NEWS
ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERIANS, SAN FRANCISCO DIV 17
Consul General Michael Smith and IIPC Executive Director Celine Kennelly visit the AOH Division 17 membership
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
The Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 17 held their October meeting at the Center on Tuesday, October 15th. Consul General of the Western US Michael Smith and IIPC Executive Director Celine Kennelly were on hand to discuss their respective roles locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
AOH Div. 17 President Michael Keohane and the group’s newest member Kevin Buckley
John Powell, Consul General Michael Smith, Michael Keohane, Fr. Michael Healy
Dan and Michael Keohane, Roger Gargano, Fr. Michael Healy
Michael Keohane, Roger Gargano, IIPC Executive Director Celine Kennelly, Fr. Michael Healy
Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, San Francisco Division 17 at work St. Anthony’s Dining Room
Sunday, July 21, 2024
14 members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, San Francisco Division 17, volunteered their services to St. Anthony’s Dining Room where we served 1,338 meals. Great job, lads. Thanks to all of you who helped out.
The St. Anthony Foundation is a nonprofit social service organization in San Francisco, California. They are best known for their operation of the St. Anthony Dining Room in the Tenderloin District. It was founded in 1950 byy Franciscan friar Alfred Boeddeker to serve free meals to the poor in an ordinary restaurant-like setting. The Dining Room has served as many as 2,500 plates of food a day, and over thirty seven million meals since its creation. The foundation operates a residential drug and alcohol treatment program for men, the Father Alfred Center, whose residents provide volunteer labor for the Dining Hall.
News from our Young Ambassador, Shane Reidy,
travelling in Northern Ireland.
Young Ambassador Trip 2024:
Shane Reidy’s Daily Blog and Photos.
Click button below to read all about Shane’s trip!
News from our Young Ambassador, Tony Sheridan,
travelling in Northern Ireland.
6/10-6/14
Hello all
The last few days in Northern Ireland were so much fun and I am sad that it is over but also very grateful and thankful for this opportunity that you all provided me.
On Monday, we took a stop at the Dark Hedges, which was a nice little walk to go on and the way that the trees draped over the path was really cool to see. After we stopped there, we ended up at The Giants Causeway. The sights and views were amazing there and it was a new experience for me so that was a lot of fun as well. We then went Irish Dancing for a second time on the trip and that was fun to get back into it after not dancing for a few years.
Tuesday morning we had a tour of the first courthouse in Northern Ireland. We spoke with a few judges that are currently working at that courthouse. We saw the cells down below the courthouse and learned about the history of it. After that, we went to Stormont, which is the house of parliament in Northern Ireland. We met the first minister and all the other ministers. It was a great experience being able to sit down and talk to people with that much power in the government. After that, we went kayaking and had a barbecue on the other side of the island that we were at. It was very cold but tons of fun.
The next morning was an early one for me and 4 of the other members. We woke up at 3:30 am after a long night out and climbed Sleeve Donard at the Mountains of Mourne. It was an 850 meter climb and we were not prepared for it at all. Nevertheless, we made it to the very top, saw the sunrise, and saw some incredible views from the top of the mountain. We got back to our houses and hopped on our bus at 9:30 and had a full day ahead of us. We met with police officers that work for the Northern Ireland police force. After meeting with them, we went to the unsubscribing presbyterian church and learned about the history of that. After that we played hurling and it was fun for me having played for about 7 years. Most of the group had to learn but it was still a great time. Then we had a big dinner with Danny O’Connell as a group.
Thursday was our final day and on that day, we put our rocks that we all brought from our respective homes into the peace garden at the Saint Patrick’s Center to say our goodbyes. After that, we met with 2 more politicians from different political parties and one historian to tell us about how Ireland and the UK came to be. To wrap up our trip, we went to a local pub for trivia and Tim made each house write a poem summarizing their experience and it just turned into one big roast of everyone that was there.
We then got picked up at 4 AM to leave for Dublin airport and everyone went their separate ways. I spent the day in Dublin with a few of the other guys and now I am in Cavan which is where I will be until the 26th of June.
Again, I just want to express my gratitude to you all for making this whole experience possible. I have met so many new people from all across America and Northern Ireland. I did things that I never thought would be possible as a regular tourist. So, thank you very much and I can’t wait to tell you all about it when I get back home.
June 10, 2024 Photo Gallery
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Hello all,
I am still enjoying my Ireland trip a lot. On Thursday, we had the opportunity to go to the president of Ireland’s house and meet various politicians from different political parties. We drove down to Dublin and had a tour of the president’s house, met with Ciaran Quinn from Sinn fein, and met Bertie Ahern from Fianna Fáil. It was amazing to meet with them and here their views and opinions on the Irish government and politics situations. After meeting with them we went to Gelncree in Wicklow to learn about the organization that helps keep peace between the different parties and countries.
On Friday, we all went kayaking in a river that Saint Patrick rode down. It was a lot of fun even though we got soaked. We luckily had an early night and I was exhausted after all the activities we have been attending.
Saturday came and we went to dress up as vikings and reenact some battles and traditions that the vikings did when they were in Ireland. We also did ax throwing and archery while we were there. It was very interesting but pretty fun in the end. After that we went to Saul church which is where Saint Patrick built his first church in Ireland.
On Sunday, we went to mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Downpatrick. We attended a very nice service held by Father Murray and met many new people there that were very interested in America. After mass, we went to Belfast to look around the town, go to a market, and learn about the rich history of Northern Ireland from Belfast’s perspective.
