As senior Max Beatty finishes up his year as leprechaun, appearing on of screens rather than in front of crowds, he looked back on his time in his role.

Beatty said that he’d “always had (being the leprechaun) in the back of my mind, sophomore, junior year.” When he was asked by Michael McNulty ‘19, last year’s leprechaun, to take on the role this year, Beatty said, “I was super excited, probably more honored than anything just because there’s so much tradition at Cathedral and to be a part of that tradition was really special to me, because I love Cathedral.”

One of his mentors, Spanish teacher Mrs. Kim Jamell, said, “From his sophomore year on, I would’ve thought (the leprechaun) would be him.”

Beatty said, “The first actual game that I went to was a lacrosse game against Carmel. I did like the same chants like five times in a row but I couldn’t get the chants going because I didn’t even know how to control the crowd yet, so my first experience was pretty rough and embarrassing, but looking back, it’s pretty funny.”

Fortunately, Beatty quickly found his stride when school resumed in the fall. He said, “After the first few football games, I felt like this was something that I was more comfortable with and I had more confidence going to games and yelling chants to the crowds, and I had more confidence that there’d be better results back doing the chants.”

Beatty noted any time the Irish played Bishop Chatard as providing some of his favorite memories. He said, “Playing Chatard in football, basketball, girls’ basketball, that’s one of the rivalries that never got old.” As someone who attended dozens of matches and games this year, he also recalled his favorite to watch.

Beatty said, “The Roncalli basketball game because they were up the whole game and one of their players was talking trash and we were on him the rest of the night and we came back and won.”

Being the leprechaun wasn’t an easy task. Beatty said, “There was so much time being put in, time that people (at games and events) see and time behind the scenes.” Beatty also noted his commitment attending meetings with teachers and administrators for fundraisers or other non-athletic events at which he represented the student body.

He said he “knew it’d take a lot of leadership” to serve in this role. He said, “There’s a lot of critics that are going to try and tell you what to do or try and tell you something. Strong will was one of the things that I didn’t think I would need, but I had to develop.”

Beatty mentioned Jamell as one of the people who helped him through being a leprechaun as well as many others, including former vice principal Mr. Jere Kubuske. Jamell, who serves as the Student Council faculty co-moderator, said that since 2010, when the leprechaun tradition was restarted, she has provided guidance and assistance to the senior who is selected.

Jamell said, “The second year that there was a leprechaun there were some struggles and it was the first time I started to understand how difficult it is for a senior to be in charge of all of that and have that responsibility and the pressures that he has, so I felt the need to help those kids.”

Echoing what Beatty said about having a strong will, she said, “I empower them to say no to some things, and I know it sounds weird, but that’s actually a big problem for them is they have trouble saying no to adults that they like but they can’t do all the things (they are asked).”

In 2018, her son Daniel become the leprechaun, which helped give her even more insight into what that person experiences during his senior year. About Max in particular, Jamell said, “He’s friends with just so many different groups of people. He has to take the pulse of the class and what are people wanting to do.”

By far the biggest change that’s distinguished Beatty’s year as leprechaun from the others is the ending. Jamell said, “Right now, Max is still trying to pump people up, and how we’re going to transition is kind of up in the air.” She said, “I felt kind of bad, just like everything for the seniors this year, and this is one more thing, one more tradition that just got messed up, but I think we’re going to end up making the best of it by the end of the year.”

Jamell said Beatty is “so easy going and nice that on the surface that might not seem like a leader, but I think he just used his really amicable demeanor to just really make kids really like him. (It was) easy for people to follow (him) because he’s so friendly and easy going and kind and funny.”