The Glen Cove St. Patrick's Day Parade

Celebrating Irish Culture on the North Shore

2003 Grand Marshal – Tony Jackson

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tony_jackson_portraitA native of Cavan Town, Co. Cavan, Ireland, Tony Jackson immigrated to America in 1964.  He quickly found employment with the Melville Shoe Co.  tony served two years in the U.S. Army, from 1965 until his honorable discharge, with the rank of Sergeant, in 1967.  Shortly thereafter, he went to work for the International Shoe Company, where he rapidly rose to management.  In 1975, Tony resigned to purchase his own business in Queens.

Emcee, radio host and all-round “Mr. Long Island”, Tony can be heard over the airwaves of WRHU-FM, Hofstra University Radio, from 5-8pm every Saturday night.  His Irish Country Show has received outstanding program awards at WRHU in 1985, 1986 and 1995.

Tony’s wife is the former Maureen O’Neill from Co. Galway.  They were married in 1965 and presently reside in New Hyde Park, NY.  Tony and Maureen have participated as a host family with the Project Children program.

2003 Grand Marshal Tony Jackson served many organizations over the years:

  • Past President of Division 14, AOH
  • Past National Coordinator, Freedom for All Ireland Comm.
  • Treasurer, New York Pearse Commemoration Committee
  • Member, American Irish Congress;  Irish National Caucus
  • Past President, Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens
  • Grand Marshal, Garden City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 1986

2002 Grand Marshal – Dr. Mary Gilroy Doohan

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grand_4Dr. Mary Gilroy Doohan has graciously accepted the nomination of Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee to be the Grand Marshal of the 2002 Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade, to be held on March 17, 2002.  The Grand Marshal will be accompanied by her Aide, former Div. President, Eamonn Beck.

A native of Locust Valley, Dr. Gilroy was received her education at St. Patrick’s School, Glen Cove, St. Dominic’s High School, Oyster Bay and University College Dublin. She has spent her professional career serving the people of Glen Cove at the North Shore University Hospital Glen Cove (formerly the Community Hospital at Glen Cove), where she is now the Director of Emergency Services.

Mary is married to well known educator and local Hibernian Edward Doohan. She and Ed are the proud parents of Tom, a doctor at Winthrop Hospital, Anne, and attorney in New York, Denise, a teacher, Jim, a student at Loyola University, and Ted, who is studying in Belgium.

2001 Glen Cove Parade

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The 2001 Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade took place on March 18th of that year.  The Grand Marshal was Patrick J. Lynch, President of the NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Society, accompanied by Aide to the Grand Marshal Malachy McAllister, a political refugee from the conflict in Ireland who was seeking safety in this country for himself and his family after their home in Belfast was attacked by a pro-British death squad, and by AOH member Paul Long.

 Grand Marshal, 2001, Patrick J. Lynch

Grand Marshal Patrick J. Lynch was born in Bayside, Queens. The youngest of seven children, he found union activity almost second nature. His father, Robert, now 75, was a subway motorman for 30 years and took him out of school one day to walk the picketline during the 1980 New York City transit strike. “You saw it then. You could feel it,” Lynch recalls.  “If everyone stood together, in unity, you could change things and you could fix things for the better.”

Patrick Lynch’s desire to do something meaningful was why he became a policeman. “Everything you do makes a difference. It’s one job where the lowest person on the totem pole, the average cop, makes all the preliminary decisions and all else follows from that police officer’s decision. So, you really can make a difference.”

Besides fighting for a just salary hike for New York City Policemen, Lynch is battling the “very anti-police climate” in New York City. “It’s not popular to stand with a cop who’s accused, but we’re doing that- and that goes a long way.” In spite of the “bombardment of anti-police activists, Lynch’s message is this: “I think the average person out there who does not have a political agenda supports New York City Cops. We have detractors who try to tear down what we do and attack us on every turn, but there’s no one on this earth who defends the civil or Constitutional rights of this country’s people more than a police officer in uniform standing on the corner.”

