By Paddy McCarthy
What a great week I had Out&About with family and friends as I was sailing and beaching on the Island. That sounds nice to be saying it that way as it sounds like I have my own island, ha ha, wishful thinking. Now for the sailing bit it was a semi-cruise I told you about last week in my Out&About column as it was a boat called the Celtic Quest. The owner and Captain of the boat (that has a capacity of 50 persons) that took us out on the Long Island Sound waters to watch the 4th of July fireworks, which were just fabulous, was Desmond O’Sullivan. Desmond has another boat the Celtic Grace, a 80 foot beautiful fishing yacht, also I should let you know that his dad comes from Ireland.
Desmond grew up as deckhand and a Captain for local party boats. After graduating Fordham University with a degree in Liberal Arts and Music he decided that he wanted to to continue being a fisherman and moved to Montauk where he worked as a Captain for the Viking Fleet for three years. This man came from a humble beginning and became one of the most sought after fishing experts as he was featured in the ‘Fisherman’ magazine, Newsday and was a guest on both the Fishing Line and the Noreast Radio shows and has appeared as a speaker at several local fishing seminars.
You see that this are the kind of people that I get great pleasure of meeting, proud Irish and Irish Americana as I’m Out&About. After that pleasurable trip, the next day we headed to Smith Point Beach which is on the south coast of Long Island. Yes, we had our umbrellas, blankets, sunscreen and, of course, our bucket and shovels, just kidding on the bucket and shovel as I know you like to hear that. My advice is to check out Smith Point Beach as it is very accessible, has all the amenities for the family and is very safe with professional life guards.
Now to talk about a man that I have always admired and he is the one and only Adrian Flannelly. What can I say about this man? Only the word “brilliant” and that is what he always was and is to this day. One of the most popular Irish radio shows was The Adrian Flannelly Show, the longest-running Irish radio program in America, but it has ended its run after 54 years. Not a bad legacy at all; in fact, unmatched.
Appropriately, in 2021 he was awarded the Irish government’s highest honor, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, by Irish President Michael D. Higgins. No one is more deserving. Not too bad for a Mayo man who showed us all how it’s done. In the 80’s and 90’s his program was the show to listen to for all the up-to-date news from across the pond. Adrian also had the cream of the crop interviews of Irish politicians and entertainers from Ireland and here in America.
Adrian should also be proud of his involvement as a member of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, The Irish Repertory Theatre, the Ireland Chamber of Commerce USA and I am told, the founding co-founder of Outreach Catholic Charities.
Now I personally would like to wish him a very Happy Birthday from all of us here at The Irish Examiner USA and to thank him for all his friendship down through the years, THANK YOU!
I am going to finish my Out&About with the Cork hurling team who were magnificent when they played against one of Ireland’s super teams, Limerick, who won 4 All- Irelands in a row, wow. I did not see the game but I did listen to it on RTÉ radio on my phone while I was sitting by the pool. Cork defeated Limerick by 1-28 to 0-29 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final on Sunday at Croke Park. Now they move on to the All-Ireland Final on Sunday July 21st where they will meet Clare who also are a very strong team. So, you will have a lot to watch in a couple of weeks that will be very exciting and I hope I can watch it live this time!
I hope to see you all again next week when I am Out&About once more…