Throughout the 40 years of the program, over 23,000 young Catholic and Protestant children traveled to the US for a summer holiday respite from the everyday violence and conflict of their homeland. The program continues today as an intern program for young college students. The program is both cross-community and cross border, and endeavors to allow participants to immerse themselves in American culture by living and working in the US, beginning each summer with a week working together at Habitat for Humanity in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
In February 2024, the former Taoiseach of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, met with Denis Mulcahy, one of the founding members of Project Children, and the Monaghan County Council in Co. Monaghan, Ireland to officially announce the cultural partnership between Project Children and the Monaghan Peace Campus. There, the history and memorabilia of the Project Children program will be archived, allowing future generations to learn of the accomplishments of this conscientious, volunteer-run organization. The official launch of the permanent archive is set for October 8, 2025, and additional details can be found here.
Denis P. Mulcahy, a native of Rockchapel, County Cork, emigrated to the United States in 1962. He joined the New York City Police Department in 1969 where he served with the Tactical Patrol Force, Street Crime Unit, and the 28th Precinct Detective Squad before joining the elite Bomb Squad in 1983. He retired in 2002 as a First Grade Detective after 33 years of dedicated service to the NYPD.
In 1975, Denis was instrumental in founding the Greenwood Lake Gaelic Society and served as its first President. Later that year, Denis was one of the founders of Project Children.
Denis is married to Miriam (nee O'Rourke), a native of County Leitrim. They reside in Greenwood Lake, New York, and have four children: Denis Jr., a partner with Deloitte and Touche, Maureen, a former Lieutenant with Manhattan Detectives, Sean, also with the NYPD Bomb Squad, and Tara, a Sergeant with the New York State Court. They have eight grandchildren: Tara-Lynne, Denise, Seana, Kaitlyn, Denis III, Lindsay, Sean, and Jake, and a great-grandson, Maverick.
In 1987, Denis was awarded the Medal of Valor by the NYCPD for the extremely dangerous task of diffusing a bomb. Also in 1987, Denis was honored with the Benemerenti Award from His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Additionally, he received the Private Sector Initiative Commendation from President Ronald Reagan, as well as the Cuchulainn Award from the Sacred Heart Club of County Armagh. He was honored by the County Cork B.P.P. Association in March 1988 and was named Irish Man of the Year in the same year by the Emerald Golf Society. In November 1989, he was awarded the People of the Year Award in Dublin, Ireland.
Cardinal John O'Connor awarded the Cardinal Cooke Right to Life to Denis in 1991 and, in 1993, Ireland's President, Mary Robinson, presented him with the Irish Voice's Community Person of the Year Award. He was twice nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for his work for the children of Northern Ireland, and was runner-up to Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa.
In March of 1994, Denis was chosen as one of the top 100 Irish Americans of the Year, receiving an award from the former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Albert Reynolds. He was also a guest of President Clinton at the St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House. In 1995, Denis received the TOP COPS Awards® in Washington D.C. by Vice President Al Gore. In November of 1995, President Clinton asked Denis to join him on his historic trip to Northern Ireland. That same year, ABC News named him Person of the Week. The World of Hibernia considers him one of fifty "Super Irish." In 1996, the NYC Police Department Emerald Society honored Denis as Man of the Year. That same year, he was named Grand Marshal of the Mid Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade and, in 1999, Grand Marshal of the Washington D.C. St. Patrick's Day Parade. In 2000, Denis was honored by the Dublin Society and named Man of the Year by the NYPD Holy Name Society. He was awarded the McClancy Leadership Award from Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School and, in 2011, he received the Humanitarian Award from The Council of Irish Associations of Greater Bergen County, Inc.
