COUNTY LAOIS ASSOCIATION - NY

Monday, March 17, 2025

ASSEMBLE MUCH EARLIER

Co. Laois has been moved up near the front of the Parade. 

We should be on TV, so look your best.

Co. Laois is to assemble:

- At 10:45am

- On West 44th Street, between 50 West 44th Street and 6th Avenue.

- Dress Code: no sneakers, jeans, County jerseys, or crazy head gear.

Grand Marshal: We are delighted to announce that Matthew Journalist, a longtime supporter and friend of Co. Laois, is this year’s Grand Marshal. Matt has happily joined our contingent nearly every year since graduating from Boston College, where he was a roommate of Kevin Dunphy.  Matt currently works for a French company, Credit Agricole, in New York City. He and his wife, Kelly, and their young daughters, Emma Jane and Josephine, live in Glen Rock, NJ. 

The youngest of four, Matt was born in Pompton Plains, NJ, to John and Deborah Journalist. The family lived in Barrington, IL, and Avon, CT, before settling in Mashpee, MA, on Cape Cod. Matt traces his Irish roots through his mother Deborah (Carr), whose grandparents emigrated from Co. Cork in the early 1900s. Deborah’s grandmother, Anne Collins, ultimately settled in Charlestown, MA. The Journalists have been strengthening ties to their heritage with recent visits to Ireland. Deborah and her family visited the ancestral home in Dunmanway, Co. Cork, and saw family still living in the area. And this past year Matt enjoyed a golf trip to Killarney along with other friends who also regularly march with Laois in the Parade. Matt hopes to bring Kelly, Emma Jane, and Josephine to visit more of the country, including Co. Laois.  

Matt says his participation in the Parade and getting to know members of the Laois Association have brought him a greater attachment to his Irish heritage. He said it has been a joy to share that experience with his wife and daughters as well as with his mother over the years. He said, “The Parade is a wonderful tradition from which I have had the good fortune to meet several extremely kind people with admirable pride in where they come from. It is truly an honor to be asked to act as Grand Marshal for Laois. A heartfelt thank you for welcoming me and my family year in and year out. Up Laois!”

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 Cathaoirleach (Chairman) Mr. Padraig Fleming and Chief Executive, Mr. Michael Rainey. We look forward to having them join us this year. We also have a Laois Choir visiting this year. See the next page for details.

Special Visitors from Laois

In addition to the Laois County Council visitors, the 40-member Timahoe Male Choir will be traveling to New York City and joining us for the Parade. They were formed a few years ago and have become very popular.  The Choir has appeared on TV shows such as RTE TV and on Ear to the Ground.  They also participated in the Electric Picnic Show. The online Laois Today featured this group in their news stories.  

The Choir’s NYC Performances: Please support the Timahoe Male Choir at their appearances in New York City:

• On Saturday March 15th at 6:00pm at the American Irish Historical Society,

991 Fifth Avenue (between 80th and 81st Streets.

Later that evening at the Beer Authority, 300 West 40th Street.

• On Sunday March 16th, maybe at Haswell Green’s, 240 West 52nd Street.

• On Monday after the Parade at the American Irish Historical Society.

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.

2025 Scholarship Contest:  The Parade Committee offers several scholarships each year as follows:

• Four scholarships for a high school-level research paper, with awards of:  $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, and $750.

• Four scholarships for a college-level research paper, with awards of:  $4,000, $3,000, $2,000, and $1,500.

The 2025 topics are not yet on the website. Please check the website periodically to see if the application and topics have been posted.  

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade’s website is: 

www.nycstpatricksparade.org.  Click on the Scholarship tab.

Sláinte,

Mike Dunphy 

President

973-886-6097

mike.dunphy@att.net

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.

Parade 2022

 

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

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