Norwalk St. Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal Announced

NORWALK, CT — The Norwalk Police Emerald Society Parade Committee has announced that Deirdre Daly, Connecticut’s former United States Attorney, will be the Grand Marshal at the 2018 Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. The parade steps off from Veteran’s Park and proceeds through South Norwalk on Saturday, March 10, at 11 a.m.

President Barack Obama appointed Daly to serve as the U.S. Attorney in 2014. She was the first woman to be presidentially appointed the state’s top law enforcement officer and held the position for over four years, stepping down in October 2017, according to a release.

Born in a nursing home in Dublin, Daly later lived and studied in Ireland as a college student.

“I’m honored to be the Grand Marshal and thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate the rich heritage of the Irish people this Saint Patrick’s Day in Norwalk,” Daly said in a release. “While U.S. Attorney, I worked closely with the Norwalk Police Department and have great respect for the culture and leadership of the Department.”

Daly’s family hails from Ireland. During the Great Irish Famine of the mid-1800's, like millions of other Irishman, her great great grandfather fled Ireland with his family in hopes of building a better life in America.

His father soon died and his mother worked as a laundress in Manhattan requiring him to leave school to work in a publishing company where he became a voracious reader. Later, he had twelve children and served as Mayor of New York City from 1893-1894. One of his daughters graduated from New York University Law School as valedictorian in 1899.

Daly's family has a history of public service. Her father, Michael J. Daly, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his acts of bravery while a young man in WWII, her uncle, T. F. Gilroy Daly, served as a federal judge in Connecticut for over 20 years and her grandfather, Paul Gerard Daly, was a decorated Colonel who served in both World Wars. Daly attended Dartmouth College and Georgetown Law Center.

Early in her career, she served as a federal prosecutor in New York City, and later was a partner in a law firm in Connecticut, before returning to public service to work in the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office. Daly and her husband, Alfred Pavlis, have three sons and live in Fairfield, where she has lived for most of her life.

Photo credit: Terrence Blake