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Event

Chicago St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1964

Also 1964 Chicago Beaver Island St. Patrick's party

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Date1964-03
WithinChicago
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Date
1964-03
Kind
Celebration
Followed by
Chicago St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1965
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunityheritagereligion
Within
Chicago

Summary

The March 1964 Beaver Beacon previewed a forthcoming Chicago party without giving its date or venue, and the April 1964 issue reported that the party drew “more people than ever before” under the organizing effort of Rosie McDonough and Bernard O’Donnell, with a three-piece band and a buffet dinner. No specific calendar date or street address for this edition is given in either issue, so this article records only the month.

Program

A three-piece band provided dance music and dinner was served buffet style. The report singles out Franklin Left, formerly of Beaver Island, who flew from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, specifically to attend and returned to Florida the following day — offered as evidence of the party’s draw among the diaspora.

Evidence limits

No venue address is given for the 1964 Chicago party (the March issue’s venue detail is for the separate island party at the Shamrock Bar, not this one). The claim that attendance was the best “ever” is qualitative, not a counted figure, and no proceeds total is reported. Rosie McDonough — later named co-chairman of the 1965 edition alongside Bernard O’Donnell — and Bernard O’Donnell, chairman of the 1961 edition, are both credited with organizing this one, though neither is called “chairman” outright in this issue.

Open questions

  • What was the exact date and venue of the 1964 Chicago party?
  • Was this the first year Rosie McDonough co-organized the party alongside Bernard O’Donnell, prefiguring their joint chairmanship named explicitly in 1965?

See also

Sources

  1. Reads: "PARTIES: Next month we will give you the final details of the parties held in Lansing, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois." Gives no date, venue, or price for the Chicago party specifically (the same item does give a date and venue for the separate island party at the Shamrock Bar).
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1964-03_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1964-03_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Reports: "The Chicago Party was attended by more people than ever before this year. Rosie McDonough and Bernard O'Donnell really deserve a big thank you for the excellent job they did. A three piece band furnished the music for dancing, and the dinner was buffet style." Also notes that Franklin Left flew from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, to attend and returned the next day. No exact date, venue address, or proceeds figure is given.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1964-04_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1964-04_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Chicago St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1964”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/st-patricks-party-for-holy-cross-1964/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, March 1964, "Parties." (and 3 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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