QUEENS COUNTY ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE & CULTURAL COMMITTEE

Executive Vice President- Irish Radio Network USA.

President - Flannelly Promotions Ltd

Aine Sheridan, a native of Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, emigrated to New York in 1984.

 She was appointed Executive Vice President of Tintawn Carpets USA, the US subsidiary of Irish Ropes in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.  Aine travelled throughout the United States and Canada and credited with overseeing the company’s progressive North American operations.

Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government State body, recruited her to conduct critical research in the US market. 

In 1991 Aine Sheridan joined Irish Radio Network USA, as Executive Vice President. She expanded the longest running Irish American Radio Show -The Adrian Flannelly Show - by initiating international broadcast links with numerous stations in Ireland and the US,  while establishing www.irishradio.com website as the premier Irish American news and entertainment audio channel for listeners worldwide.

In 2010, Adrian Flannelly will celebrate his 40^th year on the air!   He has dedicated his career as a broadcast journalist, community leader and promoter, to illuminating issues of concern to the American Irish community. Using his popular radio shows as a conduit for change, Flannelly helped reform visa lotteries and US immigration laws, legalizing thousands of undocumented Irish in the 80s and 90s.

Four decades and thousands of interviews onwards, Adrian continues to broadcast live from his prestigious Madison Avenue studios and Irish Radio Network USA.

As president of Flannelly Promotions Ltd. the Madison Avenue-based Public Relations company, Sheridan has coordinated numerous political campaigns including “Irish for” New York Governor George Pataki, New York City Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, as well as the most recent Irish  American Presidential Forum.

She serves on the board of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center and her cherished awards include “Woman of the Year”. from the Longford Social Club of New York and  “Top 50 Most Influential Irish American Women” by Irish America Magazine in 2008 and 2009.

She is married to Adrian Flannelly and they live in Forest Hills, Queens.

“Only in the US can our Irish culture and traditions be fostered with an unmatched sense of pride” Sheridan feels.

Senator Martin J. Golden (R,C) was elected to represent Brooklyn's 22nd Senate District in 2002 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2006. The 22nd State Senate District includes the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend and parts of Sheepshead Bay, Borough Park and Midwood.During his first two terms in the State Legislature, Senator Marty Golden has quickly established himself as one of the most influential lawmakers in the City and State of New York. Senator Golden has authored over 75 laws most notably in the areas of public safety, tax cuts, economic development, and senior citizen issues.

Marty Golden’s distinguished career as a New York City Police Officer, provided him with the knowledge and experience to make our streets safer. Senator Marty Golden worked to strengthen the Megan’s Law sex offender registry and expand the DNA databank to include all persons convicted of a felony and certain misdemeanors. In December 2005, Senator Golden sponsored the laws to increase penalties against gun-runners and those that injure or kill police officers. In 2006, Senator Golden wrote a tough law that mandates prison for the possession of a single loaded illegal firearm. Senator Golden’s bills were a priority of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.Working with a diverse group of parents, educators, clergy and school choice advocates, Senator Golden delivered a $330 child tax credit for public, private and parochial school students. Senator Golden’s diligent efforts secured $11.2 billion in funding to improve New York City Public Schools including a new high school in Sunset Park and many other classrooms improvements to ensure that our students receive a sound basic education.

As one of eight children born to Irish immigrants, Marty Golden knows that working families need tax breaks to help make ends meet. Senator Golden delivered the laws that eliminated the state sales tax on clothing and footwear; secured a $400 property tax cut for New York City residents; and eliminated the personal income tax marriage penalty.As Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, Senator Golden is credited by nationally recognized advocacy groups for championing the rights of senior citizens through the Assisted Living Law of 2004. Under his leadership, a number of significant bills affecting older Americans have been enacted, including a new Elderlaw; the Senior Bill of Rights; Long Term Care Reform, internet posting of retail prescription drug prices and a single EPIC/Medicare prescription drug card. Senator Golden wrote the law that raised SCRIE income eligibility limits for seniors and the disabled.

Yet, what distinguishes Marty Golden's career in public service is his emphasis on community service and ability to bring back funding for important community programs including health care, education, transportation, law enforcement and senior citizen programs.

Senator Marty Golden sponsors popular neighborhood events like senior citizen days, Halloween walks, Christmas tree lightings, Menorah lightings, Easter egg hunts, summer concerts in the park, summer movie nights, women’s history month, Senator for the day, Asian Lunar New Year, environmental clean ups, district office open house, school trips to Albany, mammograms, prostate screenings, and flu shots for senior citizens.

