It was great to see Al O’Hagan back in Brooklyn. It was St. Patrick’s Day and where else would the great Hibernian leader be but back in his beloved Brooklyn.
Health problems forced Al to move to southern Jersey a few years back. After years leading the Great Irish Fair, the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce, and working at Brooklyn Union, it was tough for Al to leave. But he still maintains contact through the Baile na nGael, the Hibernians’ clubhouse in Gerritsen Beach.
I saw Al at Brooklyn Borough Hall where he and the new Borough President Eric Adams were graciously hosting a St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast. Al asked me to accept the Irish Man of the Year Award. I was thrilled and honored to stand side by side with him in the august court room on the second floor of Borough Hall.
Also returning to Brooklyn for the affair was Ray Teatum, another Brooklyn Catholic legend who presented the award to me. Ray, the former chief of staff to the late City Council leader Thomas Cuite, now lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and serves as Eastern Lieutenant for the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
What a gathering it was at Borough Hall! The other proud honorees included Mae O’Driscoll, Judge Peter Sweeney and Joseph Sokoloski, all residents of Brooklyn who in the best tradition of the Irish know that it is better to serve than to be served.
On the day prior, many of the people in that room were in Park Slope for the 39th annual Irish-American Parade, led this year by its popular Grand Marshal Father Jim Cunningham, pastor of Holy Name Church. No one enjoyed the festivities more than Father Jim, who donned an impressive top hat and rode atop a Mercedes convertible along the parade route. Holy Name parish, whose numbers turned out in droves for their popular pastor, continued the party with a post-parade reception in the rectory which was open to the public for the rest of the day.
Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez, who is Irish on his maternal side, visited the parish earlier in the day to celebrate the pre-parade Mass in Shepherd’s Hall, which is serving as the worship space while the upper church undergoes the home stretch of an extensive facelift. During the Mass, the bishop blessed two new statues – Our Lady of Knock and St. Patrick – which will be part of the new look at Holy Name Church.
Participants were reminded several times that this year’s parade – organized by Kathleen McDonough and her son James – was dedicated to the memory of the late Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan, who was its Grand Marshal in 1985 and a constant presence at the march throughout the years.
Next week, it’s on to the Bay Ridge St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday. Mass will be celebrated at St. Patrick’s Church, where Msgr. Michael Hardiman, the new pastor, will welcome the crowd. NYPD Chief Joseph Fox, another popular choice, will serve as Grand Marshal.
A final Irish parade will be held in Gerritsen Beach as the month-long celebration of St. Patrick comes to a conclusion. The festivities have been a great reminder of what it means to Irish and Catholic in New York. Fittingly, all the marches center around parish churches and serve as a welcome and encouraging sign to all the immigrant groups who continue to come here like the Irish did almost two centuries ago.
Despite some naysaying politicians in City Hall and some dopey decisions by a major stout company, New York was Irish again for at least a day and everyone had a smile on their face as we came together in an expression of ethnic pride.
