Provincial Board

 

 

Chair:  Frankie McCormick

Vice-Chair: Sue Spellman

Secretary: Mike Hoke

Treasurer: Kevin Furlong

Public Relations: Paul Keating

Irish Officer: Margaret McGrath

Youth Officer: Ryan Ward

Delegate: Steafan Hannigan

Delegate: Paul Keating

Auditor: Cathy Thompson

Auditor: Jim Belcher

Webmaster: Tony O'Connell

 

Frankie McCormick (Chair)

Frankie currently serves as North American Chairperson for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. He has the responsibility for the oversight of all six Regions, Canada East, Canada West, Northeast, Mid Atlantic, Mid West and West. 

 

Prior to accepting the nomination for North American Chair at the Chicago Convention, Frankie served as Chair for the Mid Atlantic Region of Comhaltas from 2006 thru 2017. 

 

Born in Co. Tyrone and raised in Co. Armagh, Frankie was a member of the An Portmor Branch of Comhaltas. Starting in the late 1970’s many All Ireland Fleadhanna were attended with family and with success. In addition, Frankie was a member of the All Ireland winning GAA Scor Instrumental Group in 1985 representing his Football Club  An Portmor.

 

After completing a City & Guilds four year apprenticeship in 1986 from Armagh Technical College in Northern Ireland as a Carpenter & Joiner he emigrated to New York settling in the Bronx and joined the Carpenters Union. A year after that he joined the Michael Coleman Branch of CCE in the Bronx and started participating in the Mid Atlantic Fleadh as an Adjudicator. 

 

  Work as a Construction Superintendent took him to Florida in 1991 for a four year Project with Marlex Housing in Boca Raton. Upon his return to New York in 1995, having played in Bands since the age of eleven, he joined the popular Band, Celtic Cross and is still a member today. Frankie has been running Projects for the past 10 years as a Construction Superintendent for JT Magen in New York City and resides in Port Washington Long Island.

 

Sue Spellman (Vice-chair)

Hello, I’m Sue, and current Vice Chair for Comhaltas North America, having previously been on the Midwest Regional (County) Board & St. Louis Irish Arts Board totaling 32 years. I have a special interest in wishing to keep the Irish Tradition alive & progressing thru CCÉ North America, as my mom was from Tralee, County Kerry, by staying connected to Ireland thru music, song & dance & Comhaltas. I look forward in the coming years doing so & working with our CCÉ NA Team.

 

 


Mike Hoke (Secretary) 

 

Kevin Furlong, MBA, CAMS, CFE (Treasurer)

Kevin graduated from Iona College with a BBA in Finance and a MBA from Dominican College. Kevin retired from the NYPD as a Sergeant. Since retiring from the NYPD, Kevin became a certified as Fraud Examiner and Anti Money Laundering Specialist. This certification enabled Kevin to work as a consultant in numerous international and domestic banks in their compliance departments for the last 15 years and he is currently employed at the Bank of Intesa Sanpaolo.

Kevin has been involved in Irish dance and music since his childhood taking step dancing lessons from Erin O'Daly, Peter Smith and Roger Casey in the New York area. Kevin also took lessons on button accordion briefly from Pat Mahon and now doodles on banjo after taking lessons from Frankie McCormick.

 

Kevin's involvement in music and dance continued since marrying his wife Patty as there has always been music in their house for the past 30 years. As a member of the Martin Mulvihill branch. Kevin is dedicated to the vision and mission of promoting Irish culture though CCE. His commitment to CCE is evidenced as Kevin has been the Provincial Treasurer for Comhaltas Ceoltori Eireann  in North America since 2015.

 

 


Paul Keating (PRO, Delegate) 

 

 

 

Margaret McGrath (Irish Officer)

 


Ryan Ward (Youth Officer)

 Ryan Ward is a New Jersey based multi-instrumentalist who has been immersed in Traditional Irish Music from a young age. He is an award winning piano and piano accordion player who has received placements in competitions at the local, regional, and international levels.

 

For over a decade, Ryan has participated in and qualified for the largest most prestigious competition for Traditional Irish Music, the Fleadh Cheoil, and won first place in the All-Ireland Senior Accompaniment competition in 2023. 

 

Ryan is in high demand as both a performer and a teacher: he is a sought after musician for competitive Irish Dancing across the United States, and provides music for all levels of Irish step dance competition at the local, regional, and national level. Ryan is a founding member of the new Irish Trad group  The Consequences, which released their debut album “When You Weren’t Looking” in July 2023. 

 

Ryan is also currently a senior at Montclair State University, and will graduate in December 2023 with an undergraduate degree in Music Education and a K-12 teaching certification. He is an active member of his local and regional Comhaltas branch; he was recently voted in as the Mid Atlantic Regional Youth Officer for the 2022-2023 year, and as the North American Provincial Youth Officer for the 2023-2024 year. Ryan looks forward to collaborating with other branch and regional youth officers to promote youth outreach and advocacy for youth programming at Comhaltas events.

 

Steafan Hannigan (Delegate)


Paul Keating (Delegate)

 

 

 

Cathy Thompson (Auditor) 

 


Jim Belcher (Auditor)