By Michael P Walsh
Special to the Voice
The luck of the Irish has officially found its favorite son.
David Coyle, the charismatic master of ceremonies who brings West Haven’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations to life, has been named the city’s 2026 Irishman of the Year.
Coyle will receive the honor at the 33rd annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at noon March 17.
“I am equally humbled and honored to be considered, not to mention selected, for this very special recognition,” Coyle said. “When I look down the list of past Irish Person of the Year recipients, I see the names of so many distinguished individuals and couples who not only served their community but proudly celebrated their Irish heritage while adding to West Haven’s rich Irish history.
“I also recognize countless other folks who continue to dedicate so much of their time and energy to preserving and promoting those same values today, any number of whom are more than deserving of this honor. To have my name added to that exclusive list of recipients is truly an honor and a privilege.”
In a city where the salt air of West Shore meets the deep roots of heritage, few voices resonate as warmly as Coyle’s. For more than two decades, he has been the silver-tongued emcee for West Haven’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities, weaving stories and honoring others.
For Coyle, being the top Irishman is less about the title and more about the sprawling roots that connect him to the shoreline of West Haven and the emerald hills of his ancestors.
Whether traveling to Ireland or serving as a member of the West Haven Irish American Club for over 40 years, including stints as president, vice president and director, he has always been an ambassador of his culture.
Now, after years of serving on the West Haven St. Patrick’s Day Committee and holding the microphone for others, he takes his rightful place in the history of the city he has served so tirelessly.
On St. Patrick’s Day, Mayor Dorinda Borer and the committee will fete the quintessential Westie by unveiling a green street sign designating City Hall’s Campbell Avenue entrance as “David F. Coyle Square” for a year.
In a passing of the torch, last year’s recipient, former 13-term West Haven state Rep. Stephen D. “Steve” Dargan, will take home his retired sign at the start of the ceremony.
The “Irish Person of the Year” award is bestowed annually on an Irish resident or couple who personifies service in the city’s close-knit Irish community.
“For decades, David Coyle has been the voice of our heritage, guiding our celebrations with his signature warmth and unwavering dedication to our community,” Borer said. “It is a privilege to transition him from his long-held role behind the microphone to the center of the stage as our Irishman of the Year. Dave’s tireless work on our St. Patrick’s Day Committee and his years as our master of ceremonies exemplify the true spirit of service and Irish pride that makes our city so special.”
Coyle’s recognition is a culmination of his lifelong dedication to his forebears. A third-generation descendant of Irish immigrants, his lineage reads like a chronicle of the American dream.
A true West Haven original, Coyle’s story begins with the grit of his paternal great-grandparents, Philip Coyle and the former Margaret Rudden. Both teenagers when they left County Cavan in the late 1800s, they eventually settled on Arch Street in New Haven. By the 1920s, the couple moved to West Haven’s Prospect Beach, where the family name became synonymous with public service. David Coyle’s great-uncle, Matthew Coyle Sr., even served as the town’s first selectman in 1956-57.
The military honors in David Coyle’s bloodline are equally storied. His great-great-grandfather, John Carroll, of County Galway, arrived in 1863 and immediately enlisted in the “Irish Regiment,” the 9th Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers. A first lieutenant who fought in the Shenandoah Valley, his legacy was immortalized when Coyle’s great-grandmother, Frances “Fanny” Carroll, had the honor of placing the first wreath at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on New Haven’s East Rock in 1887.
The maternal side of Coyle’s family adds even more texture to his heritage. His great-grandfather, Thomas Mullen, hailed from Greystones, County Wicklow, departing from the docks of Cobh in 1886 to find work in the hardware factories of New Britain. Great-great-grandparents Michael and Annie Feeney brought the traditions of County Sligo to Connecticut in the mid-1800s.
David Coyle stands as a living bridge between that immigrant history and the modern West Haven community. Whether he is behind the mic or sharing a story of the Irish Regiment, he embodies the same vibrant spirit that brought his ancestors across the Atlantic.
