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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