08/23/2026
☘️💚 MEET OUR SECOND HALFWAY TO ST. PATRICK’S DAY HONOREE! 💚☘️
The Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is proud to introduce our second honoree for our Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Celebration:
🇮🇪 EILISH ROSANNA HARRINGTON 🇮🇪
For Eilish, being Irish American has never simply been about where her family came from—it has been about family, faith, tradition, service, music and keeping those traditions alive for the generations that follow.
Growing up hearing the stories of earlier generations of her family from Counties Cork, Clare and Mayo, and later New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Paterson, New Jersey, Eilish was determined from a young age to write her own Irish-American story. She treasured time spent with her grandparents and their siblings, absorbing their stories, speech, songs, enthusiasm and faith.
☘️ Her dedication to her Irish heritage began early. Upon graduating from St. Cassian School, Eilish received a high school scholarship from the West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee. As a teenager, she took on the challenge of learning the bagpipes so she could participate in Irish heritage events in a whole new way.
In 2002, she joined the St. Columcille United Gaelic Pipe Band family, and since 2004, she has proudly served as the Seton Hall University Bagpiper. Upon graduating from high school, she also received the Monsignor John P. McHugh Memorial Scholarship from Division 9 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
🎓 At Seton Hall University, Eilish continued turning her love of Irish culture into action. While working in the University Archives processing Irish and Catholic memorabilia and manuscripts, she founded Pirates of Irish Persuasion & Extraction (PIPE), Seton Hall’s Irish cultural society. PIPE's events have brought together Irish Americans from throughout the area, including its beloved Irish Mass & Dinner, which ran for 10 years. Eilish continues to serve as an advisor to PIPE today.
Eilish graduated summa cm laude from Seton Hall University in 2008, earning the award for the year's best Honors thesis for her work examining national identity through 20th-century Irish drama.
She then began her career at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University, where she has served in several important roles and today is Institutional Planning and Communications Analyst. Her work supports the Seminary's mission of forming clergy and laity for ministry throughout the Archdiocese of Newark and beyond. She is highly regarded by colleagues for her professionalism, guidance, advocacy and willingness to always lend a listening ear.
💚 Eilish also has a special history with New Jersey's First and Finest St. Patrick's Day Parade!
From 2009–2011, she served the Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, first as Historian and later as First Vice Chair. In 2015, she proudly served as an Aide to Rosemarie Mellody, the first female Grand Marshal of the Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
In 2016, at just 29 years old, Eilish was named to the Irish Echo 40 Under 40, recognizing Irish Americans who distinguished themselves in their fields before the age of 40.
A native and lifelong resident of Montclair, Eilish remains an active member of St. Cassian Church and deeply devoted to her family.
After experiencing the loss of her mother, Eileen, her uncle Douglas, and other beloved family members and friends in recent years, Eilish understands perhaps more than ever that honoring our heritage means not only preserving old traditions but creating new ones.
And those traditions are already continuing. ☘️❤️
Her beloved nephews, Seamus and Ruairi, have begun lessons with the Columcille School of Piping and Drumming, following in their aunt's footsteps and carrying another piece of their Irish heritage into the next generation.
For Eilish, passing along everything she has learned about the Irish-American experience is both an awesome responsibility and a tremendous honor.
🇮🇪 The Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is incredibly proud to honor Eilish Rosanna Harrington—a woman whose life beautifully represents Irish heritage, education, faith, family, service and an unwavering commitment to keeping our traditions alive while inspiring the next generation.
Please join us in congratulating EILISH ROSANNA HARRINGTON and celebrating her at our:
🇮🇪☘️ HALFWAY TO ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION ☘️🇮🇪
📅 Sunday, September 20, 2026
⏰ 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
📍 McGovern’s Tavern • Newark, NJ
💚☘️ Congratulations, Eilish! A truly well-deserved honor! ☘️💚.
St. Columcille United Gaelic Pipe BandSeton Hall University
