By Marilyn Madigan
On Sunday March 2, the Ancient Order of Hibernians Boland Berry Division, Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Our Lady of the Rosar Division, Cleveland St. Pat’s -St. Jarlath’s GAA, West Side Irish American Club McNeeley Library, iIrish and the West Side Irish American Club (WSIA) were honored to host the United States Book Tour of the book Lost Gaels, written by Peadar Thompson.
The book tour visited twelve locations, from Massachusetts to Illinois over a two-week period. The locations included Boston, Albany, Glastonbury CT, Rockland County New York, New York City, Middleton New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago. Highlights of the tour for Peader (pron. Patter) were the privilege of speaking at the Irish Heritage Museum in Albany and the American Irish Historical Society in New York City. Both of those venues are special in their commitment to preserving all aspects of Irish American history. He was also able to visit venues that are special places for each of the cities, from GAA and Hibernian Halls to the Commodore Barry Cultural Center in Philadelphia.
Audiences during the book tour ranged from more intimate gatherings in Baltimore to social gatherings in Pittsburgh. On this tour, the Midwest really rocked it, with the largest audiences and best book sales in Cleveland and Chicago. I would like to thank President Dan Chambers and the membership of the West Side Irish American Club for providing us with a fantastic venue. Cleveland is the Home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we truly rocked this event.
We had 96 individuals in attendance, only surpassed by Chicago with 103. Book Sales were 76 again only surpassed by Chicago with 83.
Speaking of the Hall of Fame, Peadar was able to visit, thanks to Rita O’Hara. He had a warm Cleveland Irish welcome, receiving a gift of a GAA jersey, LAOH parch and pin and the 2025 Parade pin.
Hopefully he will have great memories of his visit to Cleveland and all the people he met. He was greeted in Irish both by Al O’Leary and Vince Beach.
Hospitality was also displayed in our club’s pub with the warm fire and pleasant service from the friendly bartender Pat Lavelle. A warm welcome is always displayed at the West Side Irish American Club. Most of all this event was successful due to the dedication and commitment of Planning committee members John O’Brien, Jr. of iIrish; Vince Beach and Maureen Mohney of Cleveland GAA; Midge Gannon and Jill Gallagher of the McNeeley Library; Jim Kilbane of the AOH; Maire Leffel, Rita O’Hara and I of the LAOH. When the Cleveland Irish work on a joint project it is a success. We really promoted this event.
Thank you to John O’Brien, Jr. for the cover and the back page of the February iIrish Issue and the full page in the March issue. In the March issue, there is a great interview with Peadar, you can also read it online:
https://iirish.us/2025/03/09/lost-gaels-author-peader-thompson-exclusive-interview/
In addition, filmed the presentation, thanks to John and Bob Krulik. To view the presentation, go to www.iIrish.us or copy the links below:
To See Peader’s presentation in full: https://youtu.be/6HJgmhcjHp0
