On Sunday, four stalwarts of the Irish community will be inducted into the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame at a dinner and awards ceremony at The Irish Center in Philadelphia. Here are this year’s honorees:
Bob Gessler was president of Division 87 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians for eight years and served for more than a decade as president of the Philadelphia County Board of the AOH. In 2008, he was the recipient of the prestigious John F. Kennedy Medal, the highest award given by the AOh, in recognition of his founding of the Hibernian Hunger Project, a program that helps feed needy people and has been adopted by the AOH as its national charity.
In his nominating letter, James Coyne listed Gessler’s other accomplishments:
“He was instrumental in bringing a National and State AOH Convention to Philadelphia and hosting the unveiling of the Irish Immigration Stamp. . .He is the Past President of Blarney Political Action Committee, which provides a voice for the Delaware Valley Irish Community. He is the founder and Chairman of the Hibernian Community Development Corporation, an organization that rehabs houses for local families and provides educational opportunities to disadvantaged Philadelphians.
Bob is a member of various civic and Irish association Boards, including more than17 years on the Board of the Irish Memorial and is a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. He is the former co-chair of the Kevin Donnelly Memorial Scholarship Fund which provided over $75,000 in tuition assistance. Bob previously served on the Boards of KAN/KARP (a local CDC), the Commodore Barry Club (Irish Center), the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians.
He is an Honorary Citizen of the City of Tralee, Co. Kerry and served as one of the Co-Chairs for the Jeannie Johnston Millennium Voyages Project. Bob has been recognized for his accomplishments on behalf of the Irish Community by a number of groups; Federation of Irish Societies (Delaware Valley), Philadelphia County Board of the Ladies AOH, Division 87, The Emerald Society, Irish Northern Aid,Clan na Gael, Philadelphia Irish Festival, Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service Center, Mother of Divine Grace Parish and St. Malachy’s College (Belfast).”
In 1983, Eileen Lavin founded the Tara Gael Dancers, an adult Irish dance group that was the first group of adult Irish dancers in the region and consistently wins top prizes in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. She has been teaching Irish dance since she left Cardinal Dougherty High School. And she learned from the best—Ed Reavy—whom she taught with for many years. She was named to the parade Ring of Honor in 2010. For many years this hairdresser had her own shop, and now operates out of Gloria Dei, a 55-plus independent living residence.
Anne Gallagher McKenna will receive the posthumous award this year. McKenna, who started McKenna’s Irish Shop in Havertown in 1950. She earned her first shillings as a 12-year-old, knitting mittens for a shop in Ardara, County Donegal, where she was born, and they helped buy her ticket to the US in 1947 when she was 17 years old. She met and married Joseph McKenna and they had five children.
After her family was raised, she opened the shop which sold imported wool sweaters, tweeds and woolens. She continued to make her own knitted clothing and her daughter, Nancy Durnin, said she continued to improve her skills, sticking to a project until she mastered it. She loved change, but was concerned that machinery and computers would make hand knitting a lost art. Her only regret, said her daughter, was that she wasn’t able to master and adapt these technologies.
Joseph T. Kelley, Jr., Esq. will receive a special award, from the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame, for his generosity and service to the Commodore Barry Club, “Irish Center”. Kelley, whose family has roots in County Mayo, is the president of the Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia and immediate Past- President of the Brehon Law Society. He was one of the founders of the US/Ireland Legal Symposium which is designed to bring together internationally minded in-house attorneys, private legal practitioners and business executives looking to invest in key sectors in Ireland, the US, and Europe.
Kelley is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Kelley Partners, Ltd., a law firm with offices in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He focuses his practice on business and corporate law and governance, for both nonprofit and for profit companies, including general counsel services, corporate criminal defense, and healthcare law. As general counsel for large and small healthcare providers and for a host of other organizations.
Kelley is a member of the American, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia Bar Associations, the Brehon Law Society and is a fellow of the Council on International Legal Studies, Salzburg, Austria. Mr. Kelley has also served the Irish and Irish American communities by his service as an organizer of the Philadelphia Emerald Society, a founder, Board Member and Past President of the Brehon Law Society and currently serves as Chairman of the Philadelphia Irish Immigration Center.
