Parade 2024

 

COUNTY LAOIS ASSOCIATION - NY

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

(Parade is never held on Sunday)

Assemble: NEW TIME and PLACE ----- 3:15 pm on East 48th Street.  

• Please note – we meet on East 48th Street between 5th and Madison Avenues and we line up after Co. Meath.

• Please respect the Parade Committee’s dress code, which prohibits sneakers, jeans, County jerseys, or inappropriate clothing and head gear.

Grand Marshal:  Stephanie Wheat has enthusiastically accepted our invitation to be our Grand Marshal for the 2024 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. She is grateful for the honor and happy to lead the Laois Association up 5th Ave. Every year Stephanie has marched proudly with her husband, Cormac McEvoy, and their children, along with the extended McEvoy family. As Grand Marshal, she will be following in the footsteps of the McEvoy family members who have previously served in this position:  her husband, father-in-law Larry (deceased and sadly missed), mother-in-law Judy, and brothers-in-law Rory, Shane and Hugh.

Stephanie was born and raised in Newburgh, NY. She has been married to Cormac McEvoy for almost 20 years, and the couple have three children: Moira, Eamonn and Aisling. The family lives in Little Falls, NJ. Over the past 20+ years, Stephanie has helped the NY Laois Association with the website and Facebook page, organizing photos and sharing information about the parades on the website and social media. Stephanie currently teaches art in Passaic, NJ and is pursuing a Master's in Teaching degree at William Paterson University. 

Delegation from County Laois:  The Laois County Council are delighted to accept our invitation to join us for this year’s NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The delegation will be represented by the Chief Executive’s representative, Ms. Angela McEvoy, Director of Services, and Ms. Evelyn Reddin, Head of the Local Enterprise Office. We look forward to having them join us this year.

Sláinte,

Mike Dunphy 

President

973-886-6097

mike.dunphy@att.net

Tom Lawlor:  We are very sorry to report that our dear friend Tom Lawlor passed away on April 2, 2023, shortly after he returned to Ireland following last year’s Parade. Tom had been an ardent supporter of the Laois Association since he first arrived in America in the 1960s. He was a member of the Laois Hurling and Football Association, and served as the President of that organization for many years. In 1985, after Tom’s retirement as a Detective from the NYPD, he and his beloved wife Brigid (nee Kennedy), returned to County Laois with their daughter Sheila and son Garrett.  And Garrett later moved back to New York, where he enjoys a successful medical career. In recent years, Tom and Brigid enjoyed regularly coming back to visit him. Sadly, Brigid passed in 2021 after an illness bravely fought. Tom’s life in Abbeyleix was then focused on almost daily card games, and frequent visits from Sheila, her husband Ciaran and their son Alex. One of Tom’s most treasured traditions was traveling to New York every year and attending the St. Patrick’s Day Parade with Garrett. Last year he was delighted to  get together with his godson Larry Malone who he had not seen in many years. Tom left us with many fond memories. He will be sorely missed this year and always.

Tom Phelan:  A native of Mountmellick and a prolific author, Tom Phelan will be speaking at the Irish Cultural Society about his acclaimed memoir of growing up on a small farm in Laois, We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood.

His talk is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, 11 September, at 7 p.m. at the Garden City Casino, 51 Cathedral Ave., Garden City, NY. 

Please see www.irish-society.org to confirm the date, or email glanvil3@aol.com.

2024 Scholarship Contest:  The Parade Committee offers several scholarships each year as follows:

• Four scholarships for a high school-level research paper, with an award of $2,000 for first place

• Four scholarships for a college-level research paper, with an award of $4,000 for first place.

Details, topics, eligibility, deadlines, and forms for applicants are available on the NYC St. Patrick’s Parade’s website at: 

www.nycstpatricksparade.org.  Click on Scholarship tab.

 COUNTY LAOIS ASSOCIATION - NY

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 

Friday, March 17, 2023

Assemble: NEW TIME and PLACE ----- 12:20pm on West 45th Street.

