Our people

Patrick M. Shea, Chair

Patrick M. Shea is a partner and the co-head of the private equity group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Patrick has a cross-border transactional practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and corporate and commercial law.

He received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1995 and an LL.B. and B.C.L. from McGill Law School in 1999. He is also a graduate of Loyola High School and Phillips Academy.

Patrick was born and raised in Montreal. All thirty-two of his great-great-great grandparents were born in Ireland and his ancestors emigrated to Montreal, the Ottawa Valley and Hastings County in what is now Ontario between the early 1820s and the early 1860s. Patrick is married to Laurie Birbilas and has five sons: Liam, Hugo, Griffin, Elias and Ciaran.

An ardent believer in giving back to the community, Patrick volunteers his time for a number of not-for-profit organizations in addition to the CISF. He is a director of the McGill University Health Centre Foundation, a director of the Father Dowd Foundation, a director of the Andover Canadian Fund and a member of the Faculty Advisory Board of McGill Law School. He has previously served as the president and a director of St. Patrick’s Society of Montreal, as a director of the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, as a director of the Royal Victoria Hospital Foundation, as the chairperson and a director of the Loyola High School Foundation, as the vice-chairperson of the Loyola High School board of governors, as a member of the Princeton University Schools Committee, as a director of LOVE (Quebec), as a director of Leave Out Violence (U.S.) and as the chairperson of the Princeton University Schools Committee for the Province of Quebec. He was the founder and first president of the Loyola High School Alumni Association.

Patrick was employed by the Canadian Irish Studies Foundation between 1997 and 1999 while he was a law student.  He assisted Brian Gallery, Michael Kenneally and Peter O’Brien with the Foundation’s start-up and initial capital campaign.

Mary Gallery, Vice-Chair

Mary Gallery is a dedicated, civic-minded volunteer and active member of several community, academic and philanthropic boards, and committees. She was elected to Westmount City Council in November 2017 and is currently on her second term.  She is the Commissioner of Sports & Recreation, Parks & Greenhouses, is a Member of Planning Advisory Committee and is a Trustee of the Westmount Public Library Committee.  

She is also currently a board member of the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, the Canadian Irish Studies Foundation at Concordia University,  the Royal Montreal Regiment Foundation and the Théâtre Lac Brome. She was formerly a board member of Miss Edgars & Miss Cramps School.  She is a member of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal. 

Professionally, Mary spent many years as a Senior Executive Recruiter at several of Canada’s largest search firms.

She attended Collège Jean de Brébeuf, earned a BA in political science from the University of Western Ontario in 1991, and a Graduate Certificate from Université Laval in French as a second language in 1992.

Mary is married and is a proud mother to her two children. She has a love of the arts, and enjoys travel, playing tennis, golf, skiing & spending time in the country. 

Eoin Ó hÓgáin, Vice-Chair

Mr. Eoin Ó hÓgáin is a native of Kilkenny, Ireland. In Canada since 2016, he is a partner and chief investment officer at Power Sustainable, a Montreal-based investment firm focused on sustainable infrastructure and private equity. He oversees Power Sustainable’s investment teams and capital formation efforts.

He spent two decades in the energy and investment sectors, working for companies such as Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & Company and State Street.  His career has brought him from Dublin to New York, Houston, Dubai and Buenos Aires.

Eoin holds a Bachelor of Business Studies and French degree with first class honors from Trinity College Dublin, where he was a Foundation Scholar.  He is a CFA charter holder and has a Master of Business Administration degree with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School.

He is a strong supporter of Irish culture, especially the Irish language.  He is married to Sonya Thomas from Flint, Michigan and they have three daughters.

Kenneth Anderson, Treasurer

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development at Intact Financial Corporation

Ken is a native of County Offaly and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. Ken currently serves on the board of the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce in Montreal, having previously served as Treasurer of the Chamber.

Ken left Ireland in 1996 and since then has amassed progressive finance experience within the insurance sector. He spent 10 years working in Insurance in Bermuda before relocating to Montreal in 2006. Ken began his career at Intact Insurance in 2007 and has held progressively senior roles over time, including VP Finance & Controller 2010-2012, VP & Group Treasurer 2012-2017, Deputy SVP Investor Relations & Group Treasurer 2019.

Ken assumed his current role of Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development in January 2020, and is responsible for all aspects of shareholder engagement at Intact as well as guiding mergers and acquisitions activities. Ken led the Company’s recently announced $5.2bn acquisition of RSA’s (Royal & Sun Alliance) Canadian, UK, Irish and Middle Eastern operations. 

