November 2016 Archived News:
(Hello and Happy Veterans Day to all our members!)
Photo: Credit to photographer, Alfonso, embedded above. Location: County Clare.
If you would like to contribute an article to the December 2016 newsletter, please contact Kieran de Lacy via mobile, 917-751-2919, or email, kierandelacy@aol.com, on or before December 2nd, to ensure that it will be included.
Our next meeting will take place on Friday, November 11th, 7:30 pm, at The New York Irish Center, 10-40 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101. We hope that you, and anyone who might be interested in becoming a member, will be able to attend.
We welcome a new member Fergus Smith, son of Connie and Lena, who was sworn in at our October meeting. Fergus we hope that you will enjoy being a member and we look forward to your valuable contributions.
Officer nominations will take place at our Nov. meeting, so please ensure that you attend or send written notice if you would like to run for a particular officer position, or if you have someone else in mind that you would like to nominate.
Upcoming events include the officer nominations as mentioned above will take place at the November meeting, and the elections will then take place at the December meeting the annual Christmas Party, details of which will be confirmed at the November meeting.
We held the 2016 Pat Cahill Memorial Golf Tournament at the Pelham Bay/Split Rock golf course on Monday, Oct. 10th, Columbus Day. It goes without saying that an enjoyable day was had by all those who attended. There were 98 golfers on the day and the weather came good – we were very lucky as a golf tournament at this course on the previous day had to be cancelled due to bad weather. After the golfers finished up, there was a tasty serving of food awaiting them and those who showed up for the evening festivities. Once the food was eaten, the golf winners were announced and presented with some nice trophies. Afterwards a draw took place for a number of prizes including a 52” TV, Taylor golf clubs and some free golf foursomes for Pelham Bay/Split Rock golf course. What a fantastic job that John and Mary O’Brien did again in selling the prize tickets – they would inspire and teach you with the enthusiasm that they show. A final number has yet to be announced for the profits but it is a healthy figure from first estimates. This tournament was a phenomenal success considering that there were some doubts as to whether we would have it this year at all and a lot of the credit for that has to go to Michael O’Reilly, the Lynch family, Connie Smith and Liam Moffat – well done to you all and thank you from everyone in the Association. Thank you to all those who supported the tournament by playing, attending or sponsoring!
Thank you to all those who attended …… , the wake and funeral of our Sergeant-at-Arms, Mike Lynch, R.I.P. A special thanks to Jimmy McGirr for the wonderful job that he did in overseeing the banner, sashes, etc. and in particular the guard of honor at the funeral.
We would like to express our condolences to the family of member, Phil Daly, who died on Oct. 20th, 2016, R.I.P.. Phil was originally from Co. Cavan and he is survived by his wife Rita and their 5 children, all his grandchildren and his two sisters. Phil joined the Association on Dec. 5th, 1957, which made him a 58 year member.
Tommy Brady, who was buried in Butlersbridge, Co. Cavan, on Sep. 20th, 2016, R.I.P.. Tommy was a brother of Br. Clement Brady, whom we all know as a huge contributor and supporter of our Association, in particular the golf tournament mentioned above ……
Katherine O’Sullivan, who died in Woodside on Sep. 30th, 2016, after returning from a visit to Ireland, R.I.P.. Katherine was a sister-in-law to our past President, Tom Conway, R.I.P.
Brendan Hynes, who was buried in Hopewell Junction NY, on Sep. 9th, 2016, R.I.P. Brendan was a brother-in-law of Pat Coyle, who also lost a sister-in-law earlier this year in Florida, Mary Plank, R.I.P.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anam (May their souls be on God’s right side)
We wish all those who are recovering from illness more strength each day and it is with that in mind that we were delighted to hear that one of our members, Mary English, whom we miss very much at our meetings, may be making a return to our Nov. meeting, after a long absence due to illness. No pressure Mary but we are all looking forward to seeing you again ……
We would like to wish Mattie Cahill well after a recent illness that required a hospital stay and all those who are dealing with any illness at this time.
