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Date: 2/8/2023
WESTFIELD — The Sons of Erin, a nonprofit organization that promotes Irish heritage, recently named the award winners and parade marshal for Westfield’s contingent in the 2023 Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade.
Kevin O’Connor, executive vice president and chief banking officer of Westfield Bank, will lead the Westfield division as its parade marshal. The Irish Man of the Year is Gil Barrett, and Irish Woman of the Year is Mary Jane McMahon.
“I was extremely honored,” said O’Connor, who was selected for his volunteer work. “Not anything that I had ever even thought would be something that I would be selected for. Community involvement has always been a mainstay of what I do, and what my parents instilled in me.”
For many years, O’Connor served on the finance committee for his parish church, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. He is the chair of the Western Massachusetts Charity Danceathon, chair of the Genesis Spiritual Life and Conference Center — a division of the Sisters of Providence of Holyok —, vice president of the board of the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England and a member of the Sons of Erin. He recently resigned as a 15-year member of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Westfield so that he could devote more time to the Irish Cultural Center, the danceathon and the Genesis Center.
“Some of my great grandparents came from Ireland,” O’Connor said. “I was always very aware of what that was, and it kept me involved in knowing some of the Irish roots and the culture as well as my involvement with the Irish Cultural Center and the Sons of Erin has really helped me learn more about Irish tradition and heritage.”
He went on to say, “It’s an honor to lead the city of Westfield contingent. I’ll have my wife, a couple of our kids and grandchildren with me, and a couple of my sisters. It will be a great day.”
Barrett, winner of the Thomas M. Kane Irish Man of the Year Award, has been a member of the Sons of Erin since 1979 and bartending there for close to 40 years. His grandparents came from Dunquin, a Gaeltacht village in western County Kerry, Ireland. He grew up with traditional Irish music, Irish step dancers, shepherd’s pie, corned beef and cabbage, and soda bread. Barrett was working at the Springfield post office when his friend Jack Halloran told him about an Irish club that was starting in Westfield, and wanted to know if he was interested in joining it with him.
“For me to be honored by the Sons of Erin of this award is the biggest thing to me,” Barrett said. “I’m so proud of my Irish heritage. My three children and eight grandchildren will be at the event, so it will be fun.”
McMahon, winner of the Dorothy Griffin Irish Woman of the Year Award, has been a Sons of Erin member since around 1987. Her husband Michael McMahon was one of the original founders of the club. She thought it was a great place to gather with friends and learn more about Irish culture. Her father’s parents came to the United States from the Dingle area in County Kerry, and her mother’s grandparents came from Roscommon and Donegal. Growing up, McMahon listened to the Clancy Brothers, traditional Irish music and the Jim and Peg Sullivan Irish hour on the radio every Saturday morning, ate Irish bread, mutton pies and traditional Irish-American corned beef and cabbage dinners, and learned some Irish dances later on as an adult.
“I’m honored to be named after the amazing women on the list that came before me,” McMahon said.
While she helps with floats, food and fun events at the club, McMahon is also the liaison to the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England reporting information between them and the Sons of Erin from the Irish Cultural Center board meetings to the Sons of Erin membership meetings and back.
“It’s important to know your roots,” McMahon said. “I’m very honored that the Sons of Erin chose me and I’m looking forward to marching in the parade.”
This year’s parade is March 19 through the streets of Holyoke with floats, bands, award honorees, colleens, elected officials, public safety departments and civic organizations from several Pioneer Valley cities, along with professional bands and other entertainment from around the Northeast. It is among the largest of its kind in the nation.