Bayside Man To Rep Queens In St. Patrick's Day Parade

BAYSIDE, QUEENS - Bayside resident Kieran Mahoney will represent Queens in this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade in Manhattan. The 27-year-old was officially installed as the Queens County aide to the parade's grand marshal in a Sunday reception.

The aide position is largely ceremonial but considered a great honor, Mahoney said. The aides to the grand marshal, the parade's public leader, are some of the first to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Each of the five New York City counties has an aide, as do several neighboring counties and Irish associations.

"I’m excited to be able to represent Queens and especially Bayside," Mahoney said. "It’s probably one of the biggest honors you can receive within the Irish and Irish-American communities in New York."

Mahoney was elected as aide in fall 2018 by Queens County board members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish-Catholic fraternal organization; he has been president of his division of the group since 2013. Serving as Queens County aide has become a family tradition — Mahoney's mother held the title in 1996, and his father held it in 2011. The family's Irish heritage traces back to the town of Skibbereen in County Cork, Ireland.

"It’s pretty cool following in their footsteps," Mahoney said.

In 2018, Mahoney started the Bayside St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will celebrate its second year on Saturday, March 30.

Mahoney attended Holy Cross High School in Queens and received a bachelor's degree in public administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He now works for the NYC Human Resources Administration.

The NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade marches along 5th Ave. from 44th Street to 79th Street. The 2019 parade starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 16.