A formal Seattle Galway Sister City Agreement was signed in 1986
by City of Seattle Mayor Charlie Royer and the City of Galway, Ireland, Mayor Bridie O'Flaherty:
Seattle Galway Association By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation Seattle Galway Association State of Washington Incorporation Galway Mayor Declan McDonnell and his wife Mary visited Seattle in March, 2010, to participate in Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Parade and other Irish Week events. He also visited Olympia on March 11, 2010, where he met with Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and other political leaders. Click the picture to see other photos of the Mayor's Olymia visit which was coordinated by State Sen. Ed Murray.
On March 12, 2010, Galway Mayor Declan McDonnell and members of the Seattle Galway Association met with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn at Seattle City Hall. From L-R are: Mike McQuaid, Mary McDonnell, Galway Mayor Declan McDonnell, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, Honorary Consul of Ireland John Keane, Joe O'Neill, Kay O'Neill, Maureen Keane. On November 16, 2009, various members of Seattle's Irish community, including the Presidents of the Irish Heritage Club, the Seattle Galway Association and the Friends of St. Patrick, met with outgoing Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to formally express their thnks to him for his support of the Irish community and especially of the Seattle Galway relationship during his 8 years in office.
Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin paid an official visit to Galway, Ireland, in September, 2008.
Having a Luncheon Meeting in Galway in September 2008 are, from left, Galway Mayor Pádraig Conneely, Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin, Galway City Manager Joe McGrath and Galway City Director of Services Joe O'Neill.
Click HERE or above photo to see more wonderful photos from Richard and Sue Ann Conlin's trip to Ireland in September 2008.
SEPTEMBER 2007 TRIP TO GALWAY
Click here to see MORE PHOTOS from the Galway Visit.
In September 2007, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels spent four days leading a sister city delegation to Galway on his first ever visit to Ireland. Among the events specially organized for the Seattle delegation was a reception and dinner in their honor, and Mayor Nickels was also a special guest at the Galway Oyster Festival Parade and at the Oyster Festival’s Gala Ball. A tour of Connemara was also arranged for the Seattle visitors and the Mayor’s party also visited the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare.
Despite Seattle and Galway being Sister Cities since 1986, it was the first time that a Seattle Mayor had ever visited Galway. The visit occurred 25 years after the first official Seattle Galway contact in September 1982 when a group of 18 Seattleites traveled to Ireland looking for an Irish Sister City. That group met with the Mayors of Dublin, Limerick, Waterford, and Cork, and even with Lord Iveagh, the head of Guinness! They arrived in Galway in the middle of the Oyster Festival, and had a meeting with Galway’s Deputy Mayor Mary Byrne. Upon their return to Seattle, the group’s consensus was that, of all the Irish cities visited, Galway had the most in common with Seattle. It took four more years until the Seattle Galway sister city relationship was finally formalized in 1986.
While in Ireland, Mayor Nickels also visited Thurles and the nearby village of Gortnahoe, Co. Tipperary. His great-great-grandparents, William and Catherine (Carney) Ryan, were born in Thurles in 1822 and they later moved to Gortnahoe from where they emigrated to the US in 1852, settling in Illinois where Greg Nickels was born in 1955. Mayor Nickels and his wife Sharon and daughter Cary were welcomed to Gortnahoe by a group of schoolchildren and parishioners led by the local Parish Priest, Canon John O’Rourke, who had done extensive research into the Mayor’s links to Gortnahoe. Mayor Nickels even met a distant relative of his, Anna Hayden, who, like the Mayor, is a descendant of the Carneys of Gortnahoe.
Later Mayor Nickels visited Thurles where his great-great-grandparents were born in 1822. He was greeted there by the Mayor of Thurles, Michel Grogan, and by the Archbishop of Cashel & Emily, Most Rev. Dermot Clifford, who gave him a tour of the Cathedral of the Assumption where the Mayor’s great-great-grandparents were baptized. He also toured the town’s Famine Museum before heading on to Galway.
