(Rockville Centre, NY) The 18th Annual Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Parade begins at Noon on Saturday, March 22, starting from municipal parking field #12 located at Sunrise Highway and North Forest Avenue and proceeding to municipal parking field #2.
“I look forward to this parade each and every year,” commented Mayor Francis Murray. “It’s a wonderful feeling to see all of our residents and businesses out in full force celebrating while giving back to three worthy causes.”
This year’s Grand Marshal is long-time Rockville Centre resident, Sean O’Rourke. Mr. O’Rourke was the oldest of eight children born to Bridget and Thomas O’Rourke in County Galway, Ireland, and came to America in 1971 at the tender age of 19. A mere two years later he had risen to become the President of Division #3 of the Nassau County Ancient Order of Hibernians, making him at that time the youngest Division President in the country. He was honored as Division #3’s Man of the Year in 1980.
By 1993 Mr. O’Rourke had acquired a controlling interest in and became President and Chief Executive Officer of Coast-Line International Distributors Ltd., a supplier of raw materials to the aircraft and aerospace industries, where he remains today.
For nearly the last 30-years, Mr. O’Rourke has been a member and one of the main sponsors of the Galway Mummers Festival, which promotes traditional Irish music, dance and storytelling. In 1987 he was a founding member of the Eire OG Gaelic Football Club, and is presently a member of the Long Island Gaels Hurling and Football Club and a Selector of the Hurling team. Mr. O’Rourke was honored by both the New York State Gaelic Athletic Association and Ards Friary in 2010 as their Man of the Year.
In 2007 Mr. O’Rourke became a member of the Advisory Board for the then-newly established Institute of Irish Studies at Molloy College. He joined the Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Parade Committee in 1998, serving as a member of the Parade’s Board of Directors since 2004, as its Vice-President during 2009 and 2010 and as its President during 2011 and 2012. He has been a Rockville Centre resident and member of the Parish of St. Agnes since 1983. He and his wife of 37 years, Cynthia, have five children, Heather, Cynthia, Thomas, Patricia and Breffni as well as five grandchildren.
Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Parade has become one of the most successful and well-attended parades in New York State. It has become a source of not only cultural pride, but civic pride, as well. The parade is an incorporated not-for- profit organization that annually shares its success with three worthy charities, which are National, Irish, and Rockville Centre focused. Since the parade’s inception in 1997, $718,000 has been distributed to?52 individual charities. Rockville Centre’s St. Patrick’s Parade is ‘The Parade that Cares and Shares.”
This year’s charities are the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, a foundation dedicated to raising awareness and treatment of Angelman Syndrome through education and information, research, and support for individuals with Angelman Syndrome; New Ground, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization assisting homeless families and Veterans on Long Island; and the Nassau County AOH Feis and Irish Festival. Now in its forty first year, the Ancient Order of Hibernians have presented Nassau County with its annual Irish Feis and Festival. Held every year in September the Feis is a celebration of Irish culture and history.
For further information about the parade visit the parade website at www.rvcstpatrick.com.