Grand Marshal Lynch traces his Irish roots to County Mayo, Ireland. Lynch credits his Catholic education at home and school (St. Robert Bellarmine, Queens and Msgr. Scanlon High School, Bronx) for giving him courage and strength in his duties as New York City PBA President: “It was all interconnected. The lessons at home and the lessons at school were the same. You have to work hard to get ahead. You have to believe in God who put you on earth and allows you to do what you’re doing. That whole lesson began at our kitchen table, but was the same when you went off to school” On President Lynch’s office desk are a dozen memorial cards of policemen killed in the line of duty (three since he became PBA President), and two vials of holy water-one each from Knock and Lourdes.

Lynch and his wife, Kathleen, a nurse, have two sons, Patrick ,9, and Kevin, 7.

 (Based on an article by Jack Shanahan, It’s All about Family, The Brooklyn Tablet, August 12 ,2000)

The Mike Moran Division 8, AOH is proud to salute PBA President Patrick J. Lynch as Grand Marshal of the 13th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade as an exemplar of the Society’s Mission of Friendship, Unity, and Christian Charity.

Aide to the Grand Marshal, 2001, Malachy McAllister

Like most republicans in the north of Ireland, Malachy and Bernadette McAllister, and their four children, lived daily with abuse and fear of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British troops occupying the six northern Irish counties. On October 2, 1988, a normal Sunday evening, two masked gunmen fired twenty-six shots into the living room of their home in the Ormeau Road area of Belfast.  The McAllister children and their grandmother narrowly escaped  physical injury. However, the psychological injuries continue to plague the family today.  The McAllister Family fled Belfast shortly after the attack 13 years ago.

The attack on the McAllister’s was no random occurrence. Malachy, a former political prisoner spent nearly four years in Long Kesh prison for political offenses. He had been convicted in a no-jury Diplock court.

Federal court Judge Henry Dogin granted political asylum to Bernadette McAllister and three of her children in October, 2000.  He ruled that the family including Malachy had suffered “extreme past persecution” including life long discrimination as Catholics and a “constant campaign of harassment” at the hands of the RUC, the British Army and Loyalist Paramilitary Forces whom the government was unwilling or unable to control.

Despite the inescapable conclusion “that the family suffered persecution including ‘incidents of public humiliation’, physical abuse of Malachy and the murder attempt against them by loyalists”, the judge ordered that Malachy be deported to the United Kingdom because his Northern Ireland convictions for targeting members of the RUC during the Hunger Strike in 1981 classified him as a terrorist and therefore not eligible for asylum.

Bernadette and the children’s political asylum status was short lived when the INS took the unprecedented step to appeal the judges favorable ruling.

Fifty six Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders including Robert Menendez, Joe Crowley and Peter King have written to the Justice Department on behalf of the family and recently they wrote to the Attorney General to complain about the INS treatment of the family.

Despite ongoing ceasefires, loyalist paramilitary groups in the North continue to engage in assassinations and attacks on Nationalists. The McAllister Family continues to fear for the future.

In light of the widespread release of former political prisoners in Northern Ireland and the suspension of deportation against several republicans here in America by the Clinton administration, the Mike Moran Division 8 AOH is proud to honor, support and pray for a speedy resolution of this case hoping that justice will prevail.

Aide to the Grand Marshal, 2001, Paul Francis Long

Paul Long was born in 1964 in County Wexford, Ireland to Michael and Ann Long.  He is the oldest of 7 children.  He was educated in Ballymitty National School and St. Peter’s College, Wexford.

After finishing high school he worked in his parent’s supermarket as a butcher before joining the F.C.A., Ireland’s Army Reserve, in 1981.  He remained with the reserves until he immigrated to the United States in 1984.

Since arriving in the States, Paul has generously given his time and talent to the North Shore Community and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Paul is the co-chair for the semi-annual St. Patrick’s Blood Drive.

Paul is an active member of the Locust Valley Neighborhood Watch.  He is also an active member of the LV High School Parents Council and a member of the annual “Comedy Night” fundraising committee.

Paul joined the Long Island Rose Society in 1995 and is now a consulting rosarian.  For the past 3 years he has served on the board of directors of the Long Island Rose Society, a position he still holds today and has held various positions on the annual L.I. Rose Show committee.  Paul is currently pursuing an associate’s degree in ornamental horticulture at SUNY Farmingdale.

