On Sunday morning, March 22, after the St. Patrick’s Day Parade mass, clergy and parade officials assembled on the front lawn of Bay Ridge’s St. Patrick’s Church for the blessing and rededication of the monument to the 1916 Easter Rising (a/k/a Easter Rebellion) in Ireland on its 110th anniversary.
Each year since 2016, when a granite stone was installed here, the parade committee has held a brief ceremony at the stone in memory of the men, women and children who died for Irish freedom from British rule.
Eagle Urban Media/file photo by Ted General
Father Michael Dowd, pastor of St. Patrick’s Church, blessed the monument, which has a large Celtic cross and a string of shamrocks on it and has an inscription that reads, “We commemorate and honor the 100th anniversary of the men, women and children who gave their lives for the Republic of Ireland in the 1916 Easter Rising.” This remains the only monument or tablet to this historic event in the entire City of New York. Sadly, the leaders of the Easter rebellion were all executed by the British.
Among the participants at the ceremonies was 2026 Parade Grand Marshal Father Kevin Abels, who is currently the pastor of three Bay Ridge parishes; Msgr. Joseph Grimaldi, vicar general of the Brooklyn Catholic Diocese; Richard O’Mara, parade president, and the deputy parade marshals and Parade Committee members.
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It’s with a great sigh of relief and gratitude to hear initially from Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis that the New York Harbor Defense Museum will remain open. The Army’s Center for Military History had announced originally the museum was on a closure list with 28 other museums across the country and some at overseas bases. Locally, seeing that the historic museum here at Fort Hamilton was a target for closure fired up many volunteer defenders to join the fight to save it.
Having been a long-time member of the Fort Hamilton Citizens Action Committee, we spoke about the urgency of trying to save the museum. After writing columns here pointing out this is the only museum in Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach or Gravesend and there is no admission charge, I decided to organize the Committee to Save the Museum.
With this new committee in place, we encouraged everyone to send letters of support which were then forwarded to the Center for Military History. Next, on behalf of this committee we sent letters to area legislators, which said, “This Committee is in the formation process, but late breaking news that the US Army Center for Military History (CMH) has already announced the Harbor Defense Museum at Fort Hamilton is on a closure list. Immediate action is warranted to counteract their projected action.” In that letter we laid out the addresses and phone numbers of the top brass involved. We wrote further, “This is an urgent appeal for your support, review and to help prevent the loss of this cherished and valuable community resource.”
We owe a debt of gratitude to Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, State Sens. Andrew Gounardes and Steve Chan, former Councilman Justin Brannan, State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs), and Assemblymen Alec Brook–Krasny and Lester Chang for their rapid responses to this crisis at the museum.
Also kudos to Community Board 10, the Society of Old Brooklynites, who passed unanimous resolutions, the support by members of the Fort Hamilton Citizens Action Committee, Bay Ridge Historical Society, the New York State Dept. of the American Legion, WCBS-TV, former State Sen. Marty Golden and to Sonia Valentin, president of the 62nd NYPD Precinct Council, who reached out and volunteered to distribute petitions to save the museum. And to others we may have inadvertently failed to mention.
