Benefit for the Benedictine Monastery Campaign at Kylemore Abbey
Venue: Club 101, 101 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10178.
For ticket information click here.
A special evening hosted by the Friends of Kylemore Abbey will take place at Club 101 in New York City on April 20 (6pm-8.30pm). Kylemore Abbey will honor three outstanding individuals whose lives and achievements echo the “spirit of Kylemore” at an elegant reception that recognizes their contribution to society and improving the lives of others. Anne Anderson, former Irish Ambassador to the United States (2013-2017), will be the presenter for the evening.
The gala event will include drinks, food, entertainment by Greg Harrington on violin, a live auction and a special awards program.
The renowned Kylemore Abbey School (Scoil Aine) is central to the story of Kylemore Abbey. From 1923 to 2010 the School was home to generations of girls who have forged a special bond with Connemara and the Benedictine Nuns of Kylemore Abbey. Today hundreds of women around the world fondly remember their time as ‘K’ girls in the magical location of Kylemore Abbey. Nowadays, there are 17 nuns living in four different locations on the estate. The nuns have to drive to their community church on the grounds twice a day as the distance is too far to walk. The new monastery will provide more suitable living and working conditions for the nuns.
Fundraising efforts have been in place in the U.S. since 2016. Ground was broken in October 2019, but construction was halted on March 12, 2020, due to Covid restrictions. Kylemore Abbey welcomes your help in making the monastery a reality.
2022 Honorees
Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chairman Emeritus, The Ireland Funds
Award for contribution to Irish American relations through hospitality, heritage and culture
Loretta Brennan Glucksman has been involved in philanthropic endeavors for more than three decades, focusing on education, the arts, health care and peace initiatives in both the United States and Ireland, a passion she shared with her late husband Lew Glucksman. She is the Chairman Emeritus of The Ireland Funds America, where she served as its chairman for over 20 years before stepping down in December 2013. Loretta is co-chair of Glucksman Ireland House founded in 1993 and the center for Irish Studies at New York University. She serves on the Board of Arts and Sciences at NYU. Loretta was elected Grand Marshal of the Rainbow Parade for the LGBT Association in 2016 and Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 2018.
Michael J. Dowling, President & CEO, Northwell Health
Award for public service and contribution to society, benefitting the lives of others
Michael Dowling leads a clinical, academic and research enterprise with a workforce of more than 77,000 and annual revenue of $15 billion. Mr. Dowling has received numerous
awards, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and several honorary degrees from Fordham University, University College Dublin (Ireland) and the prestigious Queen’s University, Belfast. In 2020, Mr. Dowling received the Deming Cup from the Columbia School of Business and was ranked No. 2 on Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. In 2017, he was the Grand Marshal of the Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC. Prior to joining Northwell in 1995, Mr. Dowling served in New York State government for 12 years for former Governor Mario Cuomo. He is a native of Limerick, Ireland.
John D. Feerick, Dean Emeritus & Professor, Fordham Law School
Buan Chara Award, for continued friendship and support to the Benedictine nuns of Kylemore
John Feerick is currently the Sidney C. Norris Professor of Public Service at the Fordham University School of Law and served as its Dean from1982-2002. He helped draft the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which established the procedures to be enacted in the case of presidential vacancy or disability. Professor Feerick’s other career highlights include service as President of the New York City Bar Association. the Thomas More Award of the Archdiocese of New York Cardinal’s Committee on the Laity, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor; and in 2022 the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State Bar Foundation. In 2017, he was awarded the American Bar Association Medal, its highest honor. His life’s story is told in a memoir published in 2020 by the Fordham University Press, entitled That Further Shore: A Memoir of Irish Roots and American Promise.
History of Kylemore Abbey
Kylemore Castle was built in the late 1800s by Mitchell Henry MP, a wealthy businessman, and liberal politician. An enlightened landlord and vocal advocate of the Irish people, Henry poured his life’s energy into creating an estate that would showcase what could be achieved in the remote wilds of Connemara. The castle was sold to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester in 1903, who resided there for several years before being forced to sell the house and grounds because of gambling debts.
In 1920, the estate was bought by an order of Benedictine Nuns, founded in Belgium in the 16th century, and became Kylemore Abbey. The Benedictine Nuns had lost their monastery in Belgium during World War I and relocated to Ireland in the years that followed. The nuns offered education to Catholic girls, opening an international boarding school and establishing a day school for girls from the locality at the abbey. The school was the main educational establishment for most girls from Letterfrack and further afield for almost a century before it was forced to close in 2010 over falling vocation numbers.
Event co-chairs
Samantha A Omey: Senior Advisor, Public & Government Affairs at ExxonMobil Robert D Bickford Jr: Partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Hosted by the U.S. Friends of Kylemore Planning Committee:
John D. Feerick | Samantha Omey | Rose Gill Hearn | John Normile | Brian Ruder | Robert D. Bickford Jr. |Robert J. Reilly | James E. Tolan | Rosalind Secker-Walker | Maryann Palermo | Joan McKenna | Rachel Gaffney | Jacqueline Quinn | Mary Reed | Sr. Magdalena Fitzgibbon, OSB | Liz McConnell
It might be of interest, even if not connected to the reason for your article in Irish America on Kylemore Abbey.
My parents spent their honeymoon in 1944 in Kylemore Abbey and while there is no proof of any connection, I was born on 12th April 1945, their first anniversary.
Subsequently, I have memories of spending a holiday there when I was about 3years old when we stayed in the farmhouse of the Abbey across the road from the entrance to the grounds of the Abbey. I also remember going out on the lake in front of Kylemore with my father rowing a boat. I do remember also if my parents were going out at a time when I could not, I was looked after by a nun Dame Odilon whom I well remember was so kind and good to me. About three years ago I visited Kylemore with my two sons and had the opportunity to visit her grave and say a prayer.
These are just a couple of memories which may or may not be of interest.
John O’Reilly (living in London UK)
John,
What a lovely story, thank you for the history and the memories. I will pass them on.
Mary Reed