Ken holds an Executive MBA in International financial services & insurance, a program jointly provided by Vlerick School of Business (Belgium) and University of Saint Gallen (Switzerland). He lives in Boucherville with his two teenage sons Nathan and Brendan.

Jim Barriere

Jim Barriere has been a successful businessman and committed member of Montreal’s Irish community for more than 40 years. He is the president of BGL Brokerage, a customs and freight forwarding company with 85 employees in eight offices across Canada. Throughout his life, Barriere has been proud of his Irish heritage on his mother’s side, and has been a committed support­er of many organizations in the city. The Montreal Irish community has recognized his generosity in various ways: in 1987, he was named Irishman of the Year by the Erin Sports Association; in 1999, he was Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and, in 2008, served as its chief reviewing officer. He is a member of the Ireland-Canada Chamber of Commerce, the Montreal Board of Trade and a former director of the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers.

He founded the James Barriere Foundation for the Underprivileged, which helps the poor and the homeless, and is a founding director of the Generations Foundation, which provides food to 102 schools and 11 centres daily in the Montreal area. In addition to community and corporate awards, Jim Barriere was awarded the Order of Canada in 2000. 

Christopher Deehy

Christopher Deehy has been practicing with the firm Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand Melançon since 1995 and is currently the head of its Labour and Employment Law group and has been a member of its management committee since 2012. He holds an LL.B. from Université du Québec à Montréal, an M. Sc. Industrial Relations from École de relations industrielles de l’Université de Montréal and an B.A. (Political Science) from McGill University. Christopher is a member of the St. Patrick’s Society. He has been the attorney for the Coalition for peace in Ireland and the Quebec Ireland Committee since 1998. He was an International observer with a Canadian delegation of International observers that travelled to Belfast and Portadown for the 1999  Orange Marches.  Christopher’s family originated in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland.

Speaking about the Foundation and the work it does to support Irish Studies, Christopher remarked, "I have always considered the School of Irish Studies to be an extremely worthwhile and positive project that highlights the Irish community, Concordia University and the city so well. A truly unique achievement."

Richard Hart

Richard Hart was born in Montreal and grew up in Cedarhurst, New York. He attended Bishop’s College School from 1956 to 1961 and was awarded a BA from McGill in 1965. Hart has been employed as an investment advisor at Greenshields Inc from 1965 to 1990, at Thomson Kernaghan from 1990 to 2002 and at MacDougal, MacDougall & MacTier from 2002 to the present.

Michael Kenneally

In 1996, Michael Kenneally, with Peter O’Brien and Brian Gallery, co-created the Canadian Irish Studies Foundation and served as its Executive Director until 2009.  On his retirement as a professor at Concordia University in 2022, he was elected a Trustee of the CISF.  At Concordia, he co-founded the School of Irish Studies with Professor Rhona Richman Kenneally.  In Montreal he was President of St. Patrick’s Society from 1993 to 1996 and has been honoured by the Irish community with several awards.  He has served as the President of the Canadian Association for Irish Studies and Chair of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literature.  He has received honorary degrees from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and the National University of Ireland.  In 2019, he was a recipient of the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad from Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins.

Patrick Lynch

Patrick S. Lynch is Partner and Head of Private Equity at Fiera Comox, responsible for setting the strategy, identifying investment opportunities, and managing the team. 

Prior to joining Fiera Comox in 2017, Patrick was Head of Funds and Partnerships at Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec. Before joining CDPQ, he was a founding member of the private equity business at sovereign fund Mubadala Development Company in Abu Dhabi as Head of the Funds team as well as Global Investment Partnerships. Previously, Patrick was an investment professional at TD Capital Private Equity Investors; as well as a management consultant with Mercer Management Consulting. Patrick started his career at what is now AlixPartners, in London, with the corporate advisory and restructuring group including working on a series of cross border restructuring projects. Patrick has held directorships on the Board of Directors of Verno Capital, Masdar Capital and The Raine Group. He currently sits on the board of directors of Golden Pear Funding. 

Patrick received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce with First-Class Honours from McGill University.

Pamela McGovern

Pamela McGovern graduated from McGill University with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1978, followed by a degree in civil law from the University of Ottawa in 1982. She is the ‘Secrétaire de l’Ordre et directrice des affaires juridiques’ at the ‘Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec’. She was the senior counsel at Aust Legal Inc. where she advised clients in commercial and construction matters and provides litigation management services to companies. She has also been the General Counsel and Principal Director of Legal affairs at Hydro-Québec. Prior to Hydro-Québec, Ms. McGovern was a partner with Lavery de Billy where she served for seven years as group leader, commercial litigation. She also sat on the firm’s board of directors. Ms. McGovern plays an active role in the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), and was a board member from 2011 to 2014. She has recently joined the audit committee of the association for a 3 year mandate.