Paul was inducted as a member Division 8, Ancient Order of Hibernians in 1995.  He immediately became one of the Division’s most active members.  He took his major degree in 1996.  Paul has worked tirelessly to make Division 8 what it is today- a robust organization protective of the Irish Culture on the North Shore of Long Island, of the Church, and of the Community.

Aide Paul Long was the Division’s Financial Secretary, and holds the office of Vice President.  On the County level, he is the current Freedom for All Ireland Chair of the Nassau County Board.  For three years, he was the Chair of the Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Parade.

Paul Long is currently employed as grounds superintendent for Nelson Doubleday in Locust Valley where he also lives with his wife Cindy, and children Aaron and Tanya.

2001 Grand Marshal – Patrick J. Lynch

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patric3BY JACK SHANAHAN

The Brooklyn Tablet August 12, 2000

 

A dozen memorial prayer cards – each for a cop killed in the line of duty – lie in a row atop the desk blotter of Patrick J. Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. They were given to him by parents of the deceased officers, three of whom died since Lynch was elected head of the police union a little more than a year ago. It’s a reminder of why you do this job,” he said. Despite what he called the “bombardment’ of anti-police activists, Lynch said, ‘I think the average person out there who does not have a political agenda supports New York City cops.” He said, “we have detractors who try to tear down what we do and attack us on every turn, but … there’s no one on this earth who defends the civil rights, or the Constitutional rights, of the people of this country more than a police officer in uniform standing on that corner.” When a cop goes bad, he said, it’s like a betrayal to all cops. No self-respecting police man or woman likes it when a fellow officer breaks the law. “It taints the department,’ the PBA chief said.

Lynch said his Catholic education, at home and in school, has helped him in all walks of life. “It was all interconnected,” he said. “The lessons at home and the lessons at school were the same. “You have to work hard to get ahead. You have to believe in Cod. He’s the One who put you on the earth and allows you to do what you’re doing. That whole situation: it started at our kitchen table, but it was the same when you went off to school.”

He was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Robert’s and by the Ohio Dominicans at Scanlon. He also worked as a maintenance man at St. Andrew Avellino in Flushing and briefly as a subway conductor before switching to the Police Department. Lynch and his wife, Kathleen, a nurse, have two sons, Patrick, 9, and Kevin, 7.

Lynch, 36, born in Bayside, and a graduate of St. Robert Bellarmine parochial school there, is, the youngest cop to become president of the 29,000 member PBA. He campaigned virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week, visiting each police precinct house and talking to cops on the day, night and overnight tours to get their votes. ‘They needed to see their union. They needed to feel part of the union,’ he explained. “This is an ever changing job. You have to be out there to understand (what’s-going on).”

The youngest of seven children, Lynch found union activity almost second-nature. His father, Robert, now 75, was a subway motorman for 30 years and took him out of school on day to walk the picket line during the 1980 transit strike. “You saw it then. You could feel it,” Lynch recalled. “If everyone stood together, in unity, you could change things and you could fix things for the better.”

His desire to do something meaningful was why he became a policeman. “Everything you do makes a difference. It’s the one job where the lowest person on the totem pole, the average cop, makes all the preliminary decisions and all else follows from that police officer’s decision. So, you really can make a difference,” he said in an interview in his office in Lower Manhattan.

Patrolmen have to make life-and-death decisions – frequently in a matter of seconds, or even a split second – decisions that will withstand the test of legal challenges all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, he noted. “And we’re asking them to do that on a salary of $350,” he said. The union chief referred to the weekly take-home pay of a rookie cop who actually grosses $31,000-a-year to start. The pay increases with time on the job. Lynch, with 17 years in, now receives $49,000 annually as a police officer and an additional similar amount as union president.

He is asking for “a substantial increase” for PBA members to replace the union’s five-year-old labor contract which expired July 31. He noted that an arbitrator last month boosted the top yearly pay of Suffolk County cops to more than $80,000 in the year 2003.

