The Dingle Tourism Alliance and the Kerry County Council welcomed Mayor Will Reichelt of West Springfield, the Irish Cultural Center (ICC) of Western New England Board of Directors, Eastern States Exposition President and CEO Gene Cassidy, Chief of Police Jay Gearing, Fire Chief C.J. Bartone and more leaders from West Springfield to Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The trip included the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to the Sister City Agreement and participation in four parades throughout the Dingle Peninsula beginning at dawn on Tuesday, March 17.
Irish immigration to New England peaked in the 1840s when the Potato Famine made the quality of life on the island intolerable. People immigrated from every corner of Ireland, but those from County Kerry flocked to Western Massachusetts in troves. This is why so many of the diaspora in West Springfield hail from the now-evacuated Blasket Islands and the rocky Dingle Peninsula along the southwestern coast.
When individuals from the Dingle Tourism Alliance visited The Big E in West Springfield nearly three decades ago, they recognized a shared history with the region and the opportunity for Irish vendors to prosper at the popular 17-day Fair. The Irish tourism group partnered with Eastern States Exposition (ESE) to create the Dingle Peninsula Showcase. The exterior of this cultural hotspot mimics the quaint retail row along Strand Street in Dingle, and the interior hosts businesses and tradespeople directly from Ireland.
In 2017, Mayor Reichelt signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kerry County Council to form the “Sister City Agreement” with Dingle, Ireland, to bridge the geographic and generational distance between the 20% of West Springfield’s populace that hails from Ireland. Since the memorandum’s inception, the implementation of the Dingle Peninsula Showcase and the annual Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day programming at The Big E, we have witnessed a substantial increase across tourism, retail and communication between both regions.
Programming for the Sister City Plaque Dedication was organized and hosted by the Kerry County Council at Dingle Pier. Among the attendees were Mayor Reichelt, ICC President Sean Cahillane, ICC Co-Vice President Ed Sullivan, ICC Treasurer Stephanie Joyce, ESE President and CEO Gene Cassidy and Caroline Boland of the Dingle Tourism Alliance.
Throughout the week-long trip, West Springfield’s town officials, St. Patrick’s Parade Committee members and other figureheads also visited historic spaces such as the Blasket Island Centre, the Gallarus Oratory and the Gaelic Athletic Association Club to learn more about the heritage of their hometown. On St. Patrick’s Day, the entire contingent was invited to march in four parades: the Dingle Dawn Parade, the Ballyferriter Parade, the Dingle Parade and the Castlegregory Parade.
“The people of the Dingle Peninsula were delighted to welcome our Sister City,” said Caroline Boland of Dingle Tourism Alliance. “It was a treat to host our friends and family from West Springfield, Holyoke and Westfield. The unveiling of the plaque and the participation in our parades was momentous and highlighted by the warm reception the group received as they paraded through Dingle and Ballyferriter.
“Our relationship is based on our roots—our family connections with Western Mass. go back to the late 1800s. This week displayed how authentic and important our tightknit trans-Atlantic connection is. This visit deepened our current relationships even more and further established platforms for future generations to come. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine. ‘It is in the shelter of each other that the people live,’ or ‘We live in each other’s shadow’,” she concluded.
These leaders will bring the knowledge they have gained right back home to improve upon the cultural spaces and events in Western Mass., from the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race and Parade, March 21-22, to the other bookend of the Irish season, Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day during Opening Weekend of The Big E, Sept. 18-20.