• Laois is moved up earlier in the Parade, and probably will be on TV.  

• We will assemble at 12:20pm on West 45th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues.

• Please respect the Parade Committee’s dress code, which prohibits sneakers, jeans,

or inappropriate clothing and head gear.

Grand Marshal:  Judy McEvoy has enthusiastically accepted our invitation to be our Grand Marshal on St. Patrick’s Day 2023.  She is grateful for the honor and proud to lead the Laois Association up 5th Ave.

Judy was born in Dalkey, Dublin. Her father was from Valentia Island, Kerry. Her mother was from Donaghmore, Laois.  Judy spent many school breaks on the farms of her Laois relatives.  Following secondary school in Sligo, Judy worked in a bank in Dublin from 1966 to 1972, when she left to marry Laurence McEvoy of Mountmellick, Laois.  Following their marriage in University Church, Dublin, Judy and Larry came to New York.  Larry attended Hunter College, CUNY where he received a Master’s degree in Political Science.  Then twins Rory and Cormac were born, beginning a family in New York that grew to include Shane and Hugh.  Judy enjoyed being a member of the Thomas Davis Players in Manhattan, and later The Cill Cais Players in Queens.  Both drama groups presented plays by Irish writers.

Judy began a career in education when she became an assistant pre-K teacher in 1989 at the Samuel Field YMHA in Little Neck, Queens.  In 2003 she received a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Queens College, CUNY, followed by a Master of Science in Education in 2006.  She became an elementary school teacher at P.S. 62 in Richmond Hill, Queens in 2003 and taught there until retirement in 2014.

Judy and Larry became grandparents in 2007.  There are now 8 wonderful grandchildren in the family; Moira, Eamonn, Aisling, Bennett, Lochlan, Oisin, Isla, and Saoirse.  During all this time Judy and Larry proudly marched with the Laois Association together with their sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and friends.  Judy assisted Larry in his duties over the years as Vice President of the Laois Association.  Sadly, Larry passed away in August 2021 and he is greatly missed by all his family.   He also is fondly remembered and missed by the members of the Laois Association.

Delegation from County Laois:  The Laois County Council are delighted and pleased to accept our invitation to join us for this year’s NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  The delegation includes their Cathaoirleach (Chairperson), Ms. Thomasina Connell, and the Chief Executive’s representative, Mr. Simon Walton, Director of Services.  We look forward to having them join us this year.

In the future, we prefer to communicate only using email.  Please send your email address to me.

Thanks,

Mike Dunphy, President

973-886-6097

mike.dunphy@att.net

Tom Phelan:   Mountmellick’s Tom Phelan is an acclaimed author who has published several books. His novels deal with such themes as Irish soldiers in World War I, the effects of ancient animosities, returned emigrants, the Irish industrial schools, the priesthood, and life in rural Irish communities. The last of these books is a memoir of growing up on a small farm in Laois, We Were Rich and We Didn't Know It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood.

• Tom Phelan completed a new novel, tentatively titled Lady of Lackan, which is set against the backdrop of the Famine and a purported Marian apparition.

• In December, his story “A Christmas at Sea” appeared in the Leinster Express.

• On Saturday, 4 March, at 11 a.m., Tom will read from his memoir We Were Rich and We Didn't Know It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood at:

Huntington Genealogy Workshop

South Huntington Public Library

145 Pidgeon Hill Road,

Huntington Station, NY

• In the past year, Tom spoke about We Were Rich and Didn’t Know It at Theodore’s Books in Oyster Bay and at the New Hyde Park Public Library.

2023 Scholarship Contest:  The Parade Committee offers several scholarships each year. There are:

Four scholarships for a high school-level research paper, with an award of $2,000 for first place

Four scholarships for a college–level research paper, with an award of $4,000 for first place.

Details, topics, eligibility, deadlines, and forms for applicants are available on the Parade’s website at: www.nycstpatricksparade.org, click on Scholarship.