Besides fighting for a salary hike for his members, the graduate of Monsignor Scanlon High School in the Bronx also is battling the “very anti-police climate right now. It’s not popular to stand with a cop who’s wrongfully accused, but we’re doing that – and that goes a long way,’ he said.

“It’s never been this bad,’ Lynch said, referring to recent high-profile cases. “There’s never been a time when there are so many people demonstrating against police. “And,” he added, “we’re going through a time when we should be celebrating the police. Crime is down in astronomical numbers. You could walk safely in the, neighborhoods. Five short years ago … you couldn’t.’ Lynch said much of the anti-cop attitude could be blamed on government policies. ‘What’s happening is: the New York City cop is being dragged into everyone’s politics … and they’re attacking the policies on the backs of the New York City. police officer.” Uniformed officers are the first branch of government that many people see, even in housing disputes, he remarked. ‘So many times you take the brunt of society’s problems. You take the blame for problems that other agencies can’t fix. It falls square on the shoulders of cops,” he lamented.

A veteran of foot and motor patrol and community policing in the racially-mixed and ethnically-diverse 90th Precinct in Williamsburg, Lynch said that differences between the police and community usually could be worked out without rancor. “Once you get the dialogue going, many times you get past the differences. You find you’re not that far apart,” he said.

He’s trying as PBA president to “put a face on the average cop” for the public. However, he declined to discuss his own decorations which include one for Exceptional Merit for rescuing two officers who had been shot by a man firing through a door. Asked if he put himself in the line of fire, Lynch replied only, “part of the job. Part of the job.”

Despite what he called the “bombardment’ of anti-police activists, Lynch said, ‘I think the average person out there who does not have a political agenda supports New York City cops.” He said, “we have detractors who try to tear down what we do and attack us on every turn, but … there’s no one on this earth who defends the civil rights, or the Constitutional rights, of the people of this country more than a police officer in uniform standing on that corner.”

When a cop goes bad, he said, it’s like a betrayal to all cops. No self-respecting police man or woman likes it when a fellow officer breaks the law. “It taints the department,’ the PBA chief said.

Lynch said his Catholic education, at home and in school, has helped him in all walks of life. “It was all interconnected,” he said. “The lessons at home and the lessons at school were the same. “You have to work hard to get ahead. You have to believe in Cod. He’s the One who put you on the earth and allows you to do what you’re doing. That whole situation: it started at our kitchen table, but it was the same when you went off to school.”

He was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Robert’s and by the Ohio Dominicans at Scanlon. He also worked as a maintenance man at St. Andrew Avellino in Flushing and briefly as a subway conductor before switching to the Police Department. Lynch and his wife, Kathleen, a nurse, have two sons, Patrick, 9, and Kevin, 7.

The union leader, whose mother, Mary, came here from County Mayo, Ireland, also was a drummer in the County Tyrone Pipe Band. His brother, Robert, is a piper. Asked why he did not take up the pipes, Lynch said with a challenging smile, “It took more skill to be a drummer.”

Since he has been head of the union, the Police Holy Name Society member has received thousands of letters, many seeking help, others offering advice. Two contained vials of water which he keeps near his desk. One has water from Lourdes, the other from Knock.

2000 Parade

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The 2000 Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebrated the dawn of a new Millenium in a special way by naming a large number of Aides to Grand Marshal Thomas R. Suozzi.  The Aides chosen represented a cross-section of the local community and celebrated their service as we reached the year 2000.

Thomas R. Suozzi, Grand Marshal 2000 Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Mayor Thomas R. Suozzi, a Certified Public Accountant and Attorney, first assumed the office of Mayor and Supervisor in January 1994.  On November 2, 1999 Mayor Suozzi was re-elected to his fourth term in office.  He is credited with balancing the city’s budget, no new taxes for five consecutive years, and building a new City Hall, Courthouse, Police Headquarters and EMS building.  Mayor Suozzi has revitalized the City’s downtown business district by bringing Swezey’s Department Store, Staples, Acclaim Entertainment, Ruby Tuesday and other well known businesses to Glen Cove.

