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Kathleen Walsh D’Arcy, an Irish American who fought for LGBTQ+ inclusion and celebrated their communities in New York City, has died, the Irish Consulate in New York announced.
The consulate, in a statement posted to X, called D'Arcy "a pillar of the New York City Irish community" and a "proud Irish American" who dedicated her life to promoting a "diverse and inclusive vision of the Irish diaspora."
D'Arcy fought the ban of LGBTQ+ organizations from participating in the 5th Avenue St. Patrick's Day Parade and then started her own parade — St. Pat's for All — in Sunnyside, Queens, that celebrated the communities organizers shunned.
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D'Arcy is described on St. Pat's for All's website as "a proud feminist, community activist, writer, editor, teacher and social worker." She served as the parade's chair starting in 2007.
Speaking to IrishCentral in 2015, D'Arcy said, "Immigrants, families, artists, human rights organizations and progressive city leaders have made St. Pat’s For All the highlight of the St. Patrick’s season in New York City."
Her parents immigrated from County Offaly and Tipperary in the 1920s and raised D'Arcy in Manhattan. Later, she moved to Jackson Heights in Queens.
"Kathleen will be remembered for her fight for LGBTQI equality in New York, from fighting the ban of LGBTI organizations in the 5th Avenue St. Patrick's Day Parade, to the founding of the Sunnyside St. Pat's for All's Parade," the consulate's statement read.
In 2016, D'Arcy received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad. She was honored at a state dinner in Dublin by former President Michael Higgins.
“The central role you play for the Irish Community in the United States has a very positive, far-reaching impact, not the least with the LGBT community in New York," Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan wrote in an announcement about D'Arcy and organizer and activist Brendan Fay, who was also honored.
"Her life and legacy will live on in the communities she helped to shape," the consulate said. "The Consulate sends our deepest condolences to Kathleen’s friends, family, and the St Pat’s For All team during this difficult time."
