Photo: James Higgins
The newly re-opened American Irish Historical Society provided the backdrop to a beautiful evening that saw three legendary leaders in the Irish community in New York being inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame.
Founded in 2010 in celebration of Irish America magazine’s 25th anniversary, the Irish America Hall of Fame honors the extraordinary achievements of Irish-American leaders, from their significant accomplishments and contributions to American society to the personal commitment to safeguarding their Irish heritage and the betterment of Ireland.
The Irish America Hall of Fame is housed at the Dunbrody Famine Ship Experience in New Ross, County Wexford. For more information on the Dunbrody Famine Ship Experience, please visit our archives to see a special feature printed in Irish America magazine.
Irish America publisher Niall O’Dowd kicked off the evening by thanking the 45,000 people who signed the petition to keep the historical building on Fifth Avenue in the hands of the AIHS and not allow it to be sold in 2022. O’Dowd welcomed special guest Cathaoirleach Jerry Buttimer who congratulated the honorees and welcomed guests.
To celebrate the evening, 10 current members of the Irish America Hall of Fame were on hand to welcome and congratulate the new members. Editor-in-Chief Patricia Harty spoke of the breadth and depth of the honorees who have contributed greatly to the fields of Business, Education, Healthcare, Wall Street, and the Arts as well as honoring their Irish heritage. And, as we celebrate St. Patrick’s season, Harty recognized the leaders who promote and encourage Irish culture through travel, philanthropy, and community building.
This year’s honorees have made outstanding contributions in their respective fields, to American society, and the Irish America community.
Dr. Patrick Boland
The first honoree to be inducted and receive accolades on Monday, March 4th was Dr. Patrick Boland. Paddy was introduced and inducted into the Hall of Fame by Loretta Brennan Glucksman. Loretta was one of the early inductees into the Hall of Fame and one of the first women inducted in 2012. Loretta works tirelessly for the Irish American community through her philanthropy and Glucksman Ireland House at NYU.
Loretta spoke passionately about Dr. Boland’s dedication to his patients and to finding solutions to provide those in his care with better outcomes. She shared personal experiences of those Paddy had cared for at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and pondered how many thousands of patients and their families were grateful for the care and treatment Paddy provided, and and said that stories of Paddy’s excellent skills and compassion would be shared for generations.
Dr. Patrick Boland’s remarks covered his early days as a doctor in New York and the interdependence between the U.S. and Ireland in Healthcare and also talked about Health care in Ireland, pre and post-Independence.
Paddy has been an Attending Surgeon in the Orthopaedic Service, Department of Surgery, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for more than 30 years. Born in Co. Meath, he grew up on a farm. The family also had a country pub, and he worked in both.
Paddy is a graduate of the University College Dublin School of Medicine and Medical Science. He completed residency training in both
General Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hammersmith and Middlesex Hospitals in London, and the Peter Bent Brigham and Children’s Hospitals in Boston. His training in musculoskeletal oncology included 18 months as a Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Boland is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland as well as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in both General Surgery and Orthopaedics. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Management of primary benign, primary malignant sarcomas, and metastatic malignant musculoskeletal tumors in both children and adults has been the focus of his practice. He developed a special clinical and research interest in sacral tumors over the years, founding the Select International Sacro-Pelvic Tumor Study Group.
Dr. Boland has co-authored 150 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
Having received multiple awards throughout his career most recently Dr. Boland has been named to Castle Connolly America’s Top Doctors which represents the top 7% of all U.S. practicing physicians for the last 10 years including 2024 and Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors in the New York Metro Area. In 2019 he received the Nobility in Science Award from the Sarcoma Foundation. He is particularly proud to have received the prestigious Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2012.”
One of Dr. Boland’s patients shared their experience of being his patient, saying, “One cannot speak more highly of Patrick Boland as you would simply run out of words, he is one of the five people in my life that I hold in the highest regard and with the warmest affection. He is a tremendous human being and a tremendous surgeon. He gave me many, many years of my life.”
John D. Feerick
Being two of Fordham’s most notable alumni is not the only distinction that Michael Dowling and John Feerick now share, they are now both esteemed members of the Irish America Hall of Fame.
John Feerick has inspired many people in his life, his students, colleagues, friends, and family, and as Michael Dowling stated as he inducted him into the Hall of Fame he had inspired him as well. He is inspired by his dedication, knowledge, and perseverance in his fastidious work to understand, interpret, and explain the law, the commitment he gives to Fordham and his students, and the loyalty and devotion he brings to his family.
