President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins presented the 2018 Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for the Irish Abroad on Thursday, November 29. ℘℘℘ Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy and novelist Edna O’Brien (pictured above with the President), are this year’s award winners in the Arts, Culture, and Sport category. In the field of Business and Education, the … [Read more...] about Presidential Distinguished Service Awards
Concern Celebrates 50 Years
On Tuesday, December 4, at Cipriani Wall Street, Concern Worldwide US held its 22nd Annual Seeds of Hope Award Dinner, which this year also marked the 50th anniversary of its founding in Dublin in 1968. Over 700 guests attended the international humanitarian organization’s largest fundraising event, helping raise more than $2 million to benefit Concern’s work in twenty-five … [Read more...] about Concern Celebrates 50 Years
Ronan Tynan Sings
for George H.W. Bush
Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan sang Silent Night, as well as another song in Irish, at former President George H.W. Bush’s bedside, shortly before he passed away. “Believe it or not,” said James A. Baker III, Bush’s longtime friend and former secretary of state, “the president was mouthing the words.” Tynan also sang “Last Full Measure of Devotion” at Bush’s funeral on December … [Read more...] about Ronan Tynan Sings
for George H.W. Bush
Women in Leadership
Sarah Friar, former CFO at Square and now CEO of Nextdoor and one of our 2018 Business 100 honorees, was the Honorary Speaker at The Ireland Funds Women in Leadership Luncheon on November 30th. The event was held at the Four Seasons Hotel and attended by over 400 guests. In a moving moment, Sarah described how the words of Seamus Heaney, her favorite poet, have provided her … [Read more...] about Women in Leadership
Those We Lost
Recent passings in the Irish and Irish American communities. ℘℘℘ Patrick O'Neill 1915–2018 Patrick H. O’Neill passed at the age of 102 at his residence in New Canaan, Connecticut. He was born in Cordova, Alaska in 1915 to parents Harry O’Neill and Florence Leahy and grew up as the seventh of 12 children in a big Irish family. Early in life, Patrick found his calling in … [Read more...] about Those We Lost