2026 Black Tie Dinner

Since 1974, The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of the Jersey Shore (FSSP) and The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Foundation (FSSPF) have proudly continued a beloved tradition. We are honored to announce our 53rd Annual Black Tie Dinner, taking place on Friday, March 6, 2026, at The Shore Club in Spring Lake Heights. Proceeds from the dinner and commemorative journal support our scholarship program for graduating high school seniors in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Since 1980, we’ve awarded over $975,000 in scholarships to exceptional young men and women.

The dinner, as always, will include a cocktail hour, multi course dinner, installation of officers for the next year, honoring of our award recipients and Irish entertainment. Past honorees have included Judges, Law Enforcement members, Ambassadors, Religious, Educators, and others who have contributed to the American experience while honoring their Irish heritage. The speeches are short and the craíc is marvelous. Mark the date on your calendar and join us for a fun event.

This year's event will feature Dave Cremin, Comedian and Magician. Dave has has performed professionally in the magic arena for more than 20 years. His combination of comedy and dazzling magic is a must-see show.

This year, we celebrate Gerard McGraw as our Irishman of the Year, and brothers Shaun and David O’Dowd as recipients of the esteemed Order of St. Brendan.

Gerard McGraw is a member of the board of directors of FMR LLC, Fidelity Investments’ parent company, and chairs the board’s audit committee. He also is the non-executive chair of Geode Capital Management, an investment firm affiliated with FMR. Fidelity Investments is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and other financial products and

services to institutions, financial intermediaries, and individuals.

Prior to this role, Mr. McGraw served as Fidelity’s head of Legal, Risk, and Compliance from 2020-2022 where he led the Legal, Risk, Compliance, Audit, and Global Security and Investigations teams. From 2016-2020, he was Fidelity’s chief financial officer (CFO) and head of Enterprise Functions. As CFO, Mr. McGraw oversaw the enterprise-level financial management of the firm as well as Human Resources, Corporate Real Estate, Legal,

Government Relations & Public Policy, and Communications. Prior to serving as CFO, Mr. McGraw was president of Fidelity Institutional (FI) for seven years. FI offers clearing, custody, investment products, and brokerage and trading services to help financial professionals, institutions and other intermediaries service their clients and grow their businesses. In this position, he oversaw all brokerage operations and the risk and

brokerage technology functions that service broker/dealers, banks, insurers, registered investment advisors

(RIAs) and other institutional clients.

Previously with Fidelity, Mr. McGraw served as president of the Operations & Services Group (OSG) from 2003 to 2009. This group is responsible for a wide range of services and functions, including account management, asset servicing, margin, cashiering, tax services, performance measurement and improvement, new business, and project management. Mr. McGraw joined Fidelity in 1996 as senior vice president, Management Control, where he was responsible for regulatory reporting and operational oversight, and later became senior vice president, Brokerage Operations.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. McGraw held senior positions with Smith Barney, Inc. and Shearson Lehman Brothers, Inc. He served within Member Firm Regulation Division (now FINRA) of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. Mr. McGraw began his nearly 450-year financial, regulatory and operations career services as an auditor at Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of NY.

Mr. McGraw earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from Pace University and held his FINRA Series 7, 24 and 27 licenses. He previously served on the national board of directors for Citizen Schools, as a member of the executive committee of the board of directors for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), and was the former vice chairman of the board of directors of the Options Clearing Corporation.

Shaun and David O’Dowd were born in Roscommon, Ireland where they lived for 12 years until immigrating to the United States with their family.  They initially settled in Brooklyn, NY and soon moved to Brick Township NJ.  Shaun and David went on to be Police Officers in the Montclair and West Caldwell Police Departments, retiring with full service at the ranks of Captain.  Throughout their lives, they have been involved in many charitable events and volunteer organizations, such as The Brick Township Police Explorers and the Jersey shore Medical Center Volunteer Program. Their proudest contribution was during the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, when Shaun and David organized a regional donation center in Essex County.  Over ten days, they oversaw the collection and delivery of nine tractor trailers full of food, cleaning supplies, pet food, and other essential items to distribution locations in Eatontown, Brick, Bay Head, and Toms River. Shaun and David are enjoying a second career in Real Estate with Coldwell Banker Realty.  

This year's event will feature Dave Cremin, Comedian and Magician. Dave has has performed professionally in the magic arena for more than 20 years. His combination of comedy and dazzling magic is a must-see show.