President of Irish Society stays busy through St. Pat's Day

March is understandably busy for the man nicknamed "Mr. Irish."

Mike Bromley started cooking corned beef - 250 pounds of it - on the first Tuesday of the month for Finnegan's Wake.

The Wake, held March 8 for 300 attendees at the Church of the Ascension, is an annual St. Patrick's Day tradition presented by the Irish American Society of Tidewater and features Irish food, music and dance.

Really, said Bromley, the organization's president, "It's just an Irish excuse for a party."

Working with four other men in the Princess Anne Road church's industrial-size kitchen, Bromley helped prep 315 pounds of cabbage, potatoes, apples, carrots and onions for the signature dish. The men also baked 30 loaves of Irish soda bread from a recipe created by Bromley's daughter, Colleen.

On Saturday, the Irish American Society took part in the 41st annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ocean View.

"I organize our marching unit," said Bromley, who lives in Salem Lakes with his wife of 38 years, Mary Ann.

But that's not all, said the society's junior vice president, Lynette Gilmour-Crouch, 33.

"Mike does so much. It makes me feel guilty actually," she said. "He's always working on a project for the society."

The Portsmouth resident noted that one of the two floats in the parade, the "Paddy Wagon," was built by Bromley. It was designed last year as a ride for older members.

For Bromley, 65, who is fourth-generation Irish, promoting Irish customs, culture and contributions doesn't end March 17 with a pint of Guinness at Murphy's Grand Irish Pub.

Bromley, who is part of the Honor Guard for the Police Emerald Society of Tidewater, recently became manager for the Newport News Police Pipe and Drum band, said Gilmour-Crouch. Her husband is a member of the growing group.

They needed someone to help organize, she noted, and Bromley has been a "godsend."

Gilmour-Crouch said that Bromley, who retired from the Navy as a senior chief in 1989 and then worked as a government contractor, is also a driving force behind the society's participation in Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies at the nation's capital.

"Twice a year, we go to D.C. because of him," she said.

Bromley and other Irish American Society members dress in their military uniforms and present a wreath at the Vietnam Memorial, where names of the Irish nationals who served and died are read.

"He's very much the leader," said society financial secretary Barbara McCook. "He gets things going."

One of those things is the nonprofit Project Children, which f ormed in 1975 to bring Irish children to the United States for several weeks during the summer to escape the country's chaos.

Bromley has been involved for seven years, starting out as a neighborhood coordinator, finding host families for the visitors. He is the mid-Atlantic area coordinator, covering eastern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Delaware.

Though the situation in Northern Ireland is better now than in the '70s, Bromley said, it's still a four-week opportunity for putting Catholic and Protestant children together.

"During the summer, I've had as many as 21 children in this area in different homes," he said.

Bromley is also on his third career. Officially, he's been the director of environmental and technical resources at Ascension for nine years.. And then there are the two young grandsons, who live in Suffolk.

"Yes," Bromley nodded, "that keeps me busy."

Cyndi Kight, kightcw@yahoo.com