Hello all,
We have crowned our 2013 Irish American Heritage Center Queen, Katie
Grennan. Katie was chosen on Friday February 15th, 2013 from a stunning
group of six young ladies from the North side of Chicago. Katie receives
the honor of representing the IAHC as our Queen for one full year, a ride
with us on the IAHC St. Paddy’s day float, a free one year membership to the
IAHC, sponsorship into the 2013 Chicago Rose of Tralee and a 2013 IAHC
festival pack of tickets. We are so happy to have her as our
representative!
About Katie:
Katie Grennan was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
but comes from a family with strong Irish roots, as her father’s parents
immigrated from Co. Mayo in the late 1950s. She currently lives in Lincoln
Park. Katie has exhibited her identification with her Irish heritage
throughout various art forms since childhood. She was a champion Irish
dancer, and placed as high as 3rd at the Midwest Regional Oireachtas, 8th at
the National Championships, and qualified for the World Championships 10
times. She has performed professionally in various dance companies in both
the US and Europe, and appeared this past winter with Cherish the Ladies at
the Old Town School of Folk Music. Katie continues to pass on her love of
dance to children weekly as a lead instructor and T.C.R.G at the Trinity
Academy of Irish Dance in Chicago. Additionally, Katie is a classically
trained violinist and self taught fiddle player. Most notably, she toured
Eastern Europe with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2005 and
performed as a fiddle soloist in Germany earlier this year with Magic of the
Dance. Katie graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2010 with a
double major in Accounting and Psychology, and studied abroad at the
University College Dublin (UCD) in 2009. After graduation, Katie moved to
Chicago in the summer of 2010, and currently works at HealthScape Advisors,
a boutique consulting firm that helps clients, such as commercial insurance
payers, navigate the changing healthcare landscape. She is very excited to
represent the Irish American Heritage Center for the upcoming year and share
her love of the Irish culture with others.
Deirdre McNulty