Best,
Tony Sheridan
June 9, 2024 Photo Gallery
Sunday June 2, 2024
Hello all,
I am really enjoying my time in County Down so far. After a long day of traveling on Friday, Shane and I made it into Dublin airport at 11 AM on Saturday. We met the others in the group, dropped our bags off at our assigned houses and went to get some dinner with the rest of the young ambassadors.
We had an early start today as we were picked up at 7:30 AM and we were all taken down to the water to meet the local rowing team in Dundrum, who happen to be the world champions of a recent rowing competition. While one group was in the water, the rest of us went over to see the Dundrum, which was built over 800 years ago. After that, we headed over to the Saint Patrick Center to learn about the center and a little bit of the history of Saint Patrick himself. We then went to the Saul Memorial for the parish’s annual Saul Sunday. This is an annual mass that is held outside just below the tallest statue of Saint Patrick in the world. This service was led by Bishop Alan McGuckian, the Bishop of Down and Belfast. We walked up the hill and took a close look at the statue and the view from being up that high was gorgeous to look at.
We are meeting many new and interesting people, seeing a lot of sights, and I will be sending back an email every few days to keep you all updated with how my trip is going.
Best,
Tony Sheridan
June 2, 2024 Photo Gallery
For the first time, two of San Francisco’s, Ancient Order of Hibernians – Division 17 young members: Shane Reidy & Anthony “Tony” Sheridan will be traveling to Downpatrick, County Down, for the first two weeks in June 2024 and become our first ever Young Ambassadors..
For the first time, two of San Francisco’s, Ancient Order of Hibernians – Division 17 young members: Shane Reidy & Anthony “Tony” Sheridan will be traveling to Downpatrick, County Down, for the first two weeks in June 2024 and become our first ever Young Ambassadors.
The Young Ambassador Program is run by the Saint Patrick Centre in County Down to create a network of informed and influential young individuals throughout America with specialist knowledge and links to the northern part of Ireland. It has been running for 16 years and hosts young people from all over America and matches them with work placements and experiences which will enhance their future career.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America are partnering with the Saint Patrick Centre to develop our own Young Ambassadors through this program who will gain a love and knowledge of Ireland and bring it back to help grow our organization – particularly amongst young members – and develop Ancient Order of Hibernians leaders for the future. Northern Ireland provides an incredibly diverse platform to learn about many social and cultural aspects of contemporary and historical life in Ireland as well as a developing model for community reconciliation which is relevant to many cities in North America. Ancient Order of Hibernians Young Ambassadors will develop a meaningful and on-going relationship with Ireland and will continue to represent it when appropriate throughout the rest of their lives through their work in the AOH.
Shane Reidy
Shane is a student at the Colorado School of Mines, majoring in Computer Science. In his spare time he likes to play the banjo and soccer. He has been a member of the local AOH Div 17 since December 2023. Shane is looking forward to being part of the US delegation of young ambassadors traveling to the St. Patrick’s center in Downpatrick, Co. Down this June.
Anthony “Tony” Sheridan
Tony is a junior at Cal State Fullerton and is studying communications with a focus on advertising. He competes for their track and field team at Fullerton as a pole vaulter. When he’s back home, he plays Gaelic football with Eire Og. He is a former Irish dancer with the Murphy Irish Dancers. He is a proud member of AOH Division 17 and is excited for this upcoming opportunity to visit the St. Patrick’s Center in Co. Down.
APRIL Minutes of Monthly Meeting
AOH Division 17 – April 16th, 2024
Officers Present: Pres. Mike Keohane, VP Dan Cotter, Sentinel Oliver Sheridan, Fin. Secty. Sean Flynn, Chaplain Fr. Michael Healy. Excused: Rec. Secty. Roger Gargano, Marshal Pat Burke, Treas. Dennis O’Connor.
Meeting opened at 7:06 PM with a prayer led by Pres. Keohane.
Reading of the March 19th, 2024 meeting minutes was waived. Minutes approved as written and mailed.
Pres. Keohane made a motion from the floor to help fund Div. 17 members Shane Reidy and Tony Sheridan’s trip to Ireland as part of the AOH Young Ambassador’s Program. Funding was unanimously approved in the amount of $1,000 each for Shane and Tony. Members discussed a potential presentation about the trip upon their return.
Steve Murray brought up past discussions of a potential Div. 17 service project in the community. Sean Flynn and John O’Rourke agreed to reach out to St. Anthony’s to discuss logistics.
Joe Sheridan discussed obtaining Div. 17 apparel to wear during the service project, Fr. York day, and other public events. Joe has an AOH Div. 17 jacket he obtained from the online AOH shop. There are many options, ranging from polos and t-shirts to heavy duty rain jackets. Members discussed potentially submitting a group photo to the Irish Herald or other similar publication of the participants in the service project wearing matching AOH apparel.
Liam Frost reported that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade was a success. Upcoming events including Kate Kennedy day in June and Robert Emmett day in September were discussed. It was also noted that next year will be the 100th annual Fr. York day. Div. 17 should have a presence at all of these events.
Liam Reidy noted that the St. Patrick’s Day weekend was a huge success at the United Irish Cultural Center as well. Roger Gargano manned an AOH table and recruited potential members.
Ed Reidy volunteered to reach out to his personal contacts regarding a potential historical project focusing on Fr. York and/or the SF Archdiocese. Fr. Healy noted this was important history that needs to be preserved.
John O’Rourke encouraged members to continue to recruit. Joe Sheridan will bring a new batch of Div. 17 brochures to the next meeting.
Liam Reidy volunteered to write an article about the AOH in the UICC bulletin.
Meeting closed at 8:10 PM with a prayer led by Fr. Healy.
