America's Largest Catholic Newspaper
The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade Foundation has established Cardinal Dolan Scholarships to be awarded to Catholic school students in the Archdiocese of New York.
Three partial scholarships will be awarded to students selected by Dr. Timothy McNiff, the superintendent of schools for the archdiocese. Dr. McNiff will serve as an aide-at-large to Grand Marshal Loretta Brennan Glucksman at the 2018 New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade to step off on Fifth Avenue Saturday, March 17.
One scholarship will be awarded to a high performing student; the second to an average student; and the third to a special needs student. The Cardinal Dolan Scholarships will total $10,000 annually.
“I am grateful to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Foundation for its generous support of Catholic education,” Cardinal Dolan said in a statement. “I myself received my grammar school education from Mercy Sisters from Drogheda, Ireland, who helped nurture my priestly vocation. May these new scholarships help to inspire young men and women to be all that God calls them to be.”
The board of directors of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade will continue to sponsor the St. Patrick’s Scholars college and high school scholarship contest, which is held annually in memory of two past parade leaders, Francis P. Beirne and Margaret O’Rourke.
Applicants must submit an essay based on their research of Irish and Irish-American historical topics. Information about this year’s St. Patrick’s Scholars contest will be posted at nycstpatricksparade.org later this month.
This year’s parade is dedicated to Catholic education and to the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreements, a pact on how to govern Northern Ireland.
“Catholic education has been a mainstay of the Irish-American community and supporting this education is a critical component of the mission of the St. Patrick’s Day Foundation,” said Hilary Beirne, the foundation chairman.
“We want to thank Cardinal Dolan for his support in this mission and thank Dr. Timothy McNiff and his entire team at the archdiocesan schools for the great work they do preparing the next generation.”
