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Top 100 Irish America's Finest in Community
“This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first
century – solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely,
the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give
a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will
define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.”
Elie Wiesel - Concern’s 2007 Worldwide Seeds of Hope Award Winner
The following pages honor those who have assumed this duty with enthusiasm,
vigor and compassion.
 Seamus
Heaney
Seamus Heaney’s quote “Who is my neighbor? My neighbor is
all mankind” has become something of a motto for the Irish relief
organization Concern Worldwide, which has been serving the world’s
neediest neighbors for over 40 years.
It was founded in 1968, when, in his first assignment as Diocesan Director
of Catholic Action in Nigeria and Parish Priest of Uli, Father Aengus
Finucane found himself involved in the bitter civil war between Nigeria
and Biafra. An emergency airstrip in the parish of Uli was widened in
order to take up to forty flights of relief supplies a night. Father Finucane
and his parishioners unloaded and distributed these essential goods under
conditions of extreme danger.
“Uli was bombed every day,” Father Finucane recalled, “but
the Biafrans were lined up in the forest with truckloads of gravel . .
. to fill the holes in the runway.”
From these experiences of hardship, suffering and conflict, Concern was
born, with Fr. Aengus and his brother Fr. Jack among the founders.
For years to come, Father Finucane traveled to disaster areas, working
with Concern in Bangladesh, Thailand and Uganda, and witnessing the horrors
of Rwanda first hand. In 1981, he became Concern’s chief executive,
a post he held until 1997, when he became honorary president of Concern
Worldwide U.S.
The organization, which is headquartered in Dublin, set up its U.S. operation
in 1994 when Siobhan Walsh, whose work in devising a unique campaign for
building homes for refugees, brought Concern the Gold Award from Europe’s
top marketing competition, transferred to New York to work as part of
a small team for Concern in America. In 1996, Walsh became executive director
of Concern U.S., with headquarters in New York and an office in Chicago.
Over the past 14 years, Walsh, who like Fr. Aengus is a native of County
Limerick, has become the dynamic force behind the organization in the
U.S. With the aid of the American Board, chaired by Irish-American of
the Year Tom Moran, the organization’s profile has never been higher.
Concern’s 11th annual “Seeds of Hope” dinner on December
5, 2007 at the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park in New York City, was the best
attended dinner to date, with some 520 guests and over $1.5 million raised
for the world’s neediest people.
Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor who was the “Seeds of Hope”
honoree, paid tribute to Concern, which marks its 40th anniversary in
2008. “You are there when you are needed,” he said of Ireland’s
largest international humanitarian organization.
For all that they do, Irish America is pleased to honor Fr. Finucane,
Siobhan Walsh and all the members of the Concern team, who do much for
so many.
Dr. Kevin Cahill
As a doctor of medicine, Kevin Cahill has offered his vast expertise
to a number of national and international organizations including the
United Nations and the NYPD, where he is Chief Medical Advisor for Counterterrorism.
Dr. Cahill began his medical career in 1961, studying tropical disease
in the slums of Calcutta beside Mother Teresa. His relief efforts have
since spanned the globe and include treating refugees in Sudan, and serving
concurrently as the Special Assistant to the Governor on Health Affairs,
Chairman of Health Planning Commission, and Chairman of the Health Research
Council of New York State.
He was among the first to predict the famine in Somalia and has been
caught behind the lines of armed conflict in Beirut and Managua. Aside
from his work in the field, Dr. Cahill has published several books including
To Bear Witness: A Journey of Healing and Solidarity which brings together
a selection of his writings including essays, op-ed pieces, speeches and
other works.
Dr. Cahill, who is the recipient of numerous awards, including 25 honorary
degrees, is a chairman of the Department of International Health at the
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, director of the Institute of International
Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University, president of the Center for
International Health and Cooperation, and a clinical professor of tropical
medicine and parasitic diseases at New York University Medical School.
He has for many years served as the president of the American Irish Historical
Society, which is based in New York City.
Loretta Brennan Glucksman
As National Chairman of The American Ireland Fund and co-founder of Glucksman
Ireland House (the Center for Irish Studies at New York University), Loretta
Brennan Glucksman has been at the forefront of helping to fund cultural
projects in Ireland and keeping Irish-American culture alive in New York,
where over 700 students take courses in Irish culture, arts and learning
at Glucksman Ireland House.
