By Paddy McCarthy
Alright, alright I did miss last week’s Out&About and I am sorry for that as we had a lot of inquiries on what had happened. So, I will tell you now: I left for Ireland on March 16th as my daughter Christina got married on March 19th. For the first time since I emigrated to America I missed the New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.
I do love the festivities around Saint Patrick’s Day as a lot goes on and I do attend some of the events that happen around that time. To name a few I missed the Ireland-US Council lunch as a guest of Eddie Dowling from Padded Wagon that is always a big favorite of mine. I missed the annual dinner that Mike Gibbons gives every year for a lot of his friends that is always excellent. I would also have attended the Saint Patrick’s Day Foundation’s dinner honoring Grand Marshal James Callahan and also the ICCUSA 24th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast. So now you can see what I missed to make it to my daughter’s wedding and boy was it well worth it.
Christina got married to Kevin Coyne, whose father Sean Coyne and mother Rita McGuinness Coyne are good friends of mine. When we arrived on Saint Patrick’s Day in Dublin, we got a bus down to Cork and then transferred to a minibus as there were ten of us going to the wedding from New York down to the Castlemartyr Resort. The Coyne family laid on a five-star dinner for all of us along with their daughters Shauna and Michelle and son Brian that was just beautiful. The wedding reception was just wonderful as the Castlemartyr Resort bent over backwards to make it one of the best days ever for all the guests to enjoy and they did. I can tell you it was a long night and the entertainment with Fiona Kennedy playing at the Mass and the cocktail reception beforehand were just brilliant. The band for the dinner was the All Stars and that is what they were; I couldn’t get off the floor as I danced all night and I played a few numbers as well.
The next day we were back on the bus down to Youghal, County Cork to a nice Irish pub called the Marina Bar where the Coyne family had arranged a nice home cooked meal that was tasteful and so good as well as a few cocktails to keep the party going.
I do have to thank the General Manager Brendan Comerford and his team for making the day the happiest day for my daughter that she will remember for the rest of her life. Thank you Brendan, your hotel will be well recommended by me and everyone else who was at the wedding.
After my few days in the Castlemartyr Resort and lots of fun we headed up to Cork City to stay in my home from home hotel the Metropole that I also love and we settled there for another six nights. The Metropole Hotel is situated walking distance from the center of Cork city so you can imagine how happy I was and I got to meet some old friends of mine since we were babies, Tony Creed, Steve Dennehy, Michael Hehir along with Gerry Walsh, now that’s what I love to do when I travel home.
So now you can see how I spent my Saint Patrick’s Day 2022, a dream come true.
Moving on, The Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade 2020-2022 honorees finally got their day in the sun. There were smiles everywhere at start of the day with honorees, The Peekskill St. Patrick’s Committee, HVIF and Peekskill Division 18 Hibernian members gathering at the Hudson Valley Irish Center, entering Assumption, its shining altar ringing with remarkable music and a strong Irish chorus for the St Patrick’s Mass concelebrated by Fr. James Gardiner and Monsignor Keenan. Ominously the sky overhead turned black, with spitting rain made more threatening by a big thunder blast and lightning! A few Hail Mary’s, and a few favors called in from St Patrick and selected other Saints, then suddenly Joe Brady and the 69th Regiment came into view on the line of march, and so did blue skies! After the parade they all returned to the Hudson Valley Irish Center, with New York State, Westchester, Peekskill and Cortlandt elected officials, to watch Senator Peter Harckham bestow onto Cathal Mc Greal and Mary Cronin his 2022 Irish American Heritage Award! It was great for first time visitors and members alike to relax and enjoy the hospitality and each other’s company at the HVIC! As the sign says in the Center, Slainte Abhaile!
See you all next week when I am Out&About again…