2023 Grand Marshal
Neal Thompson
Neal Thompson, a dual US and Irish citizen through grandparents from Co. Galway, is an award-winning journalist and the author of six highly acclaimed nonfiction books, including The First Kennedys: The Humble Roots of an American Dynasty. Neal has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Esquire, Outside, Men’s Health, Vanity Fair, the Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on NPR, PBS, The Daily Show, CNN, Fox, TNT, The History Channel, and ESPN. He lives in Seattle with his family.
After his grandparents emigrated from Co. Galway in the 1920s, they landed at Ellis Island, settled in New York City and later moved to New Jersey. His grandmother Bridget worked as a maid and later as a seamstress. She had changed her name to Della when she became a US citizen to avoid being called an "Irish Biddie." His grandfather, Patrick, was a Texaco truck driver who died of cancer in 1944, leaving Bridget to raise their four children in a New Jersey tenement.
We are greatly honored to have Neal Thompson as Grand Marshal of the 2023 St. Patrick's Day Parade.