Eoin McKiernan Library
EML Director Update, September 2022
The McKiernan Library enjoyed connecting with the broader Twin Cities community over the summer. We made connections with other local history researchers and organizations in our community. We also brought our local history exhibitions to public events. Thanks to a loyal group of volunteers, we were able to keep our Monday and Thursday open hours through most of the summer. This fall, as we wrap up our exciting office remodel project, we hope to attract new users to our reading room and archives at Celtic Junction while continuing to reach out through our archival projects.
The Burnsville/Savage Connection
I was introduced to the work of Jack Kennelly by the mayor of Savage, Minnesota, Janet Williams, whom I met after a performance my music duo did there in June. During the show, I mentioned I had heard Irish musicians and dancers from St. Paul and Minneapolis visited Savage and Burnsville in the 1950s and ‘60s. Williams put me in touch with Kennelly whose own uncle Joe organized “A Night with the Irish,” an annual St. Patrick’s Day event in the area that ran from 1961 into the ‘70s. Kennelly has spent much time over the past few years digitizing over 3,000 photos (no that’s not a typo!) taken by Burnsville area newspaper photographer Del Stelling between 1959-1995. The Stelling collection includes dozens of photos from the “Night with the Irish” events including many striking shots of Twin City Irish American Club musicians, dancers and members and the early Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band. Kennelly’s digitization work, a cooperative project with the Dan Patch Historical Society (Savage) and the Burnsville Historical Society, can be viewed on the Burnsville Historical Society website.
It was a treat to welcome Jack into the Eoin McKiernan Library to talk about his project and our project on the twin City Irish American Club which his uncle Joe Kennelly was also active in. We look forward to exploring more history of the Irish in the Burnsville-Savage area and more happy meetings with the Kennelly clan!
Highland Heritage Project Visit
Our exploration of Twin City Irish American Club history also put us in contact with the Highland Heritage Project in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul. In the early 1960s, just as the “Night with the Irish” event was starting south of town, the Twin City Irish American Club moved its regular dances to the Ford Union Hall outside the gates of the Highland Park Ford Plant. In my search for more information about this hall, I found the Highland Heritage Project online and reached out. Three women from that organization came this July to tour the Celtic Junction Arts Center and meet with Executive Director Natalie O’Shea and me. We learned about each other’s organizations and shared what we knew about the history of Irish-Americans in Highland. Again, what a fantastic connection to another local history organization in our community.
Irish Fair of Minnesota
A highlight of each year is the opportunity to bring the Library’s latest local history photo exhibition to the crowds at the Irish Fair of Minnesota. This August, we brought our exhibition on the Twin City Irish American Club to Harriet Island for the Fair along with our annual Irish Fair book sale at the Celtic Junction Arts Center booth. We would like to extend a huge thank you to Irish Fair for allotting us the space in the pavilion and to volunteers Kate and Dave Daly for all the help setting up!
Sixty Years of the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band
We also put up a photo exhibition celebrating sixty years of the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band at their celebration at Celtic Junction in August. It was tricky dodging the rain storms but so fulfilling to see Brian Boru pipers and drummers from six decades enjoying the music coming from CJAC’s beautiful outdoor stage while perusing our photo display. We even collected a few new photos and added names to some of our existing ones.
Looking Ahead
Back in the library space, we have been processing recently acquired archival materials from the Irish Music and Dance Association (now Irish Arts Minnesota) and a new batch of nearly 200 books from various donors.
This fall, we are wrapping up a remodel of our office and archival storage space including a new audio-visual room for listening to music, watching videos and creating professional recordings. We can’t wait to move into these new spaces and offer more experiences and resources to our visitors! Our beautiful reading room remains open Monday and Thursday evenings every week from 4:30-8:30pm.
