The Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is excited to announce Keith Wood of Chester as the 2025 Grand Marshal.

Bagpiper Keith Wood Goes from Leading the Band to Leading the Parade as Grand Marshal

MORRISTOWN — In Morris County’s Irish community, Keith Wood and the Great Highland Bagpipes go together like bangers and mash.

Wood began playing the traditional Celtic instrument when he was 12 years old. Nearly five decades later, bagpiping is his full-time occupation. He has performed in countless parades,
ceremonies, competitions and other events, thrilling crowds in New Jersey and beyond.

The Chester resident has marched in Morris County’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade every year since it started in 1979.

But 2025 will be different. When the parade steps off at noon on March 15, Wood will trade the Glengarry bonnet of a piper for a Grand Marshal’s top hat.

“Being named Grand Marshal is like receiving a lifetime achievement award,” he said. “At first, I didn’t feel like I had done enough. But then I thought about it. And I realized I’ve been involved
in the Irish community here for almost 50 years.

“I appreciate everyone’s faith in me to serve the parade and represent our heritage,” he added.

A Family Affair

When Wood leads the procession down South Street with his wife, Kerri-Lynn, family members will be piping and drumming in front of them. The Wood clan has developed a reputation as the first family of Morris County pipe bands, and is well respected throughout New Jersey.

“At the start, it was me on pipes, my brother Pat on the snare drum, and my dad. Once my brother and I were hooked, my other brothers Matthew and Paul joined. Then my sister Mary joined after college,” he said. “So it’s always been part of our DNA. We plan vacations, weddings — everything around band activities.”

Wood’s devotion to the bagpipes inspired him and his siblings to establish the Rory O’Moore School of Pipes and Drums in 1995. The band, which numbers about 65 members including students, is one of the largest pipe bands in the Northeast.

He estimates that roughly 200 players have learned their instruments during Rory O’Moore’s three decades, and he is proud that many of them have been women and families.

“We’ve always had a high percentage of women. If you look around at some of the other bands, you rarely see that,” he said. “We also have fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, brothers and sisters, mother and sons, mother and daughters. A lot of families are in the band.”

Piping is just one aspect of Wood’s engagement with the area’s Irish community.

He was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 1 – Netcong in the 1980s, which he served as recording secretary. He was president of the Irish American Association of Northwest Jersey from 2011 to 2014. And he is a member of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Morris County. In addition, he is a long-time parade volunteer, serving as band coordinator and trustee.

From Mineola to Morris County

Wood is one of five children born to Dermot and Margaret Wood, whom he credits with instilling a love of Ireland and Irish heritage.

With his parents, he visited the family homestead in Fennor Lower, Oldcastle, County Meath. There they saw the birthplace of his paternal grandmother, Margaret Moore, on land his ancestors began farming roughly a century ago. The Woods also have deep roots in Cork and Cavan.

Until 1974, the family lived in Mineola, New York, where his father worked for Otis Elevator. That year, his parents bought a home in Flanders, trading the suburban sprawl of Long Island for the rural byways of western Morris County.

As Irish luck would have it, one of their neighbors was an Irish immigrant from Belfast. She encouraged Dermot and Margaret to join the fledgling Irish American Association of Northwest
Jersey.

“After that, everything with my family was 100 percent, gung-ho Irish,” he said. “When the association bought the clubhouse in Wharton, we were there working on it every weekend. All
the members at that time were in their 30s and 40s and had children. Every event was family focused.

“Sure, we played baseball like other kids. But in the summer, when other families were going down the Shore, we were going to Irish resorts and festivals in the Catskills.”

Advancing Traditions

Through the association, Wood began taking bagpipe lessons from the its first president, Mike Smith, Jr., the founder of the CúChullain Pipe Band.

“It took a long time to get a set of pipes back then, because at the time, you couldn’t drive to
Kearny and buy a set. You couldn’t just go online,” he said. “You had to order them over the phone and wait eight months to a year to have them sent over by boat. They didn’t even come
on a plane.”

Today, bagpipes can be heard at many special events, and Wood is among the instrument’s most esteemed players.

In addition to leading Rory O’Moore as Pipe Major for the last 30 years, he instructs the Essex County Police and Fire Emerald Society Pipe Band and the New Jersey Transit Police Pipe Band. He also plays at scores of weddings, funerals and other events, and takes on private students.

As Parade Day approaches, Wood is focused on continuing the legacy of excellence established by his Grand Marshal predecessors — particularly last year’s Grand Marshal, Jack Haren.

“Jack is a class act and did everything right,” he said. “From the moment they selected me, I knew I had big shoes to fill.”

Looking beyond Parade Day, Wood plans to be even more involved in the Irish community.

“I don’t plan on disappearing,” he said. “I’ve been playing the bagpipes since I was 12, and I still have many more miles left in my shoes.”