Top left to right: Helena Nolan, Consul General of Ireland, Denise McQuaid, Brighde Barnes, Louise O’Conor, Sinead Crowley. Bottom left to right: Mary McKenna, Mary Ann Pierce, Clare McGee, and Mary Carty. Photo by Diplomatica Global Media.

St. Brigid’s Day, celebrated February 1 of each year, marks the first day of spring in the Gaelic calendar, and the beginning of the end of the cold, dark days of winter. This year, the Irish Consulate in New York City and the women of AwakenHub, the all-Ireland organization supporting female founders, celebrated by showcasing women-led start-ups by Irish women and the diaspora.

It was the first official transatlantic visit by AwakenHub and their women-led investor syndicate, AwakenAngels Fund, a women-founded community with predominantly women investors supporting women led startups across the island of Ireland. Co-founders Mary McKenna, Clare McGee, Sinead Crowley, Mary Carty, and Denise McQuaid were joined by Brighde Barnes, AwakenHub’s head of community development, AwakenHub Global Disapora Ambassador Mary Ann Pierce, and other prominent Irish-affiliated women in New York, including Tami Ellen McLaughlin, and author Kelly Hoey. The organization was supported by Irish Business Organization of New York, the Bank of Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland, Digital Irish, and Map Digital.

*Diplomatica Global Media is a member of AwakenHub.

Molly McCluskey is an award-winning investigative journalist, foreign correspondent, and media entrepreneur. She is the founder of Diplomatica Global Media and the creator of Great Reads from Around the...