7/25 – Benefit ‘Irish Wake’ to Fill Red Bank with Bagpipes Saturday

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By John Burton
RED BANK – The pipes and drums will be callin’ this Saturday on Monmouth Street.
Members of numerous bagpipe and drum corps from around the state, including the Ocean County and Jersey City Firefighters Emerald Societies, are scheduled to appear and play on Saturday, July 26, in what organizers are calling an “Irish wake” that they say will be a celebration of life and a fundraiser for Ocean of Love, an Ocean County charitable organization assisting children with cancer and their families.
The event is also intended as a celebration of Michael “Pop” Conlin. A retired 30-year veteran of Jersey City police who lives in Union Beach, Conlin, 80, was recently diagnosed with cancer, according to his son, Michael Conlin Jr.
The senior Conlin has been a longstanding honor guard for the Jersey City Emerald Society pipes and drums corps and acknowledged that members rarely have an opportunity to socialize and come together. The event would be a chance for that – a chance for the senior Conlin to “get out and see the guys” – as the gathering makes its way to the Dublin House pub and restaurant, 30 Monmouth St., said his son, who is a retired Jersey City fire captain and a drummer with both the Jersey City and Ocean County Emerald Society corps.
“This is going to be festive,” said Frank Woods, a Red Bank fire marshal, member of the Ocean County’s corps and event organizer.
Beginning at noon,  band members will march from 51 Monmouth St., Red Bank Catholic’s Performing Arts Center, to the Dublin House with “coffin” in tow for the afternoon’s celebration, Woods and Conlin said.