Go dtuga Dia daoibh biseach a fháil! (God send that you may get better!).
You baseball fans might be surprised to know that famed Baseball announcer, Vincent ‘Vin’ Scully, who retired in September, at 89 years young, has roots in Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan. The Anglo-Celt did an article on Vin and following is an extract from it “Having spent the past 67 years working as the play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, Vin is described as having a voice better known to most Los Angelenos than their next-door neighbour’s.” We wish Vin and his family a happy and healthy retirement! Click here for the fully story: Vin’s Last Innings
Congratulations to Ramor United, who overcame Castlerahan by 0-10 to 0-8, to become Cavan Senior Football champions for the first time in 24 years. Hopefully, Castlerahan can go one step further next year for their first!
Bhuel, a chairde, sin a bhfuil don am i láthair! Slán agus Beannacht libh go léir! (Well, friends, that’s all for the time being! Goodbye and God Bless you all!)
April, 2016 -Archived News
Dia agus Cáisc shona deireanach daoibh baill go léir!
(Hello and Belated Happy Easter to all our members!),
If you would like to contribute an article ……, to the May 2016 newsletter, please contact Kieran de Lacy via mobile, 917-751-2919, or email, kierandelacy@aol.com, on or before May 6th, to ensure that it will be included.
Our next meeting …… will take place on Friday, April 8th, 7:30 pm, at The New York Irish Center, 10-40 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101. We hope that you, and anyone who might be interested in becoming a member, will be able to attend and participate.
At our March meeting …… we were delighted to add a new member to the Association and that was Mr. Peter Christopher Tully, known as Chris to us, and who recently got married to Mairead Tully – our sources indicate that they have the cure of the whooping cough, due to having the same surname. We welcome Chris, who is council President for the borough of Bergenfield, and hope that he can join us for some of our events throughout the year.
A reminder for the dues ……, which for 2016 is $25 per member and we always try to collect before April. You can send your checks, payable to the Cavan P & B Association of NY, Inc., to Mr. L. Brendan Smith, 57-44 63rd St., Maspeth, NY 11378. Thank you in advance because your dues are a key source of income for us!
Upcoming events include …… the 2016 Picnic, which was discussed at our March meeting. Enquiries were made for availability of Sunnyside Gardens Park, 48-21 39th Avenue, Sunnyside, NY 11104 in early June, and currently June 5th and 19th are available, but selection and confirmation has yet to be complete. If you have any ideas on how to make it a fun and exciting day, please let us know …… the Catskills weekend break at The Shamrock House in July, with more information to follow. This event is organized by Vice-President John McGurrin, and as we have mentioned before, this is a weekend away from all the craziness of city life and a chance to slow back down.
