OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS IN LOUISIANA VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 MARCH - MAY 2018 www.aohla.com OSEPH HRISTOPHER ASLER Louisiana State Board - J C C Ancient Order of Hibernians 2018 HIBERNIAN OF THE YEAR @LouisianaHibern The Louisiana State raised in St. Petersburg, Board of the Ancient Florida by their parents, LOUISIANA AOH Order of Hibernians, Frances and William Archbishop Philip Hannan Casler. He attended high UPCOMING EVENTS Division, James Cardinal school at the Canterbury Gibbons Division, Acadian School of Florida and MASS OF ST. PATRICK Division, Republic of then went on to the APOSTLE OF IRELAND West Florida Division, University of South Saturday, March 17 and Fr. Thomas “Mossy” Florida, from which he St. Patrick Church Gallagher Division graduated in 1988. 724 Camp Street announce Mr. Joseph Casler then moved to 11:30 a.m. Christopher Casler as New Orleans to attend (Hibernians muster at 11:00 Hibernian of the Year for Loyola University Law a.m.) the Year 2018. Born in School, graduating in Philadelphia on December 1992 whereupon he went IRISH CHANNEL PARADE 3, 1966, Casler and his to work for Edward J. MASS brother Steven were (Continued on page 15) Saturday, March 17 St. Mary’s Assumption Church HAGGERTY BROTHERS TO LEAD THE WAY 2030 Constance Street 12:00 noon FOR THE RISH HANNEL ARADE I C P IRISH CHANNEL PARADE Saturday, March 17 In what may be a first in the more-than 1500 members down Napoleon and Jefferson start entire nation, six brothers will lead Magazine Street, followed by the 1:00 p.m. a major urban St. Patrick’s Day Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Parade. Hibernian Daniel Emerald Society (featuring a float Haggerty and his five brothers, for children with special needs), 143RD HIBERNIAN Michael, Timothy, Patrick, the Corner Club, several other ST. PATRICK’S DAY Edward, and Bryan will serve as marching groups, and a number of BANQUET Grand Marshals of the 72nd Irish floats whose throws not only Saturday, March 17 Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade. include beads but also the makings New Orleans Hilton The parade, which begins officially for a good Irish stew. Riverside with a Mass at St. Mary’s Founded in 1947 by Hibernian 2 Poydras Street Assumption Church, begins at the Richard F. Burke Sr. to bring the 7:00 p.m. Cocktail Hour corner of Napoleon and Magazine residents of the Irish Channel a St. 8:00 p.m. Dinner Streets and will travel through Patrick’s Day Parade, the Channel Uptown and into the Irish Miss Victoria Lee will reign as organization has kept alive the Channel. Morris Ambrosia, a long Queen of the Parade. traditions of the Irish in New -time member of the organization, The Brothers Haggerty will lead Orleans, and the Hibernians have has been named Man of the Year. the Irish Channel Club and its (Continued on page 8) VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 PAGE 2 EDITORIAL - A BREATH OF FRESH AIR INTO HIBERNIANISM The Crescent Harp It is an article of faith in any Joe Casler did not just commit Editor-in-Chief John D. Fitzmorris III organization that there should the organization. He went Advertisement Editor arise from time to time a new set himself armed with tools and Kevin M. McKay Sr. of leaders who breathe life and effort. When Brother Randy Ex-Officio James Kuhn energy into an organization. King needed help creating the Raymond Donovan With faith and trust enough to weight room at St. Michael’s Mark Foley hand over the reins of power, Special School, there was Martin Kearney Patrick J. Power the old leadership gives way to Brother Casler getting sweaty, ——————————- the young and offers support and dirty, and stained with paint. ARTICLE SUBMISSION VIA: guidance at the time. Even after his two successful [email protected] Please submit all photos Not more than fifteen years terms as President ended, via .jpeg ago, the Ancient Order in be an understatement. The whatever the event and Louisiana had grown a bit stale money raised for charity hit an whatever the effort required, ARTICLE in its fundraising activities. The all-time high while guests all one could be sure that Brother DEADLINES: October golf tournament had remarked that the Hibernians Casler was there representing November 15 given way to a $10K Raffle, but had “returned” when it came to the Hibernians. the event itself had become a having great Irish events. Now, Brother Casler serves on February 15 rather dull affair with issues Much of what the Hibernians the board of the Louisiana May 15 arising from incomplete planning accomplished that evening and at Hibernian Charity as well as and entertainment that made it events and banquets after that Chair of the National Hibernian August 15 run-of-the-mill