Friends of St. Patrick President Mike McQuaid is the owner of the Seattle public relations firm McQuaid & Co. Strategic Communications. A third generation Seattleite of Irish heritage, Mike is actively involved in the community. In 2009, he was appointed by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to the Seattle Sister Cities Coordinating Council. He is also a trustee of the National Historical Landmark Virginia V Foundation. He also contributes his time to Seattle Children’s Hospital and the Auction of Washington Wines, The Center for Wooden Boats, and serves on the advisory board of the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in Boise, Idaho.
Mike studied at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. As a competitive rower, he was named to the All Pac-10 Rowing Team while at WSU and won a National Championship for Philadelphia's Vesper Boat Club.
In his spare time, Mike races sailboats on Puget Sound and is an avid skier. Mike and his wife Shannon make their home in Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill neighborhood.
The Society of The Friends of St. Patrick in Seattle
70th Annual Banquet
7 pm, Saturday, March 13, 2010 in the historic Northern Lights Dome Room, Arctic Club Hotel,
700 3rd Ave at Cherry, Seattle
2010 Guest of Honor
The Rt. Hon. Desmond Guinness The Rt. Honorable Desmond Guinness, the great, great, great, great grandson of Arthur Guinness who founded Guinness Brewery in Dublin over 250 years ago, will be Grand Marshal of Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Parade and a Special Honored Guest at the Friends of St. Patrick Banquet on Saturday, March 13, 2010. Click the photo above for more information.
The Banquet location, the Arctic Hotel Dome Room, offers Rococo gilt and original artistic frescos, ornamental cornices and stained glass dome ceiling with the effects reminiscent of the Northern Lights.
Tickets for the Black-Tie (optional) dinner and dance are $100 per person or Table of Ten for $900. To order tickets via email or telephone, contact 2010 Friends President, Mike McQuaid,
at 206-262-7301, email Friends@irishclub.org, or
To order tickets by mail, write: Friends of St Patrick 11616 NE 134th St Kirkland, WA 98034 Please make checks payable to "Friends of St Patrick".
Special Guest: Ireland's Attorney General Paul Gallagher
Special Guest at the 2009 Banquet was Ireland’s
Attorney General, Paul Gallagher, shown above with US Congressman Jim McDermott. Attorney General Gallagher is the legal adviser to the Irish Government and the chief law
officer of the Irish State. Click photo for more pictures.
Ireland's Attorney General Paul Gallagher, US Senator Maria Cantwell, State Senator Ed Murray, at the 2009 Friends of St. Patrick Banquet. Click photo for more pictures.
2009 Banquet Entertainment:
Entertainment will
include stepdancers from the
Baile Glas Irish Dancers and music and singing by
The Muses.
To see more photos or to listen to a sample of The
Muses' music,
click on the photos above. For more information,
go to www.baileglas.org
or www.themusesmusic.com.
2008 Special Honored Guest:
His Excellency John Bruton,
European Union Ambassador to the United States,
and former Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister).
Click here for more information.
Also in attendance as honored guests in 2008 were Seattle Archbishop Alexander Brunett, Irish Government Minister John McGuinness, T.D., and Irish Consul General Una Fannon.
Photos from the 2006 Banquet: At the 2006 Banquet,
St. Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal
and travel guru Rick Steves (left), with Fr. John
Madigan (center) and
Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Joe Tyson.
At the 2006 Banquet, US Senator
Maria Cantwell with
Seattle Archbishop Alexander Brunett.
From left, Acting Irish Consul
General Úna Fannon, Irish
Government Cabinet Minister Noel Dempsey,
T.D.
and Friends of St. Patrick Officer John Keane,
converse with US Senator Maria Cantwell.
Originally named The Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Society was founded in Philadelphia on March 17, 1771. At its first meeting
were George
Washington’s Irish-born aide-de-camp General Stephen
Moylan,
along with John Dickenson and Robert Morris who
signed the US
Declaration of Independence. George Washington himself later
became an
Honorary Member. The Friendly Sons started in Seattle
in 1941
and was a male only organization until 1989 when
it welcomed
women and changed its name to The Society of the
Friends of St.
Patrick. The change came under pressure from Seattle
Archbishop
Thomas Murphy who kidded that otherwise he would
start
supporting the Angry Daughters of St. Brigid! Carol
Costello in
1999 was the first female President of the Seattle
organization.
DOUBLE CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE Picture from 1978 Sunset magazine, taken at Seattle's
1977 Parade.Three Dailey boys are carrying
the banner, sons of Jim and Mary Colette Dailey.Behind them and to the right are Bruce Cosacchi's
daughters: L-R Maureen, Sheila and Laura.
Bruce is on the extreme right. Diane Hackett is in
thecenter, back, wearing a bandana.
Following are some pictures from previous banquets. The
names and years are listed where they've been identified.
DOUBLE
CLICK ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE
1.
2
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
1.
1948 BANQUET, Crowd picture
2. 1963 BANQUET, Archbishop Connolly, Pat Barry, Bob
McGrath,
Seattle City Councilman Wing Luke
3. 1964 BANQUET, Don Sullivan, Jim Murphy, Bill Lukoskie,
Bob Murphy
4. 1963 BANQUET, Bob McGrath, Mike McCay, Councilman
Wing Luke
5. 1962 BANQUET, Jim Dore at piano, brother Fred at
left,
and cousin John Dore on right
6. 1966 BANQUET, Ben Maslan, John Miller, James McAteer
(President)
7. 1964 BANQUET, Bill Lukoskie, unknown, Jim Murphy,
? Powers,
Gene Cheevers, Judge John Wilson, Bob Murphy, Don
Sullivan
8. 1965 BANQUET, Friends President Thomas Geraghty
on left,
Seattle Mayor Dorm Braman on right.
9. 1965 BANQUET, Tom McMurray, Thomas Geraghty,
Society President Jim McAteer on pipes,
with the Blanchet HS Gaelic Pipe Band.
1955 - Then Senator John F. Kennedy regretfully declines
an invitation
to speak at the 1956 Friendly Sons Banquet
1960 - Mike McKay, Charles P Moriarty, Fred Dore,
President
1965 - Irish Consul General Charles V Whelan was the
principal speaker
1965 - The Seattle P-I mistakenly identified him as
"British Consul General"