Home Community Features & Events Take a bow: We name ten more honorees for Buffalo Irish Heroes Gala
THIRSTY WORK: Michael Meade, founder of Sullivan's Brewing Company, who will be honored in his native Buffalo next month.

Take a bow: We name ten more honorees for Buffalo Irish Heroes Gala

Community Features & Events April 22, 2025 by Máirtín Ó Muilleoir

A Buffalo native who founded Sulivan's Brewing Company in Co Kilkenny — with ambitions to make it "Ireland's great next export" — is to be honored at the Heroes of Irish America gala in 'the Capital of Irish America' on 16 May.

And Michael Meade, who has made Sullivan's an international brand with huge reach across the U.S. in particular — its logo graces the shirts of many GAA teams nationwide — will receive the special Taste of Ireland Award which goes to a standout Irish American promoting food and drink from the Emerald Isle, at the Buffalo event.

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The other nine honorees named this week are: 

Maedhbh, Kate, Tim, Ellen

Maedhbh, Kate, Tim, Ellen

  • Kate Shea Kennon is an assistant dean at Fordham University. She is an executive board member of the Jesuit Business Network, which brings together Jesuit colleges from all over the U.S. to share best practices in student services. She is proud to be a longstanding board member of the Origin Theater, which, since its inception in 2008, has introduced more than 400 Irish and Irish American playwrights to NYC.
  • Josh Byrne is a pro lacrosse player with the Buffalo Bandits. Hailing from from Vancouver, Canada, he is half0Irish, half-Trinidadian. He has played lacrosse since the age of three and is a graduate of Hofstra University.
  • Tim Bohen was born in Buffalo into an Irish-American family, with all his ancestors having emigrated from Ireland in the 19th century. He writes extensively about  the Irish experience in Buffalo. His first book, Against the Grain: The History of Buffalo’s First Ward, is in its eighth printing. 
  • Thomas P. McDonnell is a native of South Buffalo. He graduated from Bishop Timon High School and college followed with a degree from Buffalo State and then a Master’s Degree from Canisius College.
  • Maedhbh Fiona McCullagh is an independent multidisciplinary cultural producer, arts programmer, and creative consultant from Ireland.For more than two decades she has been producing and managing artistic programs, presentations, productions, and special events for international festivals, cultural institutes, and organizations.  She is the Director of Solas Nua’s Capital Irish Film Festival.
  • Chelsea Gill-McCarthy is the proud owner of Anointed through Grace Incorporated which assists those grieving in an integrative, holistic approach. Over the last 12 years Chelsea has devoted her time to the community with raising funds for local nonprofits through events, volunteering and sponsorships. She currently sits on The Board of Directors for The Firefighter Arno Memorial Foundation and volunteers for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, 
  • Michael Schilling, born in Boston, is the proud grandson of Irish immigrants and a dual citizen of Ireland and the United States. His Irish heritage has always been a guiding force in his life. A member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians for over 10 years, Michael currently serves as president of the Father John Murphy Division. 
  • Lauren Levitz was born and raised in NYC. Her mother was a nurse at Mt. Sinai, and her father was in the NYPD for 38 years. She graduated with her master's in education and became a teacher because she wanted to inspire students to change the world. She is a a middle school science teacher at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Academy in Queens, NY. 
  • Ellen O'Malley from Pittsburgh is the Director of the Claddagh Degree team and holds offices at the Division and County levels. She has served on many Irish committees in Pittsburgh and was the co-chair of the 2022 AOH-LAOH National Convention held in the city. She has been to Ireland six times to visit family that still live there.

And in a further boost to the annual Buffalo gathering, historian and honorer Tim Bohen has put together a short walking tour of Irish Buffalo from 11am on Saturday 17 May. The full route can be seen on our webpage (where tickets can be purchased).

Said Irish Echo CEO Connla McCann: "We have honorees coming in from some of our great Irish cities including Portland, ME, Pittsburgh, PA and Boston, MA. When in Buffalo we want to show them a little more of the city's rich Irish tradition and allow them to meet up and engage in a productive exchange with the city's Irish leadership."

 



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