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 took place on 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.
A decorated NYPD Detective and lifelong peace advocate, Denis Mulcahy has received numerous high-profile awards from government, religious, and community organizations across the United States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
Early Career and International Recognition (1987-1993)
Denis's dedication to service was recognized early. In 1987, he earned the NYPD Medal of Valor for the extremely dangerous task of diffusing a bomb. That same year, he received the Benemerenti Award from Pope John Paul II, the Private Sector Initiative Commendation from President Ronald Reagan, and the Cuchulainn Award from the Sacred Heart Club of County Armagh. His growing recognition in Ireland continued with the County Cork B.P.P. Association honor and being named Irish Man of the Year by the Emerald Golf Society in 1988. In 1989, he received the People of the Year Award in Dublin.
In the early 1990s, the honors continued: he received the Cardinal Cooke Right to Life Award from Cardinal John O'Connor in 1991 and, in 1993, was presented with the Irish Voice's Community Person of the Year Award by President Mary Robinson of Ireland. Most notably, his work with Project Children led to him being twice nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, where he was runner-up to Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa.
U.S. and Presidential Recognition (1994-1996)
Denis became a prominent figure in Irish-American relations in the mid-1990s. In 1994, former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Albert Reynolds presenting him an award for being chosen as one of the Top 100 Irish Americans of the Year, and Denis was a guest of President Bill Clinton at the White House's St. Patrick's Day celebration. The following year, 1995, brought significant national attention: he received the TOP COPS Awards® from Vice President Al Gore, joined President Clinton on his historic trip to Northern Ireland, and was named Person of the Week by ABC News. The World of Hibernia also named him one of fifty "Super Irish." In 1996, he was honored as Man of the Year by the NYC Police Department Emerald Society.
Community, Academic, and Royal Honors (1996-2025)
Throughout his career, Denis has been a staple in community and cultural events, serving as Grand Marshal of the Mid Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade (1996), the Washington D.C. St. Patrick's Day Parade (1999), and the Yonkers St. Patrick's Day parade (2025). In 2000, Denis was honored by the Dublin Society and named Man of the Year by the NYPD Holy Name Society. His humanitarian work earned him the McClancy Leadership Award from Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School, and the Humanitarian Award from The Council of Irish Associations of Greater Bergen County in 2011.
His commitment to peace was recognized with the highest distinctions:
2016: Appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II.
2017: Received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad from President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins.
2018: Received the Dr. Eoin McKiernan Award and a presentation from former Taoiseach and WIP alum Leo Varadkar on behalf of the Washington Ireland Program (WIP), an organization where Taoiseach Varadkar was one of the first participants from the Republic of Ireland on the Washington Ireland Program.
2025: Ulster University conferred an Honorary Doctorate upon him for his lifelong commitment to peace-building.
Denis also holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Mount Saint Mary College and Holy Family University. More recently, Denis' impact on the Irish-American community was further celebrated. In November 2025, he was honored at the Bronx County Ancient Order of Hibernians' Awards Dinner, where he was recognized for his leading role in Project Children. This follows his receipt of the prestigious John F. Kennedy Memorial Award from the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
The Mulcahy Scholarship: Continuing the Legacy
In 2018, the Mulcahy Scholarship was established by dedicated Project Children volunteers, facilitated by the Aisling Irish Community Center, where Denis served as a board member for over 25 years. This initiative, which pays tribute to his family's commitment, effectively reverses the original Project Children program: it provides American high school students the opportunity to travel to Ireland for educational summer courses, immersing them in Irish culture, heritage, and language.
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.
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.
2024
Project Children initiates its "Move to Monaghan" archival project, focused on preserving the organization's history, memorabilia, and stories to educate the world about its work promoting peace. Former Taoiseach of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, and Minister Heather Humphrey's, announce a cultural partnership with Project Children Chairman Denis Mulcahy in Monaghan, Ireland, establishing the newly constructed Monaghan Peace Campus as the permanent home for the Project Children archive.
Spearheaded by Catherine Flood and Linda Croston of Croston Flood, fundraising efforts, including a Picnic + 5k Fundraiser, are launched to support this major move, slated to culminate in 2025, the organization's 50th anniversary year.
2025
Project Children celebrates a half-century legacy of peace-building and cross-cultural friendships with a week of events in Monaghan, Ireland. Highlights include the official opening of the Project Children Stories Exhibition at the Monaghan Peace Campus Museum and the Project Children 50th Anniversary Gala Celebration.
Visit our 50th Anniversary Recap page to relive the history and watch our gala event video.
TODAY
Both the Mulcahy Scholarship and Project Children Internship programs continue, as do periodic screenings of the Documentary.
For more information, visit our Events page.
The Project Children Stories exhibition is now open at Monaghan Peace Campus - visitors welcome daily! Visit here for more information.
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