From 1998 through 2002, Marty Golden represented the 43rd Councilmanic District in the New York City Council. As a member of the Council, Marty served on the Committees on Finance, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety and State and Federal Legislation, as well as on the Select Subcommittees on Senior Citizen Centers and the Waterfront. In the days immediately after 9/11, Councilman Golden's office coordinated the shipment of more than 200 truckloads of food, clothing, and materials to the volunteers working at "Ground Zero" and helped to establish the first Community Emergency Response Team (CERT 1 NYC) in New York State.

Marty Golden is a former New York City Police Officer who received numerous awards during his ten years with the Police Department. Marty was forced to retire in 1983, after suffering a serious injury while making a narcotics arrest.

Marty Golden attended St. Patrick's and Our Lady of Angels Grammar Schools, New York School of Printing, and John Jay College. He is a graduate of St. John’s University. Marty and his wife, Colleen, have two school-age children, Michael and P.J.

Standing Committee Assignments 2009:  Ranking Member: Crime Victims, Crime & Corrections Committee, Member: Aging, Banks, Codes, Insurance, Investigations and Government Operations, and Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs.

Paul Finnegan considers himself a product of the Irish Diaspora.  He was raised in Galway City from the age of about three weeks. The first fortnight of his life was spent in Phoenix, Arizona, where his father found work in the mid-sixties and where Paul and his older brothers were born.  His older sister was born in Chicago.  His mother hails from Co. Kilkenny and his father from Galway. Both of Paul's parents are still living in Galway City and are now well into their 80's.

Growing up in Galway, Paul never thought he would have to leave but with a terrible recession in Ireland in the mid-80s Paul found himself in New York where he has happily been ever since. In 1993, while working as a teacher in the city's public school system, Paul co-authored a publication for Emerald Isle Immigration Center titled Education: In Pursuit of the American Dream.  From 1994 to 1998 he was Executive Director at Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC), along with being the original coordinating director of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers. After leaving EIIC, Paul spent over a decade in the world of B2B information systems and Internet marketing and branding, primarily within the foodservice industry.  In recent years, he has served as an Executive Committee member and Treasurer at EIIC.  In June 2009 he took over at the New York Irish Center in Long Island City, and is very excited to be working with a committed Board and its vibrant membership.

Along the way, Paul obtained a Masters in Information Systems from Baruch College in Manhattan, to build on his Bachelor's degree in Engineering from University College Galway (NUI Galway).  He is married to Rosa, native of the Dominican Republic, with whom he has a son Kevin, 9, and a daughter Sara, 4.  Paul and his young family live in Glendale Queens.  Kevin attends St. Pancras parochial school in Glendale, and Sara is scheduled to begin kindergarten there in September.

Judge Ingram was born in Washington Heights and raised in Jackson Heights and Breezy Point.  He attended St. Joan of Arc and graduated from St. Frances de Sales in Belle Harbor.  Thereafter he attended and graduated from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School and attended and graduated from SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler.  He then went to sea as a ship’s officer (Third Mate and Second Mate) and then attended and graduated St. John’s University School of Law.  His Irish roots are firmly planted.  His grandparents all hail from the Emerald Isle.  His paternal grandparents, Ingram/McKenna (a/k/a McCanny), are from Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone.  His maternal grandparents, McCann and Short, are from Limerick County.

Judge Ingram was appointed to the New York State Court of Claims by Governor George E. Pataki on June 23, 2003 and is now sitting as an Acting Supreme Court Justice, Kings County in a Trial Part.  He was initially assigned to the Supreme Court, Bronx County and had a Narcotics Part and Trial Part.  He is admitted to the Bars of the States of New York, New Jersey, as well as several Federal Courts including the U.S. Supreme Court.  In 1964 he was commissioned Ensign, U.S. Navy Reserve (Line Officer).  He retired from the Navy Reserve as Captain (Line Officer) and holds a valid Mate’s license (Oceans Unlimited) issued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Judge Ingram practiced with Burlingham Underwood Wright White & Lord and became a partner of the firm in 1976.  In 1995 Judge Ingram formed the firm of Martocci & Ingram specializing in litigation.  After the death of Michael Martocci, he became a partner of Healy & Baillie, LLP in April 1996 until he went on the Bench in June 2003.

                                                                  Public Service

Judge Ingram was Commissioner of the Board of Commissioner of Pilots of the State of New York from 1989 to 1995.  He still serves in the New York Naval Militia and holds the rank of Rear Admiral and in June 2007 was appointed Deputy Commander - New York Naval Militia.

