Brothers and friends of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Wake Co.,

In 2023 we ended the year with 94 members including 12 new members that joined the AOH last year. We currently have three priests who are members of our Organization, several of our members have served in the armed forces, and our members range in age from 16 to over 80. To be a member you must be a practicing Catholic and be born in Ireland or have an ancestor who was from Ireland. We welcome all men interested in joining the AOH and an application can be found on this web site under the membership tab.

January-March 2024
This quarter promises to be quite busy as we prepare for St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th. We whole heartly support the Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day Parade and help raise funds that are needed to operate the parade. There are fundraisers leading up to the parade including an auction on Feb. 17th at the Knights of Columbus Hall, at 4301 Columbus Club Drive, Raleigh. Another fundraiser will be at the Hibernian Irish Pub, located on Falls of Neuse Road in North Raleigh, on Saturday Feb. 24th from 3 to 6pm. Everyone is welcome. For the parade itself the Hibernians will be marching in a group carrying all the county flags of Ireland. Friends are more than welcome to join us.

Our Hibernian Charity of Wake County, a 501C3, is currently selling tickets for a trip for two to Ireland raffle. One hundred fifty tickets will be sold. You need not be present to win. The drawing will be held March 17th.

President Jerry Ryan

Brothers,

I am proud to provide our quarterly update and highlights for your Division for the 4^th quarter of 2019.

October 2019

Our Irish Music Festival in Wake Forest was an exceptional event.  With the help of great weather and outstanding musical and dance performances, our primary goal of supporting Irish culture and local charities was a success.  To all the Brothers and volunteers who put so much effort into the event we are grateful.  To relive some of the fun and information, you can always visit our Irish Music Festival website at http://irishfestintheforest.com/, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RaleighIrishMusicFestival/.  Our charity for this years event (NC Diaper Bank (https://ncdiaperbank.org/) will receive their donation at the St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Dance on Saturday, March 7 at 8pm.  To learn more about the dinner dance, purchase tickets or contact us, please go http://www.wakeaoh.com/dinnerdance2020/.  Thank you again to all of our sponsors for Irish Music Festival http://irishfestintheforest.com/sponsors/.

Your AOH Division also supported “Wags for Tags” (https://www.wags4tags.org/) again this year and their mission to provide emotional support dogs for our veterans across NC with trained dogs rescued from high kill shelters.

November 2019

November was the official beginning of the 2019 holiday season including All Saints Day (a Holy Day of Obligation).  November is also the month for our annual Turkey Drive for The New Bern House run by Helping Hands Mission (http://helpinghandmission.org/).  With the help and extra efforts of our Brothers we were able to provide 66 turkeys and 3 hams along with pounds and pounds of side dishes from potatoes to deserts.  The spiritual and energetic leader of the Helping Hands Mission, Sylvia Wiggins was there to express her overwhelming thanks for all the AOH does for this critical mission and the families they support.  November was also the date for another of our sponsored charities “Three Bluebirds Farm” (https://www.3bluebirdsfarm.org/), formerly known as Three Irish Jewels.  At their annual black tie dinner attended by Brothers Sullivan and Ryan and their wives, Three Bluebirds announced they were able to raise $125,000 for the most worth cause of children with autism.

We also began ticket sales for our Annual Trip to Ireland raffle.  We are again selling 150 tickets at $100 each.  For details visit http://www.wakeaoh.com/irelandraffle2020/.  This is our most important fund raiser for the AOH Charity so please help this become the best ever.

December 2019

December is also a very happy and busy time for the Wake AOH.  In addition to our annual Christmas Division meeting and the festivities, December is when we nominate new board members. 

At this years meeting on December 11^th at the Knights of Columbus club, we thanked departing Wake Division Board members Jack Ford (retiring Recording Secretary), Mike Scanlin (retiring Financial Secretary) and Jerry Ryan (retiring Marshall) for all they have done for the division and all they continue to do.

We also welcomed new Division Board Members Dennis O’Brien (Financial Secretary), Kevin Murray (Marshall) and George McEvoy (Recording Secretary).  Very excited and thankful for the continuing support of the members especially in these essential roles.

At the Christmas event we raised $250 for the Freedom For All Ireland fund, and collected blankets, coats and glove again to provide to the homeless.

Of course at the very end of December (New Years Eve) Brother Jerry Ryan and his wife Susan organized another New Years Eve celebration with a toast for Ireland at the stroke of midnight in Ireland (7pm eastern time) and our very own Ewes Tree performed for the group (http://ewestree.com/).  All the excess food (and there was a lot) was delivered to the New Bern House on New Years Day by Brother Jerry Ryan and Bob Klien.

In our Motto
Kevin Meagher
President, AOH, Governor Thomas Burke Division

Brothers,

I apologize for the long delay in updating the President’s message for our Division, Division 1, Governor Burke, Wake County. We are using this part of our website to provide a simple update, every quarter of the year. This is to provide the significant events from the previous three months, and what we believe are the significant events for the next three months.

July 2019

Historically, July is the “rest” month for Division 1. In fact, we do not have a Division meeting normally scheduled but we do have Board of Directors meeting and we do have activity. The most important item for us was the annual Ulster Project Picnic. The event was a success with some baseball, some food and some playing around in the water. This is a wonderful organization that has been helping bridge Ireland for more than 24 years!!

The AOH also completed another room renovation for New Bern House. The New Bern House is run by the Helping Hands Mission. Helping Hands has been operating the New Bern House since 1995 and the AOH has been remolding rooms and providing food and gifts for many years. The goal of the New Bern House includes Transitional Housing to provide a temporary home, tools, resources and opportunities for single mothers and other families, experiencing homelessness, to transition into independent living.

https://www.facebook.com/Ulster-Project-of-Greenville-NC-397064320213/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofit-Organization/New-Bern-House-243646869051905/
http://helpinghandmission.org/

August 2019

This August we focused on preparing for our big events in the Fall and Winter. Most important of those is the Irish Music Festival. In addition, 7 new members completed the training to receive the Shamrock Degree! August begins the next 12 months of Division and Board meetings as well as the election of Brother Bob Martin as Vice President and Brother Jerry Ryan as Marshall.

September 2019

In addition to the regular meetings, September 21st is our Irish Music Festival – The Festival In The Forest. This year is shaping up to be another wonderful event and our festival partner Diaper Bank of North Carolina is a very worthy charity.

http://irishfestintheforest.com/
https://ncdiaperbank.org/

October 2019

October’s major event is the biennial North Carolina AOH State Convention. It will be held in Wilmington, NC for all of the Brothers in the State of NC.

http://www.ncaoh.com/2019stateconvention/

November 2019

In addition to the normal meetings at the Knights of Columbus Events Clubhouse, November will include fundraisers for our annual Turkey Drive for the New Bern House. Last year the Division collected and delivered more than 25 turkeys  and all the fixin’s to the delight of the staff at the New Bern House and the countless they cook for.

https://www.visitraleigh.com/listing/knights-of-columbus-club/65592/

December 2019

December is all about Christmas and our annual Christmas event at the Knights of Columbus Club. We hope 2019 is a blessed and happy year for all!

Yours in Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity,
Kevin Meagher
President, AOH, Governor Thomas Burke Division