Mayor Suozzi’s innovative energy and environmental efforts are recognized nationwide and throughout the state.  Vice President Al Gore recently called Mayor Suozzi to announce that the City of Glen Cove was chosen as one of 16 communities ftom a nationwide field of over 200 candidates, as a Brownfields Showcase Community.  This distinction will enable the federal govenunent to provide the City with $1.4 million in funding and technical assistance for the redevelopment of the waterfront.  The City received this prestigious recognition based on the Mayor’s demonstrated commitment to cleanup and redevelop the waterfront, and his administration’s working relationship with federal, state, and local agencies.

In 1997, he had the distinction of being the only elected official chosen to receive a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2 Environmental Quality Award.  He is currently embarked on an ambitious plan to revitalize the Glen Cove Waterfront into a regional tourist destination that has received bipartisan praise.  Mayor Suozzi has been named Environmentalist of the Year by the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor and was honored b

y the Long Island Progressive Coalition for Innovative Leadership inCommunityRevitalization.  OnApril4,1998,theLonglslandsoundWatershedAlliancehonoredMayor Suozzi for Excellence in Achieving the Goals of the Long Island Sound Study.  He is responsible for the permanent closure of the Glen Cove Incinerator, at no cost to the taxpayers.

Mayor Suozzi’s innovative Employee Evaluation System and “reinventing government” programs have reduced the city’s workforce by 1 0% while increasing productivity and rewarding performance.  He has earned awards from both the Long Island Civil Service Employees Union for “fair treatment and support” for city employees, as well as the New York Conference of Mayor’s 1997 Labor Management Achievement Award.

Prior to serving as Mayor, Tom Suozzi’s professional career included working as a public accountant with the firm of Arthur Andersen.  As an attorney, Mr. Suozzi served as clerk for the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and served as commercial litigator for the law firm of Shearman & Sterling in New York City.

Tom Suozzi was bom and raised in Glen Cove.  He attended St. Patrick’s School and. graduated from Chaminade High School in 1980.  In 1984 he received a Bachelors degree from Boston College and in 1989 earned a J.D. degree from Fordham University Law School.  At graduation, Mayor Suozzi accepted the Eugene O’Keefe Award on behalf of the Law School’s Public Service Project which he founded.

Tom Suozzi is married to the former Helene Wrotniak, a native of Glen Cove.  They have a daughter, Caroline, who is four years old, and a son Joseph Anthony, who will be two years old in February.

 

Aide to the Grand Marshal Robert P. Lynch

Robert P. Lynch is the former Chairman of the Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade and he is also a Past President of AOH Division 8, which sponsors the parade.

Mr. Lynch resides in Glen Cove, with his wife Sighle (Sheila) Lynch and their sons, Kieran, Aidan and Conor.  He is a graduate of St. John’s University, where he received a degree in history in 1977, and of St. John’s Law School, where he received his Doctor of Laws degree in 1980.  Robert is a practicing attorney, and is, a partner, along with his wife, Sighle, in the Law Firm of Lynch and Lynch, located in Glen Cove and Williston Park.  He recently established a new business, Cairdenet, which provides website design and hosting services on the Internet.

Robert comes from a family with deep roots in Ireland and Irish America.  His father, Robert B. Lynch is the former Queens County AOH president and was recently honored there as “Hibernian of the Year”.  His paternal ancestors include immigrants from Counties Mayo and Kerry who arrived in this country in the 1820’s and others who arrived from Co. Westmeath in the 1870s.  His mother is Mary Hyland from Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo and he is the oldest of seven children.

Robert is active in many Irish organizations and is a traditional music enthusiast, being a former Pipe Major of the County Tyrone Pipe Band and an uilleann piper.  Robert has been active for many years in a wide variety of efforts in support of Irish freedom and is a member of Friends of Sinn Fein.  He was cofounder of the Irish Society at St. John’s University and he a charter member of the Brehon Law Society.  He was also a Charter Member of AOH Division 13 in Bayside, Queens, before transferring to Division 8.  He was also a founding member and Vice President of the North Shore Irish American Cultural Society along with our late president and grand marshal John Sweeney. 