                                                              Community Service

Judge Ingram served as Member of the Boards of the Maritime College Foundation at Fort Schuyler, the Alumni Association of the New York State Maritime College, The Cathedral Club of Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Benevolent Society, The Emerald Association of Long Island, The Brehon Law Society and the St. Patrick’s Society of Brooklyn.  He is an Honorary Usher at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  He is a Member of The Naval Reserve Association, The Militia Officers Association, the  BAYFORTS, American Legion, NYS Association of Fire Chiefs, The Marine Society of The City of New York and The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of the City of New York and other Bar Associations.

Judge Ingram is an active volunteer firefighter and member of the Point Breeze Volunteer Fire Department since 1959 and is a qualified Chauffeur (MPO).  He served as volunteer counsel from 1969 to June 2003 and served as Commissioner of the Department until 2004.  Judge Ingram was appointed in February 2006 to the Advisory Board of FDNY Fire Family Transport Foundation Ltd.  He has also received numerous awards and honors.

                                                                       Personal

Judge Ingram is married with four children and has five grandchildren and resides in Bay Ridge and Breezy Point.

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Joseph M. Lynch, Jr. is a graduate of Manhattan College (’72) where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in economics. He supplemented this degree in 1982, earning a Master of Business Administration from the College of Insurance with an emphasis in Insurance/Risk Management.  Joe has been employed for the past twenty-nine years in the Treasury Department of Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., a $13 billion energy company, where he is the Department Manager-Corporate Insurance. Joe also has other prior valuable risk management, underwriting, and brokering business experience in his thirty-eight year insurance related career.

At Con Edison Joe is responsible for the management, negotiation and placement of the company’s extensive corporate insurance program. His overall budget responsibility approximates $35 million. Joe has also handled and negotiated settlements on all significant  insurance losses at Con Ed  since the early 80’s. These include the Gramercy Park steam explosion and the WTC catastrophe where insurance losses and payments to Con Ed were in the multi-million dollar range. More recently he has managed insurance and claim issues related to the Long Island City outage in 2006 and the July 2007 Lexington Avenue steam explosion. Joe routinely deals with insurers and underwriters on a worldwide basis, and has numerous contacts with the largest brokers including Marsh, AON, and Willis. He also is a Deputy Member of the New York Risk & Insurance Management Society. He also serves on Bishop DiMarzio’s Strategic Planning Committee for the Diocese of Brooklyn Insurance Program. He also is a member of numerous other professional risk management committees.     

Joe has been an active member and shareholder of the Breezy Point Cooperative. This entity is one of the largest Cooperatives of family residential properties in the country (2,838 homes),   located at the extreme western end of the Rockaway Peninsula. It includes Roxbury, Rockaway Point and Breezy Point.  Joe has been elected by his fellow Cooperative shareholders to its Board for four terms since 1999. In his last election in 2008 he was included on 82.8% of the ballots one of the highest totals ever. He was also elected by his colleagues on the Board as Secretary of the Cooperative in 2000, in 2003 was elected Vice-President, and in 2005 was elected 1^st Vice President. He was elected President of the Cooperative in 2007 and last August assumed the responsibilities of Chairman of the Board. In this leadership capacity he works very closely with the President, the Board’s Executive Committee, his other colleagues on the Board, and senior Cooperative management on all major issues facing the Cooperative. Since his election to the Board he has served as Chairman of the Insurance Committee, led the Rentals and Sales Committee, served as Chairman of the Employee Relations Committee, and currently is Chairman of the Community Relations Committee. Since 1999 he has also served five times as the Board’s designated representative on the Nominating Committee. He has been able to reduce the insurance costs of the Cooperative significantly over the past eleven years via aggressive marketing. He has also implemented a pro-active risk reduction and risk transfer program which has reduced claims and is also viewed very positively by insurers in the underwriting process.              

Joe has been a resident of the Breezy Point community for approximately 50 years. Joe and his wife Kathleen, a speech teacher employed by the NYC Department of Education at P.S. 207 in Howard Beach,  have also been Cooperative shareholders since 1981,and reside year-round at 30 Lincoln Walk in Breezy Point.  They are the proud parents of both a daughter Anna, a graduate of Marist College currently employed as a nurse at Bellevue Hospital, and their dear deceased son Joseph III.  Joe and Kathleen (a current trustee) are also both active members of the Point Breeze Association. Joe has also participated for many years in the Community’s Walk Softball League where he is a dedicated member of the Point Breeze Fire Department Team.  He has also always been very proud of the Irish roots of both sets of grandparents and his heritage.       

