Pub GuideO'Boyle Deegan, May
As president of the Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens on Long Island, May O’Boyle Deegan is currently working on an outreach program that will include among many things a social club and support groups.
A first generation Irish American, O’Boyle Deegan’s parents hail from Donegal, and she continues a lifelong tradition of spending her summers there. A pre-Riverdance involvement with her daughter Melanie’s Irish dancing led O’Boyle Deegan to the Irish American Society.
O’Boyle Deegan’s Irish heritage is her identity, she proudly says.
“My heritage has had a profound effect in shaping the person I have become spiritually and culturally. Its daily influence in my life continues in the way I raise my daughter. It makes me strive to keep our past alive so as to ensure the future of the Irish traditions,” she says.
“While I regard myself as a patriotic American, I am also an Irish American with a strong emphasis on Irish. Having a deep connection with my roots – the music, the dance, the literature – all keep an ancient connection to those who came before me to create a legacy that fills my heart.”
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