Click to hear "The Fields of Athenry", Co. Galway!
The Bronze Marker on the
Galway Stone in Seattle with the arrow pointing in
the
true direction of Galway. The monument is located
at 2200 Alaskan Way, on the
east side of Alaskan Way beside the Bell Street Trolley
Stop, and across from
Pier 66 on Seattle's waterfront.
Galway
and Seattle formalized their Sister City relationship
in 1986.
Galway
City, Capital of the West of Ireland, is now the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland and
is the fastest-growing city in Europe. While Galway is
an ancient city which celebrated its quincenntenial
in 1984, it is also a very modern city with three
of every four houses in Galway today having been built since
1960.
Galway
is a University city with a strong local economy with complementary business sectors including manufacturing industry, tourism, retail and distribution, education, healthcare, and services including financial, construction, cultural, and professional.
The
Galway area holds many attractions for both Galwegians and visitors alike: its unique location on Galway
Bay with Connemara and the Aran Islands to the West,
its lively vibrant city center with traditional medieval
streets, its extensive shopping and business facilities,
its youthful population and its living culture of music, theater and language ensure its enduring appeal. That appeal attracted over 1 million tourists to Galway in
2000, with 35% of them from the US.
To
mark the Seattle Galway Sister City relationship,
a stone monument was unveiled in Galway in 1993 that carries
on a bronze marker the geophysical data of Seattle –
it’s elevation, latitude, longitude, great circle distance, true
bearing and time zone progression. Additionally, an angled facet
on the side of the stone was cut to the precise chord angle directed
from Galway to Seattle, and another bronze marker with an arrow
indicates the shortest distance from Galway to Seattle through
the earth. A similar monument was unveiled in Seattle in 2000
carrying the geophysical data of Galway, and with an arrow pointing
back to Galway. That monument is located on the east
side of Alaskan Way at the Bell Street Trolley stop, opposite Pier 66. An annual student-exchange exists between
the University of Washington and University College
Galway. These and other local activities strengthen the ties
that bind us to Ireland, whether they are ties of birth,
of ancestry or of interest.
Galway Mayor Brian Walsh,
who visited Seattle in April 2006.
SEATTLE
GALWAY
SISTER CITY ASSOCIATION
COMMITTEE
Mick McHugh, President
Lynne Berry, Vice-President
John Keane, Secretary
John Costello, Treasurer
For
additional information on the
Seattle Galway Association,
call John Costello on 206-725-9543
or email SeattleGalway@irishclub.org.
A Seattle-Ireland Sister City delegation in Dublin
in 1982, meeting with Lord Iveagh,
the Earl of Guinness, at Guinness Brewery Headquarters
in Dublin.
L-R: Robert Julien, Mick McHugh, Alf Collins, Fr.
William Treacy, Tom Keefe,
Lord Iveagh, Ed Devine, John Keane
Galway Deputy-Mayor Mary O'Byrne with Seattle Deputy
Mayor Tom Keefe in Galway in 1982, when a delegation from Seattle
first visited Galway on a mission to select an Irish Sister City for
Seattle. Also in the picture are Seattle delegation members Mary Shriane on left
and John Keane on right.
In 1991, a Seattle-Galway Sister City delegation
met with Irish President Mary Robinson at Áras an Uachtaráin
(the Irish White House), in Dublin. President Robinson is on the right and also in
the picture are John Keane on left, Maureen Keane in the background, and Maureen
Peterson (in the middle) from the Spokane-Limerick Sister City Association.
In 1993, a stone monument was unveiled in Galway
to mark the Seattle Galway Sister City relationship. The unveiling was done
by Seattle City Council President George Benson and Galway Mayor Padraig McCormack.
Above, members of the Galway City Council in their red robes listen as
George Benson, Seattle City Council President, and Mick McHugh, the Seattle Galway
Association President, answer questions about the significance of the monument.
A close-up view of the stone monument unveiled
in Galway in 1993 to mark the Seattle Galway Sister City relationship. The
unveiling was done by Seattle City Council President George Benson and Galway
Mayor Padraig McCormack.