Founded in 1993 when Loretta and her husband, Lew Glucksman, donated
$3 million to New York University, Glucksman Ireland House is reaching
out to all in its efforts to spread Irish Studies. As Loretta noted at
the U.S.-Ireland Forum held in November: “At Glucksman Ireland House
we teach the Irish language and it is not all Irish kids, it’s Asian
kids, it’s African-American kids.
To walk into that classroom would just lift your heart. The Irish language,
which for so long was lying fallow as a dead language, is now hot, and
the best fun is talking to the kids and learning their motivation for
taking on a pretty tough language. I think that culture and education
can cross a whole bunch of boundaries that seem insurmountable.”
The Glucksmans also supported many educational projects in Ireland. The
University of Limerick and University College Cork have particularly benefited
from their generosity. Lew Glucksman died in 2006.
Loretta is also fiercely proud of the efforts The American Ireland Fund
have made in funding integrated schools for Protestant and Catholic children
in Northern Ireland.
“When people see children who have never been allowed to be educated
together doing just that, they want to be involved. I have every optimistic
hope that our efforts will help in a very real way towards peace and opportunity,”
she told the Irish Examiner.
The Fund, which encourages peace and reconciliation in Ireland through
culture and the arts, education and community development, is committed
to helping Northern Ireland prosper economically now that it is at peace.
A third-generation Irish-American whose maternal grandparents, McHugh/Murray,
immigrated from Leitrim in Famine times, Loretta grew up in Allentown,
Pennsylvania in a predominantly Irish community.
Kelly Candaele
Two summers ago Kelly Candaele took fifteen students from California
State University, Chico and traveled to Belfast to shoot a documentary
film on the Northern Ireland peace process.
By the time they were finished with their three weeks in Ireland, the
students had interviewed not only paramilitaries and community leaders
on both sides of the divide but Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, former
Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds, George Mitchell (chairman of the
peace talks), Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, and the Archbishops
of the Anglican and Catholic churches.
The resulting film, When Hope and History Rhymed, premiered at Paramount
Studios in May, 2007, and is now distributed in college and university
classes throughout the country.
Kelly, whose most recent documentary film looks at how former gang members
have turned their lives around by joining building trades unions to help
rebuild the City of Los Angeles, is an Adjunct Associate Professor of
Philosophy at California State University, Chico. His mother, Helen O’Callaghan,
who traced her roots to County Cork, played for five years in the All
American Girls Professional Baseball League along with her sister Margaret.
The sisters were the basis for the documentary film A League of Their
Own, which Kelly produced in 1989. The documentary aired on PBS, and was
the inspiration for the feature film of the same name that came out in
1992. Helen, who grew up in Vancouver, will be posthumously inducted into
the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame this May in Vancouver. She passed
away in 1992.
 Sister
Patricia Cruise
Sister Patricia A. Cruise, affectionately known as “Sister Tricia”
to her colleagues and the thousands of children she has served, is the
President and CEO of Covenant House, the largest privately funded nonprofit
agency in North and Central America.
Sister Tricia, who assumed leadership of the organization in September
2003, is responsible for the overall management and long-term strategic
planning of Covenant House, which includes 21 sites in six countries as
well as the corporate headquarters in New York City.
The Covenant House mission to serve young people is a familiar theme
for Sister Tricia, who joined the organization after nearly 25 years in
education and academic administration. Prior to her current position at
Covenant House, Sister Tricia was the Executive Vice President and CEO
at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
Sister Tricia was born in Edenton, North Carolina, to an Irish father
and an Italian mother, and raised in Winchester, Massachusetts. The first
of four children, she has three brothers and sisters-in-law along with
five nieces and one nephew. She recently celebrated her 25th anniversary
as a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, where her parents now live.
 Susan
Davis
In 2007, Susan Davis chaired the historic U.S.-Ireland Business Summit,
bringing together senior government, industry and academic executives
from Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States.
Her work resulted in the establishment of the groundbreaking U.S.-Ireland
R&D Partnership in Information Technology and Biotechnology.
Susan, who is chairman of Susan Davis International, one of the premier
communications and public affairs agencies in the U.S., headquartered
in Washington, D.C., is also chairman of the Irish Breakfast Club, and
president of the National Assembly of Irish American Republicans.
She is a board member of many organizations, including the Washington
Ireland Program for Service and Leadership; Glanbia North American Advisory
Board; Vital Voices Global Partnership; and UCD Smurfit Graduate School
of Business, North American Advisory Board. She is a past president of
the prestigious International Women’s Forum representing 3,000 women
leaders worldwide.
