Every year at St. Patrick’s Day, Neumann tips its cap to the university’s deep connection to Ireland, homeland of many Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. This year, a VIP visitor and author underscore the relationship.

On March 15, Ireland’s Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Simon Harris visited campus to learn more about the university’s partnership with Cubbie, a sensory regulation booth for neurodivergent students that was designed and marketed by Irish brothers David and Jon McIntyre.

Dr. Jenelle Abnett demonstrated the Cubbie and explained to Harris the plans to involve local schools in her upcoming study of the booth’s benefits. Vice President Carrie Snyder arranged for Harris to meet members of the congregation from Ireland at the event.

On March 20 in the Meagher Theatre, Mark Bulik will discuss his new book, Ambush at Central Park, an action-packed account of the only officially sanctioned I.R.A. attack ever conducted on American soil. His free presentation begins at 1:30 p.m.

A longtime editor at The New York Times, Bulik delved through Irish government archives, newspaper accounts, census data, and unpublished material from the families of the main actors in the incident to uncover the truth behind the 1922 attack.

He tells the sensational story of a rebel ambush, a deadly police raid, a dinner laced with poison, a daring prison break, a boatload of tommy guns on the Hoboken waterfront, and an unlikely pair of spies who fall in love.

He also authored The Sons of Molly Maguire: The Irish Roots of America’s First Labor War.