In 2000, a stone monument was unveiled in Seattle
to mark the Seattle Galway Sister City relationship. The unveiling was done by Seattle
Mayor Paul Schell, Irish Consul General Kevin Conmy and Galway Mayor Declan
McDonnell, who are shown here examining the monument following the
unveiling.
The Bronze Marker on the Galway Stone in Seattle
with the arrow pointing in the true direction of Galway. The monument is located
at 2200 Alaskan Way, on the east side of Alaskan Way beside the Bell Street
Trolley Stop, and across from Pier 66 on Seattle's waterfront.
Galway Mayor Declan McDonnell (standing at rear)
in 2000 with John Keane, Dónal McKevitt, and Mick
McHugh
at a Galway Association Dinner at Bellevue's Jake
O'Shaughnessey's.
Girl Scouts, Totem Council, at the Galway Stone
in Seattle in March 2002. In February 2002, this group of 17 Girl Scouts and 10 adults
visited Kilkenny, Cork and Galway during their 10-day trip around Ireland where
they met with over 120 Girl Guides.
The Girl Scout leaders at the Galway Stone in Seattle,
with Irish Consul General Donal Denham who was visiting from San Francsico..
The Front Line of March in the 2002 St. Patrick's
Day Parade included Honorary Grand Marshals Gordon and Kitty Jacobsen, US Congressman
Jim McDermott, Speaker Emeritus of the State House of Representatives
John L O'Brien, US SenatorMaria Cantwell, Irish Consul General Niamh
Ryan, Jim Sheehan, Irish Government Minister Tom Kitt, and Parade
Grand Marshal Tom T O'Keefe.
In March 2004, Galway Mayor Terry O'Flaherty and US Senator Maria Cantwell at Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Irish Government Minister Tom Kitt visited Seattle
as part of a delegation in March 2002 and participated in most of the celebrations
surrounding St. Patrick's Day 2002. He is shown here before the
St. Patrick's Day Parade with Seattle Galway Association members Alice and
Brian Gannon-McKinley.
The Mayor of Galway, Councillor Val Hanley, leads
Seattle's 2003 St. Patrick's Day Parade along with Parade Grand
Marshal actor Tom Skerritt, and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels
Galway Mayor Val Hanley, Tom Skerritt, John
Keane and Eileen Hanley at Seattle's 2003 Irish Week Festival at the Seattle
Center
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels with Galway Mayor
Val Hanley
John Keane, Seattle-Galway Association Secretary,
Mayor Terry O'Flaherty of Galway, and Mick MgHugh, Seattle-Galway Association
President, in Galway in September, 2003
PAST EVENTS
GALWAY ASSOCIATION RECEIVES THE SEATTLE SISTER CITIES AWARD
The
Seattle Galway Sister City Association was awarded the Annual Seattle Sister Cities Award for "Best Single Project - 2000" by the City of
Seattle. The project was the installation of a stone monument
on Seattle's waterfront, opposite Pier 66, to mark
the Sister City bonds between Seattle and Galway (see
below for more information on the monument unveiling).
Also
vying for the award this year was the Seattle-Pecs Sister City Association which sent the Seattle
Youth Symphony to Hungary in 2000, but the three judges unanimously chose the Galway Association's project
because, in their words, the project was "imaginative and innovative, setting a new trend for others; it
was most unusual; it involved a half dozen or more community
groups and organizations; it made more people aware of
the Sister City connection; and the public location of the
monument will continue to draw people's attention."