What a week of entertainment, …… we had around St. Patrick’s day! For those of us who attended any of the three shows that the Cavan Rugby Club Male Choir put on, the common consensus was that they were fantastic, and as with any good show they went too fast! We were honored that they marched with us in our St. Patrick’s day parade, where they sang on the way up 5th Ave., plus at our party afterwards – we look forward to seeing them in NY again and hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we enjoyed listening to them. We carried that famous banner up 5th Ave. and we were not only blessed with the weather, but with the company of Paul Brady, the world champion handballer, Paddy Smith, Cathaoirleach, Cavan County Council, and Tommy Ryan, Chief Executive, Cavan County Council and his wife Ann. Unfortunately our President, Liam Moffatt was unable to march and also missed our Dinner Dance due to stomach sickness, but he was able to make the post-parade party – we are glad to say that Liam is feeling better since that. Jimmy McGirr and Dr. James Lynch did a great job again by organizing and managing our presentation – thank you to all those who helped out in various capacities …… Once we got to the end of the parade, we marched on to the Unitarian Church of All Souls on Lexington, where our host, Mario, and his team gave us a great welcome. The venue was as good as Pat Coyle had claimed it to be, and we enjoyed a selection of food cooked by Elaine O’Shea and served out by Bernie and Ann. As mentioned before, the Cavan Choir sang a few songs for us and the President presented Paul Brady with a sash with “Paul Brady 5 Time World Champion” wrote on it. Apart from that, there were two lads playing music on a laptop, namely Jimmy McGirr and Kieran de Lacy, who were asked to leave the premises – say nothing till you hear more! Thanks to everyone who came and we hope that you enjoyed yourself and we are booked for the Church next year, please God …… Along came Saturday night and we were all ready for our Dinner Dance in Riccardos. The first thing to say here is that this dance was an absolute credit to those few who were involved with organizing it and it is amazing what those few can do when they are the right few! We had our two couples who were been honored, Tommy and Bridget Maguire, and John and Mary O’Brien, looking like a million dollars and cheered on by family and friends. They were both presented with gifts to mark the occasion and Tommy spoke to show his appreciation. Frank Keegan and his band provided the music on the night and we even had some of the Cavan Choir sing a song or two. We had a great pamphlet and a lot of the credit for that has to go to our P.R.O., Veronica Cassidy-Barry. As part of the 1916 commemorations, the Irish Proclamation was read out. After some good food and chat, the night ended and we can say that it was one to remember, especially for those being honored. We have a lot of photos to share so they will be going onto our website, facebook and twitter pages soon!
As everyone is probably aware …… the 100th Anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising (Éirí Amach na Cásca) is been commemorated this year, with the major events occurring on Sun., April 24th, the date when the rising took place. One of those events that we were informed about is a memorial mass to be held at 2pm on April 24th at St.Thomas Aquinas Church, 1719 Post Road, Fairfield. At 4pm, a 100th Anniversary Easter Rising Committee will unveil a 1916 Easter Rising Monument in a ceremony taking place at the Gaelic American Club, with guest speaker and historian, Martin Galvin. Reception immediately following the unveiling at the GAC. Entertainment and light fare will be available at the GAC.
We may have a new Polo ground …… based on what we heard from Connie O’Reilly at our March meeting. Connie spoke to us about a project that is in the works to build a Cavan Center of Excellence, on one of four sites that has yet to be selected in the County. One of it’s intended purposes is to make it more convenient for our footballers, as they are currently sometimes using facilities outside the County. Connie provided drawings and documentation on the proposed project and a suggested name is “The Polo Grounds”, and he is going to be looking for our support with fundraising, similar to the support we offered during the trip by the footballers last year to NY, which he again thanked everyone for. More details to follow as we get them.
We mentioned sharing our photos of the recent events …… ,which reminds us of a fact that our P.R.O., Veronica, observed after she posted a photo of Paul Brady on our Facebook page – 6000 people went to the page to check it out! So, that not only shows you the interest people have in Paul Brady, but that they chose to visit our page. Thank you Veronica for all the effort you put in to keep our Facebook, Twitter and website, up to date.
Sin a bhfuil a chairde, agus go dti ár chéad nuachlitir eile, Slán agus Beannacht libh go léir!
(That’s all friends, and until our next newsletter, Goodbye and God Bless you all!)
