Former Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny to visit Scranton

Former Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny will be guest speaker at the 119th Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Lackawanna County dinner on Saturday. Kenny, who served as the leader of Ireland from 2011 to 2017, will join other featured guests at the dinner, including Father Dominic McGrattan, the chaplain of Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, and toastmaster John O’Boyle, an attorney for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, and a graduate of Scranton Prep, the University of Scranton and Widener University School of Law.

* Former Taoiseach Edna Kenny will visit Scranton ahead of St. Patrick’s Day to speak at the annual Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Lackawanna county dinner. (EUROPEAN UNION / WIKIPEDIA / SUBMITTED) * Former Taoiseach Edna Kenny will visit Scranton ahead of St.



Patrick’s Day to speak at the annual Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Lackawanna county dinner. President Joe Biden was a guest at the dinner in 2015. (EUROPEAN UNION / WIKIPEDIA / SUBMITTED) Show Caption 1 of 2 Former Taoiseach Edna Kenny will visit Scranton ahead of St.

Patrick’s Day to speak at the annual Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Lackawanna county dinner. (EUROPEAN UNION / WIKIPEDIA / SUBMITTED) Expand A press release stated that O’Boyle is “regaled among the Irish community for his role as past President in 2016 of the Saint Patrick’s Parade Association of Lackawanna County,” and affirmed a promise he made to current Friendly Sons of St. Patrick President Raymond Lynady to be “extremely efficient in conducting this year’s dinner,” quippingly illustrating the expectation that he would be “the wittiest toastmaster to have ever served our organization in this important role.

We’ll find out.” The steak dinner and annual gathering will take place at the Scranton Cultural Center, for the second year in a row, at 7 p.m.

Lynady, of Clarks Summit, announced on the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Lackawanna County’s official website via press release. From 1984 to 2022, the dinner was held at Genetti Manor in Dickson City until that venue closed.

Lynady explained via telephone that it is up to each Friendly Sons of St. Patrick president to plan their guest speakers for the dinner, with presidents changing yearly, but added that the group regularly gets big-name guests to speak. Lynady began planning for this year’s guest just as the 118th dinner wrapped, he said.

“I reached out (to Kenny) as soon as the dinner was over last year, I started reaching out to some people who I knew were connected to him,” Lynady explained, adding that each Friendly Sons president “charts his own course” in terms of who the speakers will be. Lynady added that he was able to garner the notable speakers through his work in New York City, and his relationship with the many Irish organizations of which he is a member. Last year, President Bill Clinton served as a guest speaker at the dinner.

President Joe Biden attended in 2015. Tickets to the event cost $110 each, which includes dinner. Lynady said the tickets are “almost sold out,” and that they are expecting around 700 or so people.

Lynady served as the grand marshal in the Scranton St. Patrick’s Parade on Saturday, presiding over the 10,000-plus participants and the many thousands of revelers who came to take part in the windy weekend’s festivities. The Irish word taoiseach means “leader” and was implemented into Ireland’s Constitution in 1937, to reference the country’s highest office, which had previously been referred to as “prime minister.

” Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Lackawanna County was founded in 1906. The original organization was created as a charitable organization aimed at helping Irish migrants.

Today, the organization’s goal is to encourage camaraderie between America and Ireland, as well as sponsoring scholarships and cultural events, such as the Scranton St. Patrick’s Parade. The Friendly Sons of St.

Patrick of Lackawanna County is one of at least three branches in Pennsylvania, with additional branches in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Each branch is independently operated. The Friendly Sons dinner occurs on the heels of President Donald Trump signing a proclamation declaring March as Irish-American Heritage Month, a tradition started in 1991 by George H.

W. Bush that U.S.

presidents have continued ever since. “Irish Americans have played a crucial role in our great American story,” Trump said in a press release published on the White House website, adding, “courageously overcoming adversity and hardship to embolden our culture, enliven our spirit, and fortify our way of life.” The proclamation encourages Americans to “commemorate the special bond of friendship between the United States and Ireland,” and “honor the extraordinary contributions of Irish-American citizens past and present.

” Trump called Irish Americans “great people,” elaborating, “They voted for me in heavy numbers, so I like them even more.” Current Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin will meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday, as communities across the state are in various stages of St. Patrick’s Day events and parade planning for the Irish holiday, which occurs annually on March 17.

This year, the holiday falls on a Monday..