Robert is an active member of the Parish of St. Boniface Martyr in Sea Cliff, where he serves on the Finance, Stewardship and Liturgy Committees and webmaster of the parish website.  He is also President of the Bayside, Queens Kiwanis Club where he has headed activities in support of Scouting for the Handicapped and the Friends of Iris Hill School of the Queens Children’s Psychiatric Hospital, where he is a Board member.

Aide to the Grand Marshal Edward Friel

Edward Friel is the son of Frank and Margaret Friel of Counties Mayo and Sligo.

Ed has been an active member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians since the mid 1980’s, holding several elected positions in his home Division, #3, including that of president.  He then served Nassau County AOH President, and has also been co-chairman of the Nassau Co. Feis.  He is presently Feis Treasurer.

Eddie resides in Westbury and is an active member of St. Brigid’s Parish there, and is also active at St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Far Rockaway.  He and his wife Nina have three children, Christina, Frank and Eddie.

 

Aide to the Grand Marshal Bridie Mahoney

Bridie Mahoney was born and raised in Caherfeenick, Doonbeg, County Clare.  Bridie is the youngest daughter, one of eight children, born to Bartholomew and Anne McMahon.  She was educated in Doonbeg, Clohanes National Schools and later at the Convent of Mercy in Ennistymon.  At the age of 18 Bridie emigrated to the United States where she continued her education at Fordham University.  In 1969 Bridie married John Mahoney from Ballyhea, Charleville, County Cork and they have three daughters, Joan, Maureen and Sharon.  In addition, her family has grown to include two sons-in-law, Joseph and David, as well as two grandsons, Brandon and Nicholas.

Bridie has been a long time member of the Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens.  She has participated by serving on the Board of Directors, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, and has chaired many other functions with the Irish American Society.  Bridie recently served the last two years of the 20th Century with the Irish American Society as their President.  Bridie has also been chosen Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Garden City on March 5th.

Bridie is very honored and proud to be chosen as an aide to the Grand Marshal of the Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the first of the new millennium.  She looks forward to representing the City of Glen Cove as she marches the parade route this year and she wishes everyone a happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day.

Aide to the Grand Marshal Joseph M. Cassin, Ph.D.

Joe Cassin’s paternal grandparents, William Cassin and Mary Cleary were married at St. Mary’s Church, Dublin, and lived next to the Dublin zoo before immigrating to America about 1890.  They settled in Lowell, MA where they raised two daughters and four sons.  William Cassin was killed in a boiler accident aboard a Cunard Liner making the Cassins a single parent family.  None of the children finished grade school in order to support the family.  Joe was born to their son Joseph Francis and his wife Irene Matthews Cassin.  He attended St. Patrick’s School and Keith Academy-a former county jail.  Each school was built by Irish construction workers from granite blocks left over from canal construction during the industrial revolution.

Joe followed the tradition of the Irish Scholars.  He was educated at the Catholic University of America (AB in Biology); Saint John’s University (MA Sacred Science); Howard University  (MS, Botany); and was an Alfred Schmidt Foundation Fellow at Fordham University (PhD. Marine Microbial Ecology).  He taught in parochial secondary schools in New York, Kentucky, and Maryland.  Joe was a 30-year faculty member of Adelphi University.  Presently, he is an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology at Nassau Community College.  Joe received marine research grants from the National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences, New York State and Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Family lore has it that the name Cassin is derived from the Cassinian warrior group loyal to Brian Boru who expelled the Vikings from Ireland.  Joe has carried on the Cassinian tradition through several political and civic interests.

He served two terms in the Glen Cove City Council, and was the Right to Life Candidate for Nassau County Comptroller, and the New York State Assembly.  He was a cofounder of the Glen Cove Parent Network, and the Glen Cove Busing Coalition, which lobbied the Glen Cove School Board for equal rights and resources among non-public school students.  He served several adult roles in Troop 184, Boy Scouts of America.  He is presently a member of the Saint Patrick’s Life Committee; Catholic Charities’ Public Policy Education Network; and Respect Life Committee of the Office of Family Ministry.  Joe is a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus, and a proud member of the Mike Moran Division 8, Ancient Order of Hibernians serving as Catholic Action chairman, and Parade Journal editor.

