Cathedral of St. Finbarr

By Richard Archer

The Knights and Ladies of St. Finbarr - Cork Club recently celebrated our 108th anniversary with a banquet at the Malden Irish American club on West Street in Malden (dinner by Henry's Catering). It was a fantastic evening, music by Erin's Melody featuring Margaret Dalton. This was without a doubt one of the best and most enjoyable evenings. Over 200 people had a super time, the dance floor was full of happy people dancing all evening.

The catered meal was superb. Erin's Melody were at their best. If you ever need a place to hold a function and a band we recommend very highly The Malden Irish American club, Henry's Catering service and Erin's Melody.

A special word of thanks goes out to the committee, Kathy Reardon and Mary Tannian along with helper Anne Vendola for their hard work. A special thank you to P. J. Quinn for his hard work in arranging the caterer and hall and seeing that everything was in great shape in the hall. Also a big thank you to Mary Heavy-Quinn the director of the Heavy-Quinn academy for a fantastic exhibition of Irish step dancing by her school. The costumes were beatiful and all dancers very talented.

Mr. Robert Walsh a past president was honored as "Man of the Year" for his long and outstanding contribution to the Cork club. Kathleen Cooney was honored as "Woman of the Year" for her many years of service and outstanding contribution in the kitchen at all our functions. Irene Crowley was later presented with the head table flower arrangement for her work in the kitchen. Russ Meyers was presented with a certificate of a Life Membership in his club.

One of our past presidents, Dr. Bill O'Connell gave a talk about the proposed Deer Island Irish Memorial in Boston Harbor. Bill is accepting donations for this memorial which will honor 850 Irish men, women and children who lie buried there in a unmarked grave. For additional information on the Deer Island Memorial kindly contact Dr. Bill at 781-585-8181. Our speaker for the evening was Stephen A. Tolman, President , Mass. AFL-CIO. Steve was previously a Senior Senator for the Comm. Steve was presented with a memonto as was Bob Walsh & Kathy Cooney.

There were many Irish clubs supporting our function. They include The Irish Cultural Centre, The Donegal Club, The Billerica Club, The Irish Social club, The Beara club, The Irish Music club, The Malden Irish American club, The Irish Pastoral Centre, The North Shore Irish American club and the Norwood Irish club. Our sincere thanks to all clubs and any other friends that helped make this a great success. A special thanks to Neil Hurley, Our M.C. for the evening for the usual superb job. Great to see Carole Simmons and Seamus Mulligan from W.R.O.L and Sheila Cummings from the Irish Hour and our good friend Connell Gallagher from the Irish Emigrant.