Norris Professor of Law at Fordham University Law School and former Dean of the law school, John D. Feerick has devoted his life to four things: his family, the law, Fordham, and bringing an end to violence in Northern Ireland.
One of five children and the son of immigrants from County Mayo, John was born in the Bronx and grew up not far from Yankee Stadium. He attended local schools before going to Bishop Dubois High School in New York City and heading to Fordham University where he received both his undergraduate and law degrees.
In 1961 John joined the firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom as a labor and employment attorney, becoming a partner in 1968. In 1976, he returned to his alma mater as an adjunct professor, becoming a full-time professor in 1982. That same year he was named Dean of Fordham Law School, a position he held until 2002.
John is an expert on conflict resolution, labor and employment law, legal ethics and responsibility, and constitutional law including having primary responsibility for the composition of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution which allows for the Vice President to become president in the event of death, resignation, removal from office, or impairment that prevents the current president from fulfilling his or her duties.
John has served in multiple publicly appointed positions throughout his career, the most notable is being appointed Chair of the New York State Commission on Government Integrity, and the chair of the Ethics Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association where he also served as President and is still an honorary board member.
His many awards include being an Irish America Top 100, the American Irish Historical Society Gold Medal, the Law and Society Award from the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, the Citizen Achievement Award from the New York State League of Women Voters, the New York State Bar Association Gold Medal. In 2022 John was awarded the Spirit of Kylemore for his generosity to the Benedictine Abbey in Connemara, Co. Galway.
John is the Director of the Feerick Center for Social Justice and Dispute Resolution at Fordham Law School where he continues to teach.
Joanie Madden
The evening took a lively turn as Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly of the Irish Repertory Theatre inducted Irish musician Joanie Madden into the Hall of Fame.
Charlotte began the induction enthusiastically by providing a list of Joanie’s accomplishments including being the first American to win the Senior All-Ireland Championship on the Whistle and selling over 500,000 solo albums. Ciarán then took the reins and after giving a rundown of just some of the awards that
Joanie has won over the years he declared Joanie “the Taylor Swift of Trad music.”
Joanie talked about how Paddy Boland was the first person she called when her father broke his neck. She was surprised to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as she initially accepted the invitation to the event just to play for Paddy for his kindness and expertise during that stressful time.
Joanie Madden was born in New York to Irish parents from County Clare and County Galway and raised in a musical household. At a very early age, Joanie was exposed to the finest Irish traditional music listening to her father and his friends play music at family gatherings and social events. She began taking lessons from legendary flutist and National Heritage Award winner Jack Coen, and within a few short years, she had achieved great success winning the world championship in Irish music on both the concert flute and tin whistle. During that time, Joanie also became the first American to win the coveted Senior All-Ireland Championship on the whistle.
Madden has sold over 500,000 solo albums and has performed on over 200 recordings, including three Grammy-winning albums running the gamut from Pete
Seeger and Sinead O’Connor to the Boston Pops. Throughout her musical career, she has amassed a plethora of awards and citations. Her merits include being the youngest member inducted into both the Irish-American Musicians Hall of Fame and the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Hall of Fame, she was chosen for the Wild Geese award, where she joined an impressive list of previous honorees, including Frank McCourt, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, and Michael Flatley.
Joanie has been named to Irish America’s Top 100 and Power Women lists. She was also named Traditional Musician of the Year by the Irish Voice newspaper, all for her contributions to promoting and preserving Irish culture in the United States. In 2010, Joanie was forever immortalized on the streets of her native Bronx when a street was named after her on the Grand Concourse: “Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies”.
In 2011, she was bestowed one of the nation’s highest awards as she was chosen for the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. In 2012, she was a recipient of the esteemed USA Artist Fellowship grant, singled out as one of the most innovative and influential artists in America, becoming the first Irish traditional musician to do so. In 2013 she won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Music Awards.
Joanie’s crowning achievement is a 2021 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. This award is the United States government’s highest honor that the nation bestows upon its folk and traditional artists, considered “national living treasures” in recognition of lifetime achievement, artistic excellence, and contributions to our nation’s cultural heritage.
All photos by James Higgins, higginsphotonyc.com.
To learn about all of the Irish America Hall of Fame members visit the Hall of Fame page.
The 2024 Hall of Fame Induction Awards is Sponsored by Northwell Health.