Brigid Mary Moriarty, the Sons of Erin 2020 Colleen. (MARC ST.ONGE/THEWESTFIELD NEWS)
WESTFIELD – Brigid Mary Moriarty is the 2020 Westfield Sons of Erin Colleen.
Moriarty was crowned Feb. 7 at Chez Josef in Agawam and was selected from among 13 contestants. Her Colleen Court includes Hannah Elizabeth Bean, Jillian Rose Conroy, Emily Marie Langlois and McKenzie Grace Augustine Kiltonic.
Moriarty is continuing the tradition started by her mother Melissa, who was a member of the Holyoke Colleen Court in 1989.
Melissa Moriarty said her daughter was always proud of her Irish heritage and throughout her life, people have commented that she would be Colleen one day.
Moriarty, 18, is a senior at Westfield High School where she is captain of the varsity volleyball and varsity tennis teams. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Best Buddies, Key Club and Council of Peer Educators.
She volunteers as an altar server and CCD teacher at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish and enjoys babysitting, traveling and playing club volleyball.
Moriarty plans to attend college in the Boston area and major in biology with a concentration in health sciences and a minor in Spanish. She hopes to pursue a career as a physician’s assistant.
Hannah The 2020 Sons of Erin Colleen and her Court: Hannah Elizabeth Bean, Jillian Rose Conroy, 2020 Colleen Brigid Mary Moriarty, Emily Marie Langlois, Mackenzie Grace Augustine Kiltonic. (MARC ST. ONGE/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
In addition to crowning Moriarty, the event included the honoring of Sons of Erin Parade Marshall Packie Smith, Dorothy Griffin Irish Woman of the Year Beth Burns and Thomas M. Kane Memorial Irish Man of the Year Mark Hanrahan.
Smith, an Irish immigrant who came to New York in 1985 to play football for a few years and now calls Westfield home, thanked the award committee for “giving consideration to an immigrant” from Ireland.
Smith said the Irish-American community of Westfield paved the way for immigrants and he dedicated his award to all past immigrants who also made Westfield their home.
Hanrahan, a longtime member of the Sons of Erin float committee, joked that one of his sons said the award had a “high bar” while another son said the award committee “must have lowered the bar.”
Hanrahan said he started helping build the Sons of Erin float for the annual Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade three decades ago.
He said the committees of the Sons of Erin are not about any one person.
“With volunteers, it’s ‘we’,” he said. “No one looks at it as an individual endeavor. It’s a lot of fun.”
Burns spoke of her Irish heritage, which she traced back to her great, great, great, great grandparents Lawrence and Bridget Mullen who, in 1850, were brave enough to immigrate to the United States.
“They settled in Westfield and eventually purchased a home at 90 Mechanic St. on a piece of property that now belongs to St. Mary’s Church. As a matter of fact, it’s been recorded that in the early days of St. Mary’s, Masses were held in what was later known as the Mullen home,” she said.
In 1933, Burns’ father Leonard Joseph Warner Jr. was born in Westfield and was a charter member of the Sons of Erin. Burns said he was a proud Irishman and passed that on to her and her six siblings, all of whom attended the Colleen Ball.
Burns said not only did he instill Irish pride in her, but pride in Westfield as well.
“It’s a great community in which to raise a family and make life-long connections. And I can say the same thing about the Sons of Erin,” she said. “It’s more than just an Irish Cultural Social Club, it feels like a family as well and a special community of kind, generous, witty and friendly people who all share a connection to Ireland – be it by blood or marriage.”
Hannah Jury, 2019 Colleen, and members of her court attended the event and Jury spoke about her year serving as the city’s Colleen.
Moriarty and her court will ride the Sons of Erin float in the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade March 22.