At the midday event, Coyle will toast his Irish lineage with dozens of friends and loved ones, along with an array of shamrock-clad dignitaries and descendants of folks from Erin.
He will celebrate the day alongside his wife, the former Valerie Cryoskie, and their children, Kaitlin Coyle, 32, and Kevin Coyle, 29, along with his younger sisters, Mary Coyle Shaw and Ann Coyle Smith, and their families.
Also attending, of course, is his uncle Jack Coyle, who was the city’s Irishman of the Year in 1999. According to organizers, the Coyles are the first uncle and nephew to receive the award.
Accompanied by Celtic music played by bagpipers and drummers, the West Haven Police Honor Guard will escort David Coyle to the Campbell Avenue steps of City Hall for his special recognition.
The committee, chaired by Mary Lyng Malenda, the city’s 2009 Irishwoman of the Year, includes the lifeblood of West Haven’s Irish society, such as members of the Irish American Club and former honorees, as well as former and current city, fire and police officials.
Borer, the city’s 2014 Irishwoman of the Year, will present Coyle with an Irish flag and a proclamation citing the “Voice of the Irish” for his “unparalleled” commitment to Irish culture and civic duty.
He will also receive an embroidered “Irishman of the Year 2026” jacket.
Members of the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes & Drums will lead the event’s opening procession, followed by remarks by 9th District Councilman David Beaton, this year’s master of ceremonies, and Borer.
The ceremony will include an Irish blessing by retired Pastor Mark R. Jette, the city’s 2010 Irishman of the Year, who formerly served St. Lawrence and St. Paul churches in West Haven and Sacred Heart Church in Suffield.
It will also include the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Irish national anthem, “Soldier’s Song,” by Fiona Stewart Jimenez, the grand marshal of the 2026 Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
As Coyle pulls a shroud off the rectangular sign bearing his name, it will mark a new chapter in the city’s proud Irish history, one built on the foundation of service, sportsmanship and a profound love for the “auld sod.”
“Dave Coyle is a great friend who was a mentor when I first joined the Irish American Club,” Borer said. “When he takes the podium on St. Patrick’s Day, he won’t be announcing names; he’ll be carrying the legacy of the carpenters, soldiers, gatekeepers and mail carriers who paved the way from Cavan and Galway to the West Haven coast.”
Coyle was born in 1957 to Francis “Bunny” Coyle Jr. and the former Catherine Mullen and grew up on Templeton Street in West Shore’s Aimes Point with his sisters.
For him, life was defined by the rink and the neighborhood. A standout athlete, he played three years of hockey for legendary coach Art Crouse at West Haven High School, graduating in 1976.
He carried that grit to Quinnipiac College and later to Central Connecticut State College, where he graduated in 1980 before embarking on a 40-year career in the property casualty insurance industry with firms Aetna, Travelers and Sachs Walsh Insurance.
Success, though, was never just about the office for Coyle; it was about home.
For 35 years, he and his wife have lived on Richmond Avenue in the city’s Painter Park neighborhood, raising their kids as devoted parishioners of St. John XXIII Parish and St. John Vianney Church.
Coyle’s legacy is written in the programs he built and the traditions he sustained.
He spent 35 years coaching and officiating for West Haven Youth Hockey and served as a three-term president of the West Haven Penalty Box Club, ensuring the next generation of Blue Devils had the support they needed.
A lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus, Coyle is a past grand knight of Father Curtin Council 2541 and a past president and director of the West Haven Knights of Columbus Building Association.
He is also a lifetime member of West Haven’s Elks Lodge 1537 and was a recipient of West Haven’s Jimmy Fund award in 2008.
Coyle’s fingerprint is on every corner of the city’s civic life, from serving nearly 30 years on the Parks and Recreation Commission, including more than 20 years as chairman, to establishing the enduring St. Lawrence School Golf Classic as a member of the school board.