Inductee Kelli O’Hara receives House of Waterford Crystal award from Patricia Harty. (Photo: Peter Foley)
On March 2, Irish America magazine inducted four new members to the Irish America Hall of Fame at the Metropolitan Club in New York. See below for speeches, photos, and more from the exciting awards luncheon.
Irish America magazine hosted the 2018 Irish America Hall of Fame March 2 in Manhattan, recognizing the diverse and critical work of Irish and Irish American leaders in the United States.
The annual awards luncheon, hosted at the Metropolitan Club in New York, saw the induction of two of Irish America’s most dedicated public servants, one of the business world’s premier leaders, and a Broadway star. Former CIA director John O. Brennan, Governor Jerry Brown of California, former Anheuser-Busch president Dennis P. Long, and Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara each received a House of Waterford Crystal Lismore Diamond Vase from Irish America co-founder and editor-in-chief Patricia Harty and founding publisher Niall O’Dowd.
Representing the Irish government at the awards ceremony, Consul General of Ireland in New York Ciaran Madden spoke of the honorees’ dedication to public service, singling out John O. Brennan, joking that “apparently he was the only Irishman who President Obama could find who could keep a secret.”