03/16/2026
All the best to our very own Sophie Colgan, Grand Marshall at the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade for The County Down Association of New York tomorrow.
We look forward to seeing you along Fifth Avenue, Sophie. Up Down!
Let us introduce our Grand Marshall for 2026 St Patrick’s day parade. We look forward to having this amazing and talented lady lead us up 5th Avenue. The one and only Sophie Colgan. It’s was a tough 2025 but the smile is always shining with this proud Down woman.
Sophie Colgan is from the townland of Lisnacree in County Down and moved to New York in 2014 after graduating from Ulster University. A proud Down woman, Sophie grew up playing camogie with her club An Ríocht and attended St Louis Grammar School in Kilkeel. Sophie is the daughter of Pearse and Mary Colgan, who both sadly passed away in 2025 and she is very close to her six siblings who are all at home in County Down: Ella, Ruth, Sarah, James, Kirsty and Justin.
After moving to New York, Sophie quickly immersed herself in the Irish-American community. She was selected as the New York Rose of Tralee in 2015 and soon became involved in the GAA scene, playing Gaelic football with Manhattan Gaels and camogie with Liberty Gaels.
Sophie became a familiar face in New York’s Irish community through her work in marketing and fundraising with organizations including the American Irish Historical Society, where she spearheaded a 40,000-signature campaign to save their landmark Fifth Avenue building - an effort that ultimately drew the intervention of the New York Attorney General.
In recognition of her contributions to the Irish community, Sophie has received several honors including the Distinguished Irish American Award from the Flax Trust (2022), the Irish Echo Guardian of Irish Heritage Award presented by New York Attorney General Letitia James (2023), and the New York GAA Community Spirit Award (2023).
Sophie is married to Brian Glynn from Ardrahan, County Galway, and works as a professional charity auctioneer, raising funds for nonprofit organizations and charities across New York and throughout the United States.
