L to R, Mayor Tammy Holicky, Council Member Theresa Ferch, James O'Reilly, Monica O'Reilly and baby Julia and Janice Sellner
“As you drive into Kilkenny, Minnesota, it doesn’t look too distant to the Kilkenny countryside in Ireland, so you can understand how people settled in places that were familiar to them,” says James O’Reilly, as he reflects on his recent trip to the Midwestern state.
James, a Kilkenny, Ireland native and his wife Monica, who hails from Minneapolis, travelled to Kilkenny, MN over Easter to deliver a copy of this year’s Old Kilkenny Review to the library of our Minnesotan namesake town on behalf of Kilkenny Archeological Society and offer assistance in helping them eventually set up their own historical society.
Kilkenny, MN was settled in 1856 by emigrants from Kilkenny in Ireland and incorporated as a town in 1883.
Nearly 170 years on from its settling, the town with a population of 148 in the 2020 census, still feels its connection to Kilkenny, Ireland strongly, which was plain to see in the reception given to James and Monica at the local library.
“That’s when we knew it was a big deal. They really did roll out the red carpet, we were expecting to meet with one or two people,” says Monica.
In a remarkable turn of events, Monica didn’t find out about the existence of Kilkenny, MN, until she saw the placename on a sign in Ireland, meaning she had to move to the Irish Kilkenny over 6,000 kilometres away as the crow flies to become aware of the one located just an hour south of her hometown.
The visitors were introduced to prominent community members like librarian Janice Sellner and current Mayor, Tammy Holicky, along with everyone from the managing editor of the local Montgomery Messenger newspaper to a representative from Explore Minnesota, before the presentation.
After a tour of the town that included the fire station, the water tower adorned with a green shamrock, and Kilkenny, MN’s very own St. Canices’ Church, they headed to the library reception.
“We presented a copy of the 2024 Old Kilkenny Review to their library on behalf of Kilkenny Archaeological Society and a letter written by Fonsie Mealy, the president, offering assistance to them in their research and wishing them luck in their own local historical society,” James recalls.
“They have a prominent display in their library of donations that have come from Kilkenny, Ireland, of local souvenirs and cultural and historical books along with the twinning document between the two places,” he adds.
The official twinning between Kilkennys was signed in 2013 and multiple trips between the two have occurred, including St. Patrick’s Day this year when former Kilkenny, MN Mayor, Kevin Taafe took part in the parade.
The planned historical society will be housed in the library and it’s hoped that objects of significance will be donated to keep a centralised collection together.
“It’s a small town and the next generation, as they move on, the fear is that those artefacts are going to move on with them, so they’re really trying to make sure that legacy will go on,” Monica outlines.
The deep historical connection between Kilkennys can perhaps be best observed in the Le Sueur County town’s graveyard, where familiar names like Delahunty, Shorthall and Hackett dot the headstones.
Librarian Janice Sellner has completed the gargantuan task of mapping the graveyard in its entirety and is moving on to the next phase of the project with the help of Kilkenny’s Irish counterparts.
“Janice has a plan to do research and include people’s birthplaces on the grave markers for the original settlers because there are some that say Kilkenny, Ireland and others which say Paulstown,” James says.
“There are people from Cuffesgrange, but she wants to start putting their birthplaces on those graves to mark where the settlers came from so we’re going to be submitting her mapping of the graveyard to Rothe House to assist in the research and there have been some people from Kilkenny, MN who have been coming over attempting to do genealogy.”
“It’s like walking around a graveyard here, you’re just tripping over Irish names. At least half of the names in the cemetery were Irish,” he concludes.
The desire to keep their history alive and explore the connection with their twin town is clearly alive and well in Kilkenny, MN, and with the added help and resources of the Archaeological Society at Rothe House it seems the links will only deepen in the near future.
The channels of exchange have also been aided by the resumption of direct flights between Dublin and Minneapolis-St Paul last April, after the route had been suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic.
James and Monica have seen the desire from Kilkenny, MN to use the twinning to their advantage, noted the uptick in travelers coming from the Land of 10,000 Lakes and hope that more people from Kilkenny, Ireland will take the chance to visit our American namesake.
“They really want to use this twinning to boost the information and knowledge about them, and increase their own tourism into the area,” Monica says.
“You see people walking around Kilkenny in Ireland with Minnesota Twins baseball caps or a Mayo Clinic jumper. I would expect more people from Kilkenny, MN to make their way over here with these direct flights and we would encourage people to do the same the other way.”
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