In 2007, her company worked on behalf of Rediscover Northern Ireland,
a trade, tourism, cultural and education program designed to reintroduce
Northern Ireland to the U.S. Susan’s paternal grandmother, Anne
Barry, had roots in Co. Cork, while her paternal grandfather’s family
hailed from Northern Ireland.
 Svein
Jorgensen
In the 1980s, Svein Jorgensen left Ireland for a life in New York City.
Upon arrival Jorgensen’s goal was unclear.
His first position was at the Martha Washington Hotel, a residence for
women in distress and need of shelter. As he helped the women reestablish
themselves in their communities and rebuild their lives, Jorgensen faced
the cold realities of how the homeless live. During this time also, a
friend of Jorgensen’s was diagnosed with HIV – and Jorgensen
realized where his future lay. In the ensuing years, he has become a savior
to many of the city’s homeless and sick population.
In 1996, Jorgensen took a consulting position at Praxis Housing Initiatives,
a nonprofit organization that provides transitional housing for New York
City’s homeless, many of whom have HIV or AIDS. He has been working
with Praxis ever since. Today, he is the chief operating officer, in charge
of quality assurance and day-to-day management for Praxis’ four
facilities in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Born in Norway to an Irish mother, Svein moved with his family to County
Cork when he was six years old to be closer to his mother’s family.
– MD
 Don
Keenan
In 1993, Don Keenan formed the Keenan’s Kids Foundation, Atlanta,
to deal with the needs of children at-risk in the legal system. The program
raises community awareness about child issues on everything from playground
safety to trigger locks for guns.
Keenan is also the driving force behind fundraising efforts to provide
a new home for the Murphy family of Atlanta, who have adopted 23 children
with special needs.
Raised in Morehead City, North Carolina, Keenan knew from an early age
that good things do not come easy to all. After his father died, he was
raised by his grandfather who told him stories of “No Irish Need
Apply” signs and the travails of his Irish ancestors. Keenan never
forgot those stories.
At the age of 34, he was the youngest lawyer ever inducted into the Inner
Circle of Advocates, and has received numerous honors, including the Chief
Justice Award for Civility and Professionalism (the highest honor possible
for a lawyer in Georgia).
He was also named one of the best medical negligence lawyers in the United
States by the National Law Journal. In a nod to both his Irish and Southern
roots, Keenan has also been the driving force behind Irish America’s
annual “Stars of the South” gala in Atlanta, which honors
Irish-Americans from the Southern U.S. – MD
 Bryan
Lonegan
Bryan Lonegan spent 18 years at the Legal Aid Society in New York City
where he was the only pro bono lawyer available to non-citizen New Yorkers
who were detained and facing deportation because of their criminal records.
He also started a hotline to provide information and advice to the families
of people arrested by immigration authorities.
Currently a visiting clinical professor at the Center for Social Justice,
Seton Hall University School of Law, where he supervises a Human Rights
and Immigrant Workers Clinic that has represented asylum seekers from
Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey, Bryan is also developing a program
to provide legal assistance to day laborers who have been cheated of their
wages.
The author of Immigration Detention and Removal: A Guide for Detainees
and Their Families, Bryan is also active in a program started by Seton
Hall Law School dean Patrick Hobbs which supports a struggling Catholic
law school in Haiti.
Bryan’s great-grandfather Patrick Lonegan came to the U.S. in the
late 1800’s and worked as a horse trainer for the NYPD. Bryan is
married to Mary Kuehn and the father of Arthur Lonegan II.
 Dr.
John Kennedy & Flip Mullen
While guests and honorees of Irish America’s Top 100 awards evening
held on March 11 last year lined up for a photo opportunity with “Person
of the Year” and now presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton,
two men – both honorees – got talking. Within minutes a relationship
was formed that over the course of the next year would help several wounded
war soldiers take back their lives.
Flip Mullen, organizer of a four-day summer sports festival in Rockaway,
New York for wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, was one partner
in the new venture. The other was Dr. John Kennedy, director of the Running
Clinic in the Gait Laboratory at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New
York.
On the night, Mullen, a retired NYPD and FDNY officer, received an award
for his work with the Wounded Warriors Project – an organization
set up by John Melia (also an honoree) to provide programs and services
for wounded veterans and their families.
Kennedy was honored for his work in Santo Domingo where he performs 15
to 20 orthopedic surgeries free of charge for patients who need it the
most.
Fast-forward one year. Mullen, whose Irish roots lie in western Ireland,
and Kennedy, a Dublin native, will share the stage at Irish America’s
2008 Top 100 for their successful and blossoming partnership in saving
the limbs of America’s wounded war heroes.
The relationship is simple. Mullen and other members of the Wounded
Warriors Project advise those injured soldiers who may require a second
medical opinion to seek the advice of Dr. Kennedy. To date, Kennedy and
his associate, Dr. Austin Fragomen have met with several war-wounded soldiers,
listened to their stories, looked at their wounds and in some cases performed
miraculous surgeries that have saved their legs from amputation.
Kennedy, who is actively involved in the treatment of team members from
the New York Giants and the New York Red Bulls, began his new challenge
by saving the leg of Army Captain Brian Jantzen. Surgeons told the young
captain, whose legs, feet and ankle bones were shattered when his vehicle
was hit while on patrol in Ramadi, Iraq, that amputation was necessary.
“I was real close. I even had the appointment scheduled. It was
literally days away,” Jantzen told WCBS recently. Through Mullen
and the Wounded Warriors Project, Jantzen met with Kennedy for a second
opinion.
The Dublin doctor saved his legs. “It’s a blessing. It’s
a gift. I just feel so lucky, I wonder why it was me that got to be so
lucky,” said Jantzen.
Kennedy’s work with the soldiers was making big waves among the
wounded so it wasn’t long before Mullen was getting dozens of calls
requesting an appointment with the surgeon, who is praised far and wide
for his disciplined, diligent and passionate work.
In December, 2007, Kennedy operated on Sergeant John Borders.
Borders had crushed both his legs, lost his ring finger, lacerated his
liver, damaged his eyes and face in an explosion that happened while he
was on patrol in Taji, Iraq in 2006. He had undergone 50 operations, including
the amputation of his left leg, and met with Kennedy and his team as a
last ditch effort to save his remaining leg.
“Dr. Kennedy is a life saver. We really think it will work out,”
Borders’ wife Mollie told Irish America recently, explaining that
while her husband will have to go through seven intense weeks of physical
therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center before he will know the full
accomplishment of his operation, for the first time since his injury he
is without constant pain.
Dr. Kennedy’s most recent success story lies with Jeffrey Guerian,
a 25-year-old marine who was wounded in Afghanistan in 2004.
“I was told I was going to lose my leg,” Guerian told Irish
America from his bed in Syracuse, New York. A member of the Wounded Warriors
Project heard that Guerian was in dire need of a second opinion so they
made the call and spoke with Jeff’s Irish- American mother, Colleen.
The Guerians jumped at the chance of hope, and in January, Kennedy and
his team operated on the young soldier’s leg, giving him the optimism
of one day walking on his own again. Guerian, who also lost sight in his
eyes, explained, “I have to wear a brace for ten weeks before I
will know the full extent of the success of the operation.” Although
Guerian admits his pain is still at an all-time high, Dr. Kennedy has
promised to get it down to a manageable level. “I look forward to
that day,” Guerian said eagerly.
Not only does Mullen put the recovering soldiers in contact with the Irish
doctor, he and his wife Rita also give the soldiers and their families
a home while in New York. John and Mollie Borders and their two children
spent three weeks over the Christmas holidays with the Mullens. “It
was wonderful to have John and his family with us, and it was even more
fantastic to see John dancing in our house the other night,” said
Mullen.
Explaining that the relationship with wounded warriors and Dr. Kennedy
is only at the early stages, Mullen said that three more patients are
in the process of having consultations with the doctor. “We have
another three guys that will be seeing Dr. Kennedy soon. One has a problem
with his ankle, the other with his leg and the third, would you believe
is Brian Jantzen’s roommate, Jim Ollinger, another captain in the
Army, whom I originally met with Brian a few months ago. This guy is currently
in law school so we are trying to coordinate their schedules.”
Speaking about meeting Kennedy last year, Mullen said it was destiny that
brought them together “Thanks to fate and Irish America magazine,
we are able to help a whole lot of fellas. . . . Kennedy is not just a
second opinion. He is a wonderful top-notch surgeon. There is normally
a two-year waiting list for patients to have a consultation with the doctor,
but he makes huge exceptions for our soldiers.”
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