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
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.
