By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
Coleman William Walsh, Jr., a goodwill ambassador of the Irish-American community who has dedicated his lifework to carrying on the spirited traditions of Ireland, will receive West Haven’s Irishman of the Year award at noon Friday during the city’s 27th annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.
The West Haven St. Patrick’s Day Committee will fete Walsh, 62, a second-generation Irish-American, by hanging a green street sign designating City Hall’s Campbell Avenue entrance “Coleman W. Walsh Jr. Square” for a year.
Last year’s recipient, Kelly Canning Ruickoldt, will take home her sign at the start of the ceremony.
The “Irish Person of the Year” honor is bestowed annually on an Irish resident, or couple, who personifies service in the city’s robust Irish-American community.
Accompanied by Celtic music played by bagpipers and drummers, members of the West Haven Police Color Guard will escort Walsh, grand marshal of the 2005 Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade, to the Campbell Avenue side of City Hall for his special recognition.
A corned beef and cabbage lunch will follow in the First Congregational Church of West Haven’s Fellowship Hall, at 1 Church St. opposite City Hall on the Green.
Walsh’s interest in his heritage began when he played football and shot darts for the New Haven Gaelic Football & Hurling Club in his youth.
His love of Ireland blossomed into a lifelong passion for all things Irish, including a propensity for community service in Greater New Haven’s deep-rooted Irish-American community as a longtime member of the Knights of St. Patrick and the West Haven Irish-American Club.
Mayor Nancy R. Rossi will present Walsh, executive chairman of the Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, with an Irish flag and a mayoral proclamation citing his commitment to “preserving and promoting the vibrant culture of Erin, exemplifying the very best of West Haven.”
Walsh, a native of Hamden who has lived in West Haven since 1990, will also receive a jacket embroidered with his new title: Irishman of the Year.
The New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes & Drums will lead the opening procession, followed by remarks from master of ceremonies David Coyle.
The Rev. Mark R. Jette, pastor emeritus of St. Lawrence and St. Paul churches in West Haven who now serves Sacred Heart Church in Suffield, will offer an Irish blessing. 2013 Parade Queen Fiona Stewart, of Meriden, will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Irish national anthem, “Soldier’s Song,” followed by a greeting from Rossi.
Joined by his wife of 27 years, the former Donna Hackett, Walsh will then pull off a shroud revealing the rectangular sign.
His father-in-law, William “Bill” Hackett, will also accompany him at the ceremony, along with siblings and other in-laws.
Hackett and his wife, the late Carol Little Hackett, were West Haven’s Irish Couple of the Year in 1996.
Walsh and his wife live on Bellevue Avenue in West Shore. They have two children, Jane Walsh, 25, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Coleman W. Walsh III, 22, of West Haven.