Pamela McGovern sits on the board of Maison Biéler, a retirement home for Canadian Forces veterans. She is presently involved in a transition housing project for veterans suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder.  She is the proud mother of 3 daughters, the eldest having graduated from Concordia with a minor in Irish Studies..

Peter McGovern

Native of Montreal, attended McGill University, and Birkbeck College, University of London. Diplomatic career since 1982 with Canada’s Department of External Affairs in Ottawa, Milan, Asia and Latina America. Deputy Minister for Summits Management Office (G8 and G20 summits, Canada’s 2018 G7 presidency). He served as Canada’s Ambassador to Italy and later as High Commissioner to the Republics of Malta, San Marino and Albania.  He also served as Canada’s Permanent Representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Kate Molson

(née Katherine Brigid Finn) was born into a large Irish family in Boston, hailing from such Irish names as Ward, O’Toole and Mahoney. Her father’s grandparents emigrated from Ireland in the late 1800s and settled in Boston. Her mother’s parents arrived in Connecticut in 1930 from County Longford. Molson worked in a corporate capacity for 10 years, handling large business accounts for AT&T and American Express. When her family relocated to Denver, Colo., she settled into raising four children. Molson has served on a variety of committees, including those at Westmount, Que.’s Selwyn House School and Villa Sainte-Marcelline, where she and her team managed the school’s largest fundraising initiative. Molson has also worked on various projects with the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation and Loyola High School.

Camille O'Carroll

Camille O’Carroll was born and raised in Montreal. She graduated from Sherbrooke University with a bachelor’s degree in civil law in 2013 and is a member of the Quebec Bar since 2015. Camille is a legal counsel at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). She supports the infrastructure and private equity teams with their transactions made in the Americas.

Donald Regan

Donald Regan is a Montrealer who earned a BA in economics in 1970 from Sir George Williams University, one of Concordia’s founding institutions. Having worked at various research and marketing projects at CN for over a decade, he joined Ronsco Inc. as a partner in 1971. Headquartered in Montreal, Ronsco is one of North America’s largest privately held suppliers of products and services to the freight rail, passenger and transit industries. In 1984, Regan took full control of Ronsco, becoming chairman and president. He is also chairman and president of Donnelgan Investments Inc., a real estate and private investment company. He has been a member of the Railway Research Advisory Board of the Railway Association of Canada, and is past chairman of the Canadian Railway Club and past president of the Canadian Association of Railway Suppliers. He is a past president of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association.

Regan has a wide variety of philanthropic interests, including Irish Studies at Concordia. He looks forward to serving as a trustee of the Canadian Irish Studies Foundation as it continues to consolidate Irish studies as an academic discipline at Concordia.

Michael Shannon

Michael Shannon is an independent businessman and was born in Montreal.  His various Irish ancestors emigrated to Montreal from Ireland in the mid 1800’s.  Mr. Shannon has worked as an investment professional at Pembroke Management and BT Global Growth as well as Burns Fry Ltd.  He also worked as an electronics design engineer at two major Canadian technology firms. 

Mr. Shannon graduated from McGill University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and from the Richard Ivey School of Business with a Master in Business Administration degree.  Mr. Shannon is the Chairman of the Investment Committee at the Van Berkom Investment Management Program at Concordia University and was previously a member of the Board of Governors of The Study School in Westmount where he also served as Treasurer.

The late Brian O'Neill Gallery, Emeritus Chair

Brian O'Neill Gallery graduated from Loyola College in 1957 and became President of the Loyola College Alumni Association in 1971-72. He founded Canadian Sailings, an international weekly publication, in 1982 and was its publisher for 17 years.  Mr. Gallery was a Director and Acting Chairman of Canadian National from 1986 to 1989 and Vice-Chairman of CN from 1989 to 1990.  He was a Director of the Export Development Corporation from 1993 to 1997.  He was Mayor of the City of Westmount from 1983 to 1987.  He is a former President of Galbri Holdings Inc. and past Chairman and Director of the Brome Lake Land Foundation.  Mr. Gallery was awarded the Medal of Merit by the Canadian Port and Harbour Association in 1983, the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation in 1993, and the St. Patrick's Society of Montreal Community Award in 1997.  In 2000, he was elected Irishman of the Year for Montreal.  In 2002 he received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal.  In 2010, Mr. Gallery was awarded the Humberto Santos Award of Merit by the Concordia University Alumni Association in recognition of his central role in the creation of the School of Irish Studies.