rather than was because Joe Casler had Charity, ever mindful of the uniquely Irish. earned the friendship and trust service to which the Ancient And thus, Joe Casler and a of his Hibernian Brothers during Order calls him. group of younger Hibernians his time in the Ancient Order. The spirit of “deeds, rather stepped up than words” LEARN A and offered to applies to all take control who would be LITTLE of the events good leaders. planning. One does not IRISH Irish become a leader entertainment by expecting the was brought membership to in from anoint him. Is lá Ireland itself, Instead, one local liquor moves forward iontach é and beer in a spirit of distributors were solicited to And it was on the strength of service that embodies the aspects do make donations, and first-rate his friendships and the leadership of our Motto of Friendship, decorations in a truly Irish style qualities and effort he displayed Unity, and Christian Charity. phharáid! donned the tables to make our during those events that the Joseph Christopher Casler has fundraiser an event that attracts Hibernians elected him State lived up to that Motto, and for only the best. Not content to President the following year. that, the Hibernians salute him stop there, Brother Casler then However, Brother Casler has as our Irishman of the Year. “It is a whipped up the membership to been more than just about push the tickets to get not just raising money. When the great day Hibernians but their family and Hibernians were tasked to friends to be a part of something protect the Archbishop from the for a special. ugliness of the protesters, Joe To say that Brother Casler and Casler led the way. When parade!” those who followed his lead Habitat for Humanity needed knocked it out of the park would Hibernians to help build homes, Ancient Order of Hibernians 143rd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Banquet Saturday, March 17, 2018 New Orleans Hilton Riverside Traditional Irish Entertainment featuring the Muggivan Irish Dancers The United States Marine Corps Band The O’Neill Sisters 7:00 p.m. - Cocktail Hour with Complimentary Beer and Wine 8:00 p.m. - The Grand March of the Hibernians with Dinner to Follow and JOSEPH CASLER Hibernian of the year $80 per ticket / table of ten for $800 For Tickets Contact: B.J. Eckholdt - 504-455-2024 or [email protected] www.aohla.com/st-patricks-banquet/ PAGE 4 THE CRESCENT HARP IRISH BOOK REVIEW - WHERE THE BODIES WERE BURIED - from Google Books arrangement he inherited from a previous disturbing portrait of the decades-long New York Times bestselling author T. J. generation of gangsters and corrupt culture of collusion between the Feds and English, the acclaimed master chronicler lawmen—represents the hidden horror of the Irish and Italian Mob factions that of the Irish Mob in America, offers a front the Bulger story and the battleground on ruled Boston and much of New England -row seat at the trial of one of the most which prosecutors and defense lawyers from the 1970s forward. English provides notorious gangsters of all—Whitey clashed at his trial. the first look at Bulger's own Bulger—and pulls back the veil to expose There have been other books on Bulger, understanding of his relationship with the a breathtaking history of corruption and FBI—including the immunity deal he malfeasance claimed with the U.S. Attorney's Office— Whitey Bulger was, following the death and an in-depth assessment of the degree of Osama bin Laden, the number-one to which gangsterism, politics, and law fugitive on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted enforcement have long been intertwined list; he remained at large for sixteen years. in Boston. One of the most prominent mobsters in Rich in first-person interviews with Boston's criminal underworld from the criminal associates, retired FBI agents, 1970s until his disappearance in 1995, victims, and their families, Where the Bodies Bulger was sometimes romanticized as a Were Buried completes the informal trilogy Robin Hood–esque thief and protector English began with The Westies and Paddy who looked out for his South Boston Whacked and promises to be the last word neighborhood. on a reign of terror that many feared But the truth was much more would never end. complicated—and infinitely more sordid—as his trial on racketeering charges revealed in alarming detail. Throughout the era in which Bulger was a crime boss, he was also a Top Echelon Informant (TE) for the FBI, supposedly but none like this. T. J. English—author helping prosecutors make organized-crime of Paddy Whacked, the definitive history of cases against the Mafia by feeding them the Irish Mob—was present every day of information that could win them the proceedings, and in Where the Bodies convictions in court.