Thursday, September 9, 2021

Laurence J McEvoy

 


Larry McEvoy, Laurence J McEvoy, passed away on August 28th, 2021, at home in Murray Hill,

Manhattan, New York after a tough fight with cancer. Born in Mountmellick, Co. Laois, Ireland on

May 28th, 1941, he was 80 years old. 

Larry was a man of constant enthusiastic energy and happy welcome. A man of loving heart for all whom he held dear and an ardent defender of those suffering injustices in Ireland, in the US and across the world. 

As a boy reared in Mountmellick, Co. Laois, Ireland he was raised in his family clothing shop and dairy with a keen eye towards athletics and study. He attended Knockbeg College, Co. Carlow followed by seminary training at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome for some years. He then attended University College Dublin School of Agriculture, eager to be part of the modernization of farming in Ireland. He began a duck hatchery in Mountmellick, determined to take a scientific approach to the enterprise. In university he also took on a leadership role of the Ag. Society hosting seminars, travel and dances. 

In these college years in Dublin he met his wife Judith Hearnden, whom he married in the UCD Chapel in 1972. 

Spurred by the eruption of brutality by the British government in response to the Civil Rights movement in the north of Ireland, their violent occupation as well as other de-colonial struggles around the world he turned his sights towards studying International Relations in New York City. Here he achieved his Masters at The CUNY Graduate School and attended NYU, beginning in 1971. In this new environ of the Irish diaspora and the international City he found his life's calling, working towards a United Ireland and a de-colonized world. Upon graduation he went to work at the United Nations Indonesian Mission as a speech writer from 1977 to 2002 with a focus on the economies of the non-aligned nations. He dedicated himself as well to civil rights work in the US. 

In 1974 he helped found the Irish Freedom Show (Irish Circle) on cable TV in the tri-state area, giving voice to the Irish civil rights movement with news, editorials, debate and interviews both political and cultural. Some highlights of the show’s 16 years on cable include interviews with Irish revolutionary Dr. Nora Connelly, who served in the 1916 Rising alongside her father James Connelly; Joe Doherty, while imprisoned at the Metropolitan Correctional Center; John Stalker, whose inquiry uncovered the British “shoot-to-kill” policy; as well as supporting the 1981 Hunger Strikers families. 

In the late 1970s he founded Celtic Productions which promoted and distributed documentaries of both the freedom struggle and realities in the north of Ireland, as well as Irish music and dance productions. He also provided video services to the broader Irish community. 

In 1978 he and Judy began their family. They moved to Bellerose, Queens, NY in 1982 to raise their 4 boys. They eventually moved back to Manhattan in 2015.

He was a fast friend and believed in bringing people together. He took great pride in his roles as President, then Vice President with Mike Dunphy in the Co. Laois Association, every year unfurling their proud banner in the New York City St Patrick's Day Parade. Here too in the United Irish Counties he found himself early on speaking up for an inclusive parade for LGBTQ participation as well as standing tall as the first county association to participate in the St Paddy's For All Parade in Queens NY. In his last years he supported and advocated for Irish solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, including within Ancient Order of Hibernians. 

Not a man to ever fully retire he began a vending business, LJ Enterprises, which brought him to meet people across the City and Nassau County, most happily with his friends at the horse stables on the west side of Manhattan. 

He was a happy grandfather who delighted in his grandchildren, all within reach of the City, taking well deserved trips in the US, around the world and back home to his family in Ireland. 

Larry is survived by his loving wife Judy (née Hearnden) McEvoy in their 50th year of marriage, his sisters Elizabeth, Jass (Marty Meinardi), Grace McEvoy and Rovena (Michael) McCarthy all of Co. Dublin, as well as his brother Fr Patrick J McEvoy of Edenderry, Co. Offaly. He is predeceased by his elder sister Mary McEvoy (David O'Brien) and his young brother John. He was beloved by his 4 sons who survive him, Rory (Grainne Coen) of Sag Harbor, NY, Cormac (Stephanie Wheat) of Little Falls, NJ, Shane (Tsedeye Gebreselassie) of Flatbush, Brooklyn and Hugh (Fiona Macabrey) of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, NY. He is missed by his 6 grandchildren Moira, Eamonn, Aisling, Bennett, Lochlan and Oisín. 