Denis holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Mount Saint Mary College and Holy Family University. In 2016, Denis received the title of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II. In 2017, at the NY State AOH Convention, Denis received the Commodore John Barry medal. In 2017, he also received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad, presented to him personally by the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. In 2018, Denis received the Dr. Eoin McKiernan Award from the Irish American Cultural Institute and received a presentation on behalf of the Washington Ireland Program from the former Irish Taoiseach and WIP alum, Leo Varadkar. Taoiseach Varadkar was one of the first participants from the Republic of Ireland on the Washington Ireland Program. More recently, Denis received John F. Kennedy Memorial Award in Louisville Kentucky, the highest recognition bestowed by the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Founded in 2018, the Mulcahy Scholarship is the proud brainchild of the dedicated Project Children volunteers and facilitated by the Aisling Irish Community Center, Yonkers, NY, as a tribute to Denis and his family's enormous commitment to Project Children, along with his service as an AICC board member for over 25 years. Almost 50 years after the establishment of Project Children, America is replicating the Project Children program in reverse. The Mulcahy Scholarship provides American high school students the unique opportunity to travel to Ireland and experience Irish culture in a fun and diverse way. They participate in educational summer courses, immersing them in Irish culture, heritage, arts, language, sport, "agus go leor eile".
Project Children is proudly celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025 and, to coincide with this milestone, Denis is proud to be named as the Grand Marshal of the Yonkers St. Patrick's Day parade on March 22, 2025, where he will be greatly honored to lead the community on McLean Avenue for a memorable celebration.
Project Children
A TIMELINE OF OUR HISTORY
1975
After watching too many news accounts of violence in Northern Ireland, Patrick and Denis Mulcahy, members of the New York Police Department and Cork natives, reasoned that if Protestant and Catholic children could spend time together in an environment that was not toxic with war, they would be less likely as adults to hurl bombs at each other, and Project Children was born. That first summer, they brought six children, three Protestant and three Catholic, to spend the summer in New York State.
1995
The Project Children Internship program is started, initially bringing 10 mature students each summer to the United States to work, live and volunteer.
For more information, visit the Project Children Internship page.
2015
After 40 years and seeing over 23,000 children from Northern Ireland spend their summers with 16,000 host families across the United States, the Project Children Summer Program was brought to an end.
2016
Directed by Des Henderson, narrated by Liam Neeson and featuring a contribution from Bill Clinton, How to Defuse a Bomb: The Project Children Story tells the extraordinary story of how an NYPD cop helped bring peace to Northern Ireland.
For more information, including a trailer and upcoming screenings, visit the Documentary page.
2018
The Mulcahy Scholarship is founded in tribute to the Mulcahy family and all of their hard work for the children of Northern Ireland. The scholarship enables American High School students to travel to Ireland each summer for an immersive cultural experience at the Celtic Irish American Academy in Galway, Ireland.
For more information on the scholarship and application process, visit the Mulchay Scholarship page.
TODAY
Both the Project Children Internship and Mulcahy Scholarship programs continue, as do periodic screenings of the documentary.
In celebration of our 50th anniversary and "Move to Monaghan," we will be hosting a number of special events, spearheaded by Catherine Flood and Linda Croston of Croston Flood.
For more information, visit the Events page.
As a child, I didn't realize my experience with Project Children would change my life. I was just overwhelmed by the skyscrapers of New York City and open spaces of Greenwood Lake and amazed they didn't have an army patrolling their streets.
Looking back now as an adult, I know that short time in upstate New York took the blinders off and changed my view of the world. I saw people could live under the same roof in peace. My host family, Carol and Duke Hoffman, don't share the same church; Duke is a Catholic, while Carol attends the Lutheran Church but that never mattered.
The experience with Project Children let me see a world beyond The Troubles; that there was a world outside Belfast and that has made all the difference in the world to me.
Project Children opened my eyes to the world. I didn't even know it at the time. What I know now is that all of the lessons I learned from being a part of Project Children are still with me today. I was born and brought up in Belfast and went to college in Bloomfield, New Jersey. All-American student-athlete defines me better than any statistic or moniker that I would have had in Belfast.
My outlook on life comes from the care and support of the Project Children family, the Nelson family and my own family, who said that if an organization like Project Children existed, it could do nothing but good! Project Children has continued, year after year, to prove them right.
I owe everything to this organization - not just my beautiful family and friends, but my outlook on life and my ability to bring our children up as conscientious members of an all-inclusive society.
Project Children has enriched thousands of lives in Northern Ireland and the US, and my family will always be grateful that we were part of the multitude. It showed that individual actions can indeed light up the darkness and when multiplied, have a history-changing impact.
1975 — 2015
