Ireland Funds Pittsburgh Gala Chair John A. Barbour announced on Friday that the annual Ireland Funds Pittsburgh Gala will be postponed due to COVID-19 precautions suggested by local, state and federal authorities.
A new date for the 2020 gala honoring former Steelers head coach, and 2020 NFL Hall of Fame Inductee, Bill Cowher, and Bill Strickland, Founder and CEO of the non-profit Manchester Bidwell Corporation, will shortly be forthcoming. The gala was to take place at Heinz Field in the UPMC Club Lounge on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
In 1976. Dan Rooney, the former US Ambassador to Ireland and owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, along with fellow Pittsburgh businessman Anthony J.F. O'Reilly, created what was then The Ireland Fund. With a trinity of goals – peace, culture and charity – The Ireland Fund appealed for support for Ireland and its people from all Americans, but especially those of Irish descent. Over the following decade, The Ireland Fund formed a thriving fundraising network of chapters in cities across the U.S. including Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Palm Beach, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego and Washington D.C.
