Anna O’Toole after being crowned at the coronation ball on Feb. 7
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
WILBRAHAM — At the annual coronation ball on Feb. 7, the Springfield St. Patrick’s Parade Committee crowned Anna O’Toole, a Minnechaug Regional High School senior, as the 2026 Springfield colleen.
O’Toole will represent Irish pride in the parade on March 22 in Holyoke.
“I am so proud to be this year’s 2026 colleen,” O’Toole said to Reminder Publishing. “I’m very excited to be able to represent the wonderful Springfield community that was so welcoming to my grandparents when they came over from Ireland in the ’60s. It will be great to interact with the youth in Springfield as well, and to be able to inspire young girls to run for colleen when they are older. I want to share the love for my heritage and spark interest in the youth to do the same.”
Outside of being this year’s colleen, O’Toole said she loves to get involved with the community through the National Honor Society at Minnechaug. She also loves going to the beach, playing with her dogs, spending time with family, reading the Bible and playing volleyball.
Growing up in an Irish family, she added that she was inspired to run for colleen from a young age, because her aunts Siobhan O’Toole and Kathleen O’Toole were crowned in 1993 and 1989.
“When I was little, my Mema would show us pictures of the both of them in their tiaras and sashes representing the Springfield community and it always sparked my interest,” O’Toole said. “What really pushed me to run for the title this year was because I wanted one grand chance to represent my grandparents before going off to college next year.”
She said that the process to becoming a colleen was definitely nerve-wracking, but extremely fun at the same time.
“It is really cool to be able to put yourself out there like that to gain the opportunity to represent something bigger than yourself, which is the community,” O’Toole said.
Becoming a colleen is a multi-step process, O’Toole added. First, a preliminary contest features eight competitors vying for five spots on the court through individual and onstage interviews. The court for 2026 will all ride in the parade alongside O’Toole and includes East Longmeadow’s Anna Flanagan and Sophia Dow, Longmeadow’s Siobhan MacDonnell and Springfield’s Emma Westbrooks.
During the ball where a colleen is crowned, there is a group interview with the judges to introduce the court, another individual interview and an onstage presentation with questions from the judges.
To younger girls who aspire to be crowned the colleen one day, O’Toole said she would tell them to be “unafraid of putting yourself out there when expressing the love for your heritage.”
“It is a special thing that we should be proud of and cherish, if it weren’t for our relatives we wouldn’t be here today,” O’Toole said. “I would also share how special it is to travel to the birthplace of your grandparents or your relatives, if granted the chance. When I traveled to Ireland I was able to explore where my grandparents grew up and it made me so much more grateful for the amazing heritage they gave me. It also sparked my curiosity to learn more about Ireland as a whole.”
