Carlow
Association Dinner in New York 2002
(by David Corrigan - Ballon Hill)
This year a group
of people from the village of Ballon went over to New York to celebrate
St Patrick's Day and also to be present at a ceremony where one of our
own was presented with a very prestigious award.
Simon Kearney from just outside Ballon village was presented with
the Carlow Man of the Year from the Carlow Association of NewYork at a
dinner party in the South Gate Tower Hotel on 7th Avenue. Below is a piece
written by the association for their guest of honour.
President John F. Kennedy, whose family hailed from just across the mountain from Ballon, talked of the blessing emigrants from Ireland were to the rest of the world. Well, how true this is of Simon, who in a short few years has helped change the face of 7th Avenue, in Manhattan, with Harry's, Sally's and Seven; not to mention Mustang Jack's just a few doors off Seventh.
Simon's entrepreneurial success was earned, not given. Through hard work, perseverance and willingness to step outside the box, he made it happen.
Vera Kearney, Simon's mother, is not surprised, as she knew that Si (as he is known to his friends) was the one of her six children who wanted to spread his wings. Both she and her husband, Simon Sr can be proud of how well those wings spread. Simon, the youngest of six children, grew up under the shadow of Mount Leinster in Ballon, where he attended the National School. He completed his secondary education in Tullow Community School.
In November 1985, he set off to pursue his dream in New York. Simon first worked in construction, but was not afraid to work a second job, getting involved in the bar business at nights and weekends.
Clearly, Simon realised that his talent lay in the restaurant business. He worked full time in McGee's Pub on Broadway, under the Ed Sullivan Theatre, which now hosts the Letterman Show. He opened his first establishment, Dicey Reilly's, January 1993, and it has been a wonderful successful story ever since.
Simon, we of the County Carlow Association of New York, are indeed privileged to have you as Carlow Man of New York. Your family, friends and all Carlow people can be proud of you, a man of integrity, honour, loyalty and caring, especially for your fellow Carlovians.
Thank you, Simon.
May God continue to bless you for many, many years.
My
own personal experience of seeing Simon's generosity first hand was when
I was a 20 year old college student in the RTC in Carlow. I decided after
Christmas 1995 that I would go over to New York for the summer to work.
I did not really know Simon that well back then, I only knew him to see
when he was home from the Big Apple.
After I finished my exams in Carlow, I packed my bags and left for New
York. It was only when I was half way over did I realise what a big step
this was. Travelling to such a big city on my own without even a definite
place to stay!
When I arrived there, we were all whisked away on a bus to Columbia University
on 110th Street on Broadway. (I was travelling through the USIT Student
package so I had to go with them for an introduction course the following
day).
Anyway, when I got there I decided to call Buddy O'Brien whom I knew from
the GAA scene in Ballon. Buddy, John Joe Cranny and Shane Candy were all
from Ballon area and had moved out to the Bronx in New York a number of
years before.
They kindly said that I could stay with them for the summer and so I was
delighted to have at least a roof over my head! The next thing was to
get a job to pay for this roof over my head. I checked out news-papers,
job agencies etc for about 3 weeks and I had no joy. Things were not looking
good at this stage and also my money was running out fairly fast.
One day I decided to call Simon Kearney and see if he knew of anything.
I called him at Mustang Sally's and he immediately knew who I was. We
talked for a bit about news at home and then it was down to business.
He asked me what sort of work would I be prepared to do. After some quick
arithmetic on my finances I answered "Any job would do!". He told me to
give him a call back in half an hour. When I called him back he had a
name, address and a time to start at! I started working for a demolition
company the following Monday and never looked back. Soon after I started
with this job I called in to Mustang Sally's for a beer and something
to eat. Simon then asked me to one side and asked me how things were going
with the job, after he saw I was happy enough with it, he gave me some
advise.
He said "Now that
you have a good job, make sure that you put away a few dollars and don't
drink to much!" I ended up going back to New York for the next 3 summers
while I finished my degree.
Since my college days, I have visited New York on a few occasions and
I have always been well looked after by Simon and the people that work
for him in his bars and restaurants. I look forward to many more trips
to the great city in the future. Below are a few pictures from the holiday.
They include St Patrick's Day celebrations and also some from the Carlow
Association Dinner Party.
Simon receiving his award
Paul Jordan (Blue Tie) from Myshall stepping it out on the dance floor
Padraic George from Ballon telling an unbelievable story!
St Patrick's Day Pictures
(Left to right) Myself (with the bottle of orange), Bob Murphy (Ballon), my brother John (Ballon), Declan Cullen (Enniscorty), Noel Curry (Kilbride) celebrating in Mustang Sally's.
(Left to right) Noel Curry (Kilbride), Paul Jordan (Myshall), Declan Cullen (Enniscorthy) and Roisin (London)
(Left to right) Noel Curry (Kilbride), "Bad" Bob Murphy (Ballon) and Buddy O'Brien (Ballon) again celebrating in Mustang Sally's
PS: I forgot to put in also in the above, that he should be mentioned for helping out a lot of other Ballon people who went over there to work during the summers of their college years. !!
Pictures are courtesy of Noel Curry from Kilbride.
Thanks and Best Regards
David Corrigan
Ballon Hill
Ballon
Co Carlow