President
Mr. Liam Moffatt
mail: Gowna2@yahoo.com
Mary Haran/ Kieran de Lacy Rec/Corr Secretary
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January 2016 – Archived message
President – One Vacancy, One Nomination: Liam Moffatt
Vice-President – One Vacancy, One Nomination: John McGurrin
Rec/Corr Secretary – One Vacancy, NO Nomination
Kieran de Lacy is stepping down
Treasurer – One Vacancy, One Nomination: Michael McGovern
Financial Secretary – One Vacancy, One Nomination: Brendan Smith
P.R.O. – One Vacancy, One Nomination:Veronica Cassidy-Barry
Michael Givney is stepping down
Sergeant-at-Arms – One Vacancy, One Nomination
Michael Lynch
Trustees – Three Vacancies, Three Nominations:
Tom McGuire, P.J. Lynch, Terry Reilly
Board of Directors – Five Vacancies, Five Nominations:
Hughie Smith, Mary O’Brien, Pat Coyle, Paul Smith, John O’Brien
Upcoming events include …… our Christmas party which will take place on Saturday, December 19th, from 3:00 pm until approx. 8:00pm, at The New York Irish Center, 10-40 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101. Santa will be attending, so if you have a child who would like to meet him, please bring along a wrapped present with the child’s name written in full on the outside. There will be food and beverages available, so in order to quantify the food required, we need to get a count of who is attending – please call Mary O’Brien, 347-754-2326, or Liam Moffatt, 646-239-6276.
A door entrance fee of $25 will apply to those older than ten. This was a very enjoyable event last year and it is the crowd that makes it, so we would love to see you there with family and friends. Also, if you are feeling generous then you are very welcome to bring along a toy that will be gifted to children in less fortunate circumstances than most
We have some good news about the 2016 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Thanks to Pat Coyle, we have a location for our post-parade party, and that is Unitarian Church of All Souls, 1157 Lexington Avenue, New York NY 10075, which intersects with 79th St.
We are also planning the 2016 Annual Dinner Dance, scheduled for March. More information to follow at a later date.
We had a nice email from Br. Clement Brady ……, who was over to visit us from Ireland for the Pat Cahill Golf Tournament, thanking everyone for supporting this event in aid of the mission work in Africa and wishing all our members a Happy Christmas. Happy Christmas to you Br. Clement and everyone involved with the Irish Franciscan Brothers mission in Africa from all our members.
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Bernadette Mallon (nee. Tully) September 2, 1966 – June 21, 2015
At this time, we would like to extend our condolences to Bernadette’s immediate and extended families.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam (May her soul be on God’s right side)
County Cavan Rugby Male Voice Choir, Swellan Park, Cavan IRELAND
Have asked for our support during a planned visit: St Patrick’s Week USA 2016 – CHOIR TOUR
The formal request is posted here for member information and consideration:
Please allow me to introduce ourselves. Formed just five years ago ‐ we are a group of seventy singers ‐ “teenagers” of mature vintage you might say !!! At the core of the choir’s ethos is singing excellence ‐ enjoyment and fun – for both ourselves and the audiences we entertain.
We have ambitious plans to visit the USA next year. These plans are at an early stage of development – and will entail, as you can imagine, a substantial amount of logistical groundwork – flights, visas, accommodation, uniforms, performance venues, amplification, local transport etc.
Our live performance venues and audiences have ranged from over 75,000 (plus an additional 8million TV viewers) at International Rugby matches – to concerts in Churches – to open air performances at commerative events. Our repertoire ranges from traditional Irish ballads – to American musicals – to Sacred Church music – all under the superb leadership of our Musical Director Anne‐Noelle Bennett.
My committee has tasked me with establishing initial interest in such a tour from the viewpoint of local organisations in the USA who would be interested in a performance visit from our choir. We are also mindful of the significance of the 100th anniversary commemoration of 1916 at that time.
I would very much welcome your initial expression of interest in such an event.
1) We envisage a travelling party of about 100/ 120 (included in entourage would be choir singers – and of course our “choir fan‐club!!!”)
2) At the moment, a 3 to 5 day visit is planned – centred around the 17th Mar. (length of stay will be dependent on performance requirements of our hosts)
3) We would obviously like to have some indication of logistical costs, transport and accommodation, proposed venues etc.
4) Is it possible that we may secure some small contribution towards costs ‐ through “donation” to Choir funds ??
5) The Choir can of course tailor its performance (repertoire) to suit the requirements of our hosts.
An early reply would be very much appreciated. In song and in anticipation…………………
Here is the link to the original letter:
