February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The awards were presented during a packed gathering at Rosie O’Grady’s Manhattan Club in midtown.
The reception, co-hosted by the Consulate General of Ireland and addressed by Irish Consul General in New York, Niall Burgess, was a chance to renew an idea first initiated by the Echo in 1997.
This year’s honorees were drawn from all over the United States and a number traveled to New York to celebrate and be presented with a Cavan Crystal vase marking the occasion.
The Manhattan Club event had a poignant aspect to it in that one of the honorees received a posthumous award.
Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism in Afghanistan. His father Dan, himself a veteran and holder of a Purple Heart, accepted, accepted a special Cavan Crystal vase in honor of his son.
He also brought with him the Medal of Honor that was put on display during the awards ceremony. It clearly struck an emotional chord with all in attendance.