Clockwise from top left: Jillian Battles, 17, a senior at Westfield High School was named the 2025 Sons of Erin colleen on the Feb. 7 Colleen Ball at Tekoa Country Club.
Reminder Publishing file photo
WESTFIELD — The colleen who will represent Westfield in the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 23 and in activities throughout the year is Jillian Battles, 17, a senior at Westfield High School. Members of her court are Jaiden Caban, McKenna Clark, Madison LeClair and Isabella Proietti. The colleen and her court were selected in a two-day interview process, culminating at the Sons of Erin Colleen Ball on Feb. 7.
“I am so beyond thrilled. I told my mom, after the court was called, I remember thinking I’ll just try again next year. Then they called my name and I just started crying. I forgot what I was supposed to do,” Battles said about the moment that she was named the Sons of Erin colleen. “It’s another way to serve my community; I am beyond excited for all the events.”
Battles has proven herself in service to the community. At Westfield High School, she is a National Honor Society member and president of Key Club. She is captain of both the varsity swim team and varsity tennis team, a member of Best Buddies, Future Medical Professionals Club and Honor Guard, and participates in the Baystate Springfield Educational Partnership.
For the past four years, Battles has also reached out to the community to fill 800 “Bags for Bravery,” providing everything from personal care items to snacks for active duty troops and veterans in a drive she started with the help of her mother, Jen Battles.
She will be attending Western New England University in the fall to major in health sciences with a minor in political science. Upon completion of her undergraduate work, she hopes to attend Harvard Medical School and become a family physician specializing in pediatrics.
Battles said going to the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day parade has been an annual tradition, sitting streetside with her best friend Kenzie to watch the entire parade. “It’s nice that I’m going to be in it,” she said, adding that she never thought of herself as a pageant person, or that beautiful. “To be considered a fully well-rounded person as colleen was a real surprise, and a confidence booster at the same time,” she said.
Another incentive for her to enter was the prize of a trip to Ireland. Battles said while she has Irish heritage on both sides of her family, she didn’t know much about it, and wanted to learn more about her Irish history. She said she has heard a lot about traveling there, about Galway, the cliffs and the people — “that people are so nice they’ll just sit down and talk to you.”
“I’ve never been out of the country before; this is definitely a great way to start traveling,” Battles said. She said her mother Jen Battles, who she plans to take with her, has never been out of the country before either.
Jen Battles said the great grandparents of her father, Richard Grannells of Southwick, came over from Ireland in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She said he still has a lot of family over there that they’ve never met, who they will try to connect with when they go.
Meanwhile Jillian Battles is enjoying getting to know the members of her court. “It’s an amazing group — two on the court are from Westfield, and two from Southwick. I’m excited to do all the events coming up with them — they are such amazing girls,” she said.