     Edward Kenny Valentine was born April 19, 1955 in Brooklyn.  He moved to Breezy Point with his family when he was just two years old.  Ed and his wife Dee, to this day, remain year round residents.

     Edward attended St. Francis De Sales grammar school and went on to Far Rockaway High School and graduated in 1973.  During his senior year of high school Ed became a member of the Rockaway Point Volunteer Fire Department.  He then took a leave of absence when he enlisted in the United States Navy as a Medical Corpsman and was assigned to the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy CV67.  He served in the Navy for three years active duty and three years reserve. During his time in active duty Ed traveled to many countries around the world.

    After his time in the service, he attended Essex County Community College in Newark, N.J. and studied Para medicine. He became an Emergency Medical Technician in 1978.

    He was employed by Peninsula Hospital Center as an Emergency Room Technician from 1978-1993, while also beginning his career in 1980 as an EMT with the New York City Emergency Medical System which is now FDNY EMS.

     Ed also studied at the Bureau of Continuing Educational Services and received his LPN license in 1991.

     Ed has two children, Michael 28, who is also employed with the FDNY as an Emergency Medical Technician, and Jeannine, 25 who is employed by Sunrise Senior Living at Mill Basin as the Reminiscence Coordinator.  Both are following their father’s footsteps as they both chose careers in the care giving and medical fields.

      Ed retired from FDNY EMS in 1998.  Since he was retired he was able to donate much of his time to the Rockaway Point Volunteer Fire Department.  He worked his way up in rank from Lieutenant of Rescue Company to Captain of Rescue Company and also held a position as Lieutenant in Fire Company.  In 2000 he was elected to Deputy Chief of Operations and then in 2002 was elected Chief of Department.  Ed was just re-elected as Chief this past September and has now been the longest running consecutive Chief in the Departments history.

      In Ed’s career in the medical field, he has delivered 57 babies and had many CPR saves.  Ed also spent time at Ground Zero during the recovery efforts. Ed was also on the scene during the plane crash in Belle Harbor in 2001.

      It is people like Edward Valentine who has continually given of himself, which make our community such a wonderful and safe place to live in.

I came to the Rockaways on St. Patrick’s Day, 2008, to be the Chief Operating Officer at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital. It was my goal at St. John’s to provide the best quality medical care to our patients in the Rockaways, to colloraborate with the local organizations in the Emergency Preparedness efforts and to join the community in celebrating successes. The Queens County St. Patrick’s Parade is one of those occasions to celebrate with the residents of this great Peninsula.

I have been very proud of our recent accomplishments at St. John’s. Because of our focus on quality of care, we have raised our core measures (by which all New York State hospitals are measured) in heart care, pneumonia, and more to above or at State levels. Our nurses round on patients every hour, checking on their pain medications and their comfort levels. We are renovating: Recently we received a $2.2 million grant from New York State to build a new home for our professional and integrated services.Most significantly, we have been financially stable, maintaining our viability and looking forward to reinvesting in our programs and in the future of the health care on the peninsula.

For 30 years I had been in charge of a range of critical behind-the-scenes operations that impact how Medical Centers function. Pharmacy, Pathology, Imaging, Rehabilitation, Medical Records, Psychiatry, Ambulatory Care, Contracts, Materials Management, Central Sterile Supply and Support Services are amoung the areas

 that report to me. Hundreds of employees worked in my division and  for an  unprecedented 11 straight surveys they have ranked in the top 5% in the entire United States.

 While I enjoy the successes when overseeing the hospital’s operations, I am known for my central theme, “ bring hospitality back to the hospital.” My division is responsible for ensuring that everyone who comes to St. John’s receives care in the finest environment possible. This is why patients in all units are met by a support services staff member to make sure they have what they need to make their stays comfortable.

I started my carreer with the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation (HHC) in 1977 after scoring in the top 2% on the civil service exam for electricians. I began working as an electrician in 1977 at Metropolitan Hospital and worked my way up to Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds in 1989 and then went to Woodhull Medical Center and advanced to the position of Deputy Executive Director. My career might have taken a very different path; when I took the civil service exam, I was also weighing an offer to work on the Alaska oil pipeline.

