet quite a lot of people and guess who some of them were? Yes, the one and only Andy Cooney and the window artist herself, Noelle Clancy sitting at the Padded Wagon table at which I was a guest. What a great night it was!
There’s a big night coming up for St. Barnabas Gaelic Football Club NY who will be holding their 49th Annual Dinner Dance on Saturday November 27th at the Lake Isle Country Club (660 White Plains Road in Eastchester). Cocktails being at 7 pm with dinner and dancing from 8 pm to 12 am. See their ad on page 7 for all the details of the event and their honorees, it looks like it will be a good night.
The IBO November Evening Event will be held on Wednesday November 10th from 6:30 pm at the Bank of Ireland Innovation Lab and will feature guest speaker John Tooher, Founder and Senior Management Consultant at Horizont Strategy.
In addition to helping CEOs and business owners plan for the future by facilitating in-depth reviews of their businesses, John took the time to help the IBO rethink its future in their recent strategy session. Start strategizing your future with John’s help at this event!
The holiday season is a magical time. It’s a time of giving back to those you love and paying it forward to those you may never meet. It’s a time when we can celebrate the birth of Christ and a time to come together. I was asked to announce this great event in aid of Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens that needs your support for a very good cause. Even if you cannot attend you can make a donation: Kick off the holiday season with Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens at their Evening of Jazz and Cocktails to benefit children and families in need this Christmas. It’s going to be a festive evening with premium cocktails, butler hors d’oeuvres, a 50/50 raffle, and of course, beautiful jazz music. But most importantly, it’s an opportunity to give back to our neighbors and share the joy and magic of the holiday season. Each ticket purchased for the Evening of Jazz and Cocktails benefits children and families in need this Christmas. RSVP now — or if you cannot attend the event, consider underwriting a specific facet of the event, allowing them to redirect funds to our community programs. All underwriting opportunities are 100% tax-deductible.
The Evening of Jazz will be held on November 17th from 6 pm to 9 pm at the beautiful Russo’s on the Bay (162-45 Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach). For more information phone (718) 722-6001 or email info@ccbq.org. They need your support and I know you will enjoy and it’s for a very good cause.
Don’t forget Turkey time coming fast as November 25th is Thanksgiving Day! I arrived here in New York November 6th, 1982 and I thought I would only be here for a very short time but that didn’t happen as you can see, I have no regrets believe me. Anyhow the reason I am telling you all this is that everybody was talking about Thanksgiving Day and I honestly did not know what they were all talking about, as I said I had only just arrived in the Big City and did not know to many people to confide with about all this hullabaloo about this special day. I thought that it’s only Christmas that we have turkey, as you all know in Ireland turkey and ham were always the tradition, when you had the money right?
Getting back to my arriving in New York believe or not I was homeless and but thanks to couple of Galway men I was able to sleep on the floor of their apartment on First Avenue. Thank you boys, if you see this and up Galway!
This was before one of the greatest men that I have known, Joe Murphy, took me under his wing and got me started and a bed to sleep in, plus a job, what a man he was RIP. I have a lot more to tell you about this man and I will be in a few weeks leading up to Christmas as he should be sainted and I do mean that so I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
Now that I do know the history of Thanksgiving I look forward to it so much because I know what’s around the corner? That’s right Christmas, that I have to admit is my favorite time of the year and always will be. I think I deserve a Guinness after all this, right? Maybe I will be having on by the time you read this. The buzz is coming back as I was in M.J. Smith’s on 45th Street last Friday before I headed up town for the dinner I had only one, as I had to meet a couple of people and you could see their faces with smiles on them. This was my favorite place I used to go to when it was called Eamonn’s as it was a perfect place to meet people as it is right in the middle of Manhattan and very convenient for trains as it is one block from Grand Central Station. As I was Out&About it was just great to meet a lot of the regulars who patronize the old place and are all back again, they must have known I was coming… ha ha just kidding.
I better stop now and tell all it’s great to be Out&About again and I hope to see you all again next week…