MILLENNIUM
IMAGES IRELAND AND AMERICA
Fourteen
Irish artists, from Galway and from Belfast, have left Seattle following a very successful exhibition of their works and those of twenty-six other Irish painters, printmakers and fiber artists. The works were exhibited in the Seattle area during the month of September
at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center and at various other locations in Seattle and Port Townsend. Tom Byers, the deputy Mayor of Seattle, represented the city at a reception at the Gallery on September 15 and the Seattle-Galway Association hosted a dinner for the visiting artists the same day. For more information on the exhibitions, email the Seattle
Galway Association. or contact Barbara Pitts, 3515 E Marion St, Seattle, WA 98122 or email Barbara@pitts.net
GALWAY
STONE UNVEILING The Mayor of Galway, Councillor Declan McDonnell, and the Irish Consul General, Kevin Conmy, joined Seattle Mayor Paul Schell in unveiling the Galway Sister City Monument on Tuesday, June 27, 2000,
on Seattle's Waterfront. After each briefly addressed the crowd of over 100 people present, the Rev. Barry Keating and Fr. John Madigan gave an invocation and the stone monument was unveiled to loud applause. The sculpture, carrying the name and geophysical data of Galway - it's longitude, latitude, distance, etc. - was created to acknowledge the formal ties of friendship between the city of Seattle and it's Sister City of Galway, Ireland, and is located
on the east side of Alaskan Way near Pier 66, at 2200 Alaskan Way. It mirrors the Seattle Stone, carrying the name and geophysical data of Seattle, which was unveiled in Galway in 1993 near Galway's waterfront on a site located between the historic Spanish Arch and the Jury's Inn. A reception was hosted after the unveiling by the Port of Seattle, and the Seattle Galway Association later hosted a dinner at F X McRory's to honor the Mayor and the Consul General. The Mayor of Galway was accompanied to Seattle
by his wife Mary and by Robert Curley, who is an Administrative Officer with the City of Galway. The Consul General was accompanied by Eamonn McKee, Irish Embassey Press Officer, based in New York. Earlier in the day, the party from Galway and the Consul General were given a VIP tour of the new Experience Music Project, Paul Allen's new high-tech Rock 'n Roll museum at the Seattle Center.
Following
is the inscription on the stone's descriptive plaque, in Gaelic and in English: ____________________
Is
cuid de bheartas marc-airde speisialta an leaht seo, a tógadh ag Caidreamh Cathrach Deirféarach Seattle - Gaillimh, deartha ag an ealaiontóir cáiliúil Don Scott (1937-1982). Ar aghiaidh an leachta, tá léargas ar mhion-eolas tíre Chathair na Gaillimhe le feiscint. Ag an am céanna, tá leacht eile i gCathair na Gaillimhe ar a bhfuil marcanna tíreolaíochta Chathair Seattle leagtha amach. Is comhartha poiblí iad an dá leacht seo a dhaingíonn an dlúth-cheangal agus an chairdeas speisialta atá ag fás idir muintir an dá
chathair. Is féidir linn líne fí or-dhíreach a tharraingt ó ghrua cearnach an leachta atá suite i gCathair Seattle go dtí an uillinn grua chomhfhreagarthach ar aghaidh an leachta atá i gCathair na Gaillimhe agus ciallaíonn an líne seo an fhaid is gaire idi an dá chathair trí cheartlár an domhain. Tógtha ag Caidreamh Cathrach Deirféarach Seattle-Gaillimh
Meitheamh
2000 ____________________
This
stone, marked with the geophysical data of the city of Galway, is part of a Seattle Sister
Cities Benchmark Project designed in 1984 by Seattle artist Don Scott (1937-1985).
Similar
to another stone in Galway marked with the geophysical data of the city of Seattle, this stone acknowledges the formal Sister City bonds between our cities and the ties of friendship between our
citizens. The angled facet on the side of the stone marks the chord angle through the earth from Seattle to Galway. This chord angle, and another on the corresponding stone in Galway, indicates the shortest distance between our two cities, which is through the earth in the precise direction of the arrow. Erected by the Seattle Galway Sister City Association June 2000 ____________________
For
information on the Seattle Galway Association, call
John Costello on 206-725-9543 or email SeattleGalway@irishclub.org.
The Irish Government's Citizens Information Site, Information About Ireland Moving to Ireland, Treavel & Recreation, etc.