When Hurricane  George decimated the Caribbean in 1998, I was sent by HHC  to the Dominican Republic to bring the Hospital Carl Th. Georg San Pedros de Marcoris back on line. I arrived to find the roof collaspsed, no water, and no electricity. Within two weeks I had the hospital up and running again. For my efforts I received a special recognition from the Secretary of State of the Dominican Republic and from Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

I have been a long time advocate for education. I graduated from Nassau Community College in 1972 with honors and completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Adelphi University while I was working for HHC. I also served as president of the Catholic School Board two years.

My wife, Lynn, and I have10 wonderful children,all of whom we put through college, and 9 grandchildren.

Kathleen Byrne Clarke is truly honored be selected as an Honorary Grand Marshall of the 2010. The Rockaway Saint Patrick’s Day Parade is a big part of Kathy’s life. For years, she had a prime viewing seat from her parents’ home on Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Beach 96^th Street. She watched her children march with Saint Camillus band, with whom she herself had marched down Fifth Avenue in many a parade decades before. And for the past 13 years, Kathy has been proud to march alongside the athletes of Rockaway Special Olympics. This celebration of Irish Culture and the Rockaway Community is very dear to Kathy’s heart.

              Kathy’s Irish roots run back to Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, where her father was born, and where her cousins and their children continue to work the family farm near Glendaloc today. Having immigrated here as a boy, Patrick Byrne first met Kathy’s mother, Joan Walker Byrne, on the beach in Irish Town during World War II. They were married at St. Monica’s Church in Manhattan, and summered in Rockaways for many years before settling here year-round in the 1950s. It’s here, in Rockaway Beach, that Kathy’s story unfolds.

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              Kathy and her six younger brothers and sisters—Susan McGovern, P.G. Byrne, Joan Duffy, Brian Byrne, Monica Reilly, and Tim Byrne—all grew up here, and attended Saint Camillus School. Kathy went on to attend on to Stella Maris High School. She married a local boy, schoolteacher Gerald Clarke, and they raised their own two children, Monica Kalfur and Jonathan Clarke, here. Kathy and Jerry still live in the family home in Belle Harbor, which serves as home base for “Saint Patrick’s Day in Rockaway,” when her children, siblings, cousins, and—most importantly—her two beautiful grandchildren, Siobhan Mairead Kalfur and Benjamin Richard Clarke, all spend the day watching the parade from the corner of 127th street before gathering at her house for corned beef and cabbage.

    Kathy’s ties to Rockaway are also rooted in service to the community. Kathy spend her first year after high school working as a baby nurse at the New York Foundling Hospital. Soon after, she settled into a nursing position at Saint Joseph’s Hospital—now Saint John’s Episcopal Hospital—where she would continue to work for four decades. While working as a LPN there, and while raising two children, she continued her schooling and became a registered nurse in 1975. She worked in a variety of positions at Saint Johns, from ICU nurse to Care Management, and earned her Bachelor's Degree at St. Joseph's college in 1986 before retiring in 2005, after 40 years of service. 

members of the Rockaway Gliders, Kathy participated in local runs and races for runners of all ages. Kathy excelled in her age group in local road races and in competitions up and down the East Coast. Setting her sights higher, she completed the New York City Marathon three times, as well as the 100^th Boston Marathon and the first Walt Disney Marathon in Orlando, Florida.

              Having reached her running goals, and looking for new challenges, in the 1990's, Kathy decided to check out a quilting class offered at the Broad Channel Library. A new hobby—perhaps an obsession—was born.  Kathy became an enthusiastic quilter, scouring the metro area for fabric and seeking out companions with whom to stitch and share. Kathy was soon creating countless quilts for the St. Francis de Sales chapter of ABC Quilts. Founded in response the great number of babies born with HIV and AIDs in the 1980s, ABC Quilts provided lovingly stitched quilts to babies in need. The Saint Francis chapter continues this work today, as a local group of quilters devoted to charitable work for babies, nursing home and hospice patients as well as the Wounded Warriors.

    Kathy is also co-president of the Quilter’s Guild of Brooklyn, a group devoted to promoting the art and craft of quilting through both professional and charitable work. As part of the Quilter’s Guild, Kathy has traveled all over the country, attending quilting bees, conventions, and museum exhibits. Her own work has been exhibited as well, both at the Rockaway Artist’s Alliance and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The Guild also creates quilts for causes and charities. Through both of these groups, Kathy continues to create quilts that provide comfort and warmth to at-risk babies, as well as to nursing homes and hospices, and to hospitalized veterans. This past Christmas, the Guild was proud to deliver more than 100 quilts to hospitalized veterans at the Brooklyn VA Hospital and is now preparing to deliver new quilts to the Dialysis Unit for National Salute Day.

