Picture taken by Bob Collins, a member of Division 8.
This year’s 144th Annual Saint Patrick’s Day Banquet and Dance was held on Saturday, March 7, 2015 at the Lawrence Firefighters Association Relief’s In, located at One Market Street, South Lawrence, featuring a traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner with dancing to the Jolly Tinkers.
Methuen resident, Thomas P. Canney, a member and officer of Division 8, was selected, as Division 8’s 2015 Irishman of the Year. The Irishman of the Year Award, which was established in 1964, is the highest award the Division can bestow on a member. A native of Lawrence, Massachusetts, Tom also presently serves as the Grand Knight of the Saint Monica Council Knights Council 14725.
Sister Mary Murphy, SND de Namur, PhD, has been selected as the Division 8’s 2015 recipient of the Richard Cardinal Cushing Award, which was presented at Division 8’s Saint Patrick’s Day Dinner Dance.
Arriving in Lawrence in 1998, Sister Mary Murphy established the Notre Dame Education Center which she directed from 1998 to 2003. In 2004 Sister Mary founded Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School in Lawrence, so the Sisters of Notre Dame could continue educating the children of immigrants. In June, 2014 she stepped down as president of the school.
The Cushing award is presented annually to an Irish Catholic who resides in the Greater Lawrence area, and is named after the great Irish Catholic Prelate who served the Archdiocese of Boston for nearly 50 years.