His funeral mass will be held at 12 noon, September 18th, 2021 in the Church of Our Saviour, 59 Park Avenue, NY NY 10016. 

We miss his joy, as do the many friends and comrades he has made along the way. 

"Hold fast to dreams" 

Tiochaidh ár lá





Sunday, March 7, 2021

COUNTY LAOIS ASSOCIATION NEW YORK Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Wednesday, March 17, 2021

  

 COUNTY LAOIS ASSOCIATION NEW YORK

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Wednesday, March 17, 2021

 

We hope that all our members, their families and friends are safe and healthy. For the families of those who passed, we extend our deepest sympathies and condolences. Though the pandemic seems to be lasting longer than most people expected, the good news is that the vaccines were developed in record time and now are being administered in every State with over 78 million doses used already. Let us all hope for the day when restaurants, hotels, airlines and other businesses become fully open and we return to normal life.

 

As you may know already, this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade up 5th Avenue in Manhattan is canceled.  The Parade Committee expects that next year’s Parade will be back to normal.  Since the Parade will not be held in-person this year, the Committee invites you to join them virtually as they honor FIRST RESPONDERS and ESSENTIAL WORKERS who have made enormous sacrifices this past year.  The Parade Committee has selected 18 first responders and essential workers to represent their Organizations in this Virtual Parade.  The listing is on the Parade’s website.  The virtual Parade will consist of excerpts from previous Parades and recorded performances for this year’s event.  On March 17th, you can view this on:

 

 - Facebook:  facebook.com/NYCStPatricksDayParade

 - Twitter:  @StPatsParadeNYC

- Parade’s website:  NYCStPatricksParade.org

- Television: NBC (possibly)

 

Our thoughts and prayers are also with Larry McEvoy, our stalwart Vice-President. Since last summer, he has been battling an aggressive form of cancer, with the devoted support and help of his wife Judy and four sons and their families.  He is in his final stages of treatment and we wish him a complete and speedy recovery. Larry normally generates this Press Release every year, and we are looking forward to his return to good health.


Mike Dunphy, President, (973) 886-6097, mike.dunphy@att.net                                                

Larry McEvoy, Vice President, (917) 833-3218, larrymcevoy2@gmail.com  


We ask for your prayers for our ill and deceased members, and please let us know about any other members who are ill or have passed away.


Bill McEvoy passed away peacefully from natural causes at the age of 97.  Bill, our loyal senior statesman, has led our County up 5th Avenue in our front line for many years, even in recent years when he required the use of a wheelchair.  Bill continued his great life’s work with the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in the U.S. and Canada, which he founded in the 1960s.  Bill is survived by his nine children, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.  The Laois Association will miss his presence next year as he was one of our most enthusiastic and optimistic members.  Neither rain nor snow nor sleet prevented Bill from making that long trip from Long Island to march with us every year.

Brigid Lawlor recently passed away after being hospitalized with COVID.  Brigid was from Abbeyleix and was a nurse in Dublin before emigrating to America.  Brigid and her husband Tom marched with Laois every year until 1985 when they moved back to Ireland with their children Sheila and Garrett.  Tom, a driving force with the Laois Association New York for years, had just retired as a detective with the NYPD.  In recent years, Brigid and Tom would return regularly to New York for St. Patrick’s Day.  Brigid had an engaging personality and was a very charming, friendly person, sincerely loved by all who knew her.


John Erlinger recently passed away due to non-COVID respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.  John traced his roots to Knockaderry, Co. Limerick.  He and his wife Rosemary traveled from Los Angeles to march with Laois every year since their son Mike married my daughter Laura in 2002.   Also, they often traveled to Ireland and loved to visit Fr. Noel Dunphy in Mountmellick.   John was a deeply religious person heavily involved in his parish, and he also loved to spend time with his three children, Mike, Joe and Cathy, and five grandchildren.  He will be deeply missed by all of us.  


Important Websites

  • NY Co. Laois Assn:  www.nylaoisassociation.com. And please follow us on Facebook.

  • United Irish Counties:   uicany.org  

  • Laois news from Ireland:   laoistoday.ie