              But for all of Kathy’s endeavors in the community, one organization remains closest to her heart. In 1997, Kathy joined Joe Featherston and a handful of volunteers to found the Rockaway chapter of the Special Olympics. This wonderful organization brings together a group of local athletes with a variety of physical and learning disabilities and offers them the opportunity to learn new skills, to compete in a variety of sports, and to socialize. On Monday nights at St. Camillus' Springman Hall, a diverse group of more than 40 athletes from the Rockaways and Brooklyn gather for basketball, soccer, air hockey, floor hockey, ping-pong tournaments, and much, much more.

thrive. Teenaged volunteers from around the peninsula commit their time to train and mentor the young athletes. The team has played games at local colleges, and was welcomed at City Hall as they accompanied group founder Joe Featherston, Irishman of the Year, in 2003.  In 2002, the group traveled to Ireland, where they were hosted by the Guarde and enjoyed a police escort through the streets of Dublin. They were welcomed into private homes and local pubs, where the athletes would perform Molly Malone for many a gracious audience.

              Kathy has been back to Ireland several times, with family and group trips, and has enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with relatives as well as her own heritage. Her travels have also taken her throughout Europe, as well as to the Holy Land.  From her first trips to Florida with Saint Camillus Band to leisurely tours through Europe with the Rockaway Rockers Red Hat Society, Kathy has seen much of the world, and hopes to see even more in the years ahead. Yet she remains centered here, in the Rockaways, with her family and her community. Kathy thanks Michael Benn and the members of the Queens County St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee for honoring her in this year’s parade and her family and friends for their love and support.  Sláinte!

Maureen is the founder and Director of the O’Malley Irish Dance Academy, established in 1994.    She instructs over 150 children and adults in 3 locations in Brooklyn and Queens.   The focus of the school has always been to promote the Irish culture and foster in her dancers a sense of pride in themselves.  She has trained dancers that compete at local, regional, national and world competitions.    Additionally, her students can be found at over 60 events during the year, volunteering their time and talent to many worthwhile causes.  

          Maureen’s students have performed all over the country, on television, at Ellis Island,  City Hall, for the NY METS, the Brooklyn Cyclones and much more.   However, Maureen feels their most important events are those that can bring happiness to others not as fortunate.   Her dancers perform in countless schools, nursing homes, children’s hospitals, convents, centers for children with special needs and military bases during the year.   Maureen also has the school take part in many charitable fund-raisers annually.  Every October, they participate in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and have raised over $10,000 toward finding a cure.  The school performs annually for Charity’s Angels, an organization developed to aide families who prematurely lose a parent, and the Great Irish Fair, which benefits the Catholic Schools of Brooklyn & Queens.     The school is a proud sponsor of programs and youth sports teams in the parishes of Good Shepherd, Resurrection, St. Francis de Sales and St. Thomas More.   Each year, the school is able to help support “Camp Brooklyn”, a program designed to send under privileged children to summer camp outside the city.   Additionally, the school seeks to help their own dancers as well by being able to defray the cost of the children’s costumes to the parents, provide 2 Full Year Irish Dance Scholarships annually and award annual $500 college scholarships to their graduating seniors.      

Maureen is a graduate of Good Shepherd Grammar School, Bishop Kearney High School and Brooklyn College.   She graduated cum laude with a BA in Economics and a minor in Business Management.  She enjoyed a successful 7 year career with a major Wall Street firm, before leaving to start a family.   Married in 1998 to John Byrnes, the couple now has 3 children: Katie, age 9, Jack, age 8 and Tommy, age 5.  She is an active member of the Columbiettes Council # 126, the Good Shepherd Catholic Club and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Div 19.  Maureen serves her parish as a Minister of Holy Communion, an Elizabeth Minister, a writer for the parish bulletin and a member of the Home School Association.  

Maureen was honored to be named one of the Top 100 Irish Americans and to serve as an aide to the Grand Marshall in the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day parade.  She is looking forward to serving as a Deputy Grand Marshall in this year’s Queens County Parade.  She has received Commendations from the Brooklyn Borough President, the Mayor of the City of New York and the Comptroller of the City of New York for her contributions to Irish culture.   Last year, she was awarded the Community Service Award by the Circle of Hope Cancer Foundation.   Maureen was the recipient of the Good Shepherd Service award for her commitments to her parish and the Cultural Excellence and Community Leadership award from the LAOH.