Joe is married to Dr. Patricia Eribaum Cassin whose Irish roots lie in County Clare (Burke), and Dublin (Mclrerney).  They have four children: Brian, a free-lance film editor, Elizabeth Cassin Howell, a Theatrical Costumer, Brendan, a graduate music student at Duquesne University; and Kevin, a sophomore at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Aide to the Grand Marshal Mary Murphy

Mary (nee Comer) Murphy was born in Kilkerrin, County Galway.  Mary immigrated to New York in 1957 and has resided in the community of Cedarhurst and St. Joachim’s Parish ever since.  Mary has been a tireless and dedicated supporter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians since she joined Division 3, Nassau County in 1958.

Mary has served in all offices of Division 3. She was Nassau County LAOH Board President from 1995 to 1999 and is currently the Board Vice-President.  Mary continues to serve the interests of Nassau County and New York State as the Freedom for All Ireland Chairperson for the New York LAOH State Board.  Mary has also been active with the Nassau County Feis Committee for the last 23 years.

Among Mary’s many accolades, she was an Aide to the Grand Marshall of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 1992.  In November 1999, the Nassau County LAOH Board honored Mary as Lady of the Year.

Mary and her husband Aiden, who hails from Camlough, County Armagh are the proud parents of four children: Maureen, Emmet, Sean and Susan.

Aide to the Grand Marshal Patrick E. Peet

Patrick E. Peet is the Chief of the Glen Cove Fire Department, having taken office on Januar1, 2000.  He entered the Glen Cove Fire Department on May 9, 1983, representing the third generation of this family to have served as Glen Cove firefighters.  He rose steadily through the ranks, becoming Captain of Company #4 in 1988 and he has been instrumental in the training of department members.

Patrick has received many Citations in recognition of his bravery and skill.  They include:

  • 1990: Citation for assistance to the many Long Island departments that responded to the Avianca airline crash in Cove Neck.
  • 1992: Citation for his service during the Nor’easter that hit Glen Cove.
  • 1993: Citation for rescuing eight people from a burning building on Glen Cove Avenue.

Steven McDonald, Grand Marshal, Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 1990

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Stephen McDonald Grand Marshal 1990

Steven McDonald
Grand Marshal 1990

When we hear the name Steven McDonald perhaps we might just think, “That was the New York City policeman who was shot”.  But Steven McDonald is much more than a wounded police officer.  Detective McDonald, whose spinal cord injury and his brave and determined fight to overcome this tragedy have become so well known to so many, has become a folk hero.  Not long after he was wounded, Det. McDonald captured the imaginations of those who knew his story and of many to whom his story was new by forgiving the teenager who had shot him.  This became the first step in a life devoted to spreading a message of reconciliation, a message based on the values of the Gospel.  Strongly supported by his wife Patti Ann, Steven has worked to bring this message to a much wider audience.

While Det. McDonald has been an outspoken advocate on behalf of Catholics in the Six Counties of Northern Ireland, he has traveled repeatedly to Ireland to speak of peace and reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants.  In 1998 the McDonald family (Steven, Patti Ann and their son, Conor) visited Omagh, shortly after the bombing there.  Steven joined with members of both the Catholic and Protestant communities to pray for a spirit of reconciliation, the necessary foundation for a just and lasting peace.  The McDonalds also met with political and Church leaders, always with this same message.  With many of his Hibernian brothers from Division 14 (Nassau County, New York), Det. McDonald has also worked with physically challenged youths, American and Irish, inspiring these young people by his own determination to rise above any limitations resulting from his paralysis and to give hope and encouragement by his own example.

Recognizing that life is a gift from God, Steven and Patti Ann have become active advocates for the unborn, as well as for people who have sustained life-threatening injuries.  For their work on behalf of the pro-life cause, the McDonalds have been recognized and honored by the Dioceses of Rockville Centre and Brooklyn.  Steven was honored as the Grand Marshal of our parade in 1990 for all that he represents, for his life of faith-based inspiration, for his consistent message of reconciliation and peace.

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The Glen Cove St. Patrick's Day Parade is run by Glen Cove Parade Committee, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) charitable corporation, formed in the tradition of the Glen Cove Hibernians, who founded the Parade in 1989.

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