BUTTE — Representatives from the Beare Peninsula in Ireland brought more than 50 people and their music to Butte to celebrate the connection between two communities that are thousands of miles apart.
“I love it, yeah, I’m walking in the footsteps of my ancestors,” said Tony Curtin or Cork City.
Watch: Irish delegation celebrates cultural ties in Butte with musical tribute
More than 50 citizens and some dignitaries from southern Ireland were honored in the rotunda of the Butte Courthouse.
“We recognize the thousands of miners from the Beare Peninsula, whose strength and skill powered Butte’s mines,” said Butte Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher.
The group, which included political representatives from Ireland, is touring Southwest Montana.
Many were eager to visit Butte, like Tony Curtin, who said dozens of his relatives came to Butte in the late 19th century to work in the mines.
“It was a huge part of my life growing up hearing about Butte and this magical place, and I’m hear at last,” said Curtin.
Some of the guests said they wanted to connect with relatives still living in Butte or learning about their family history.
“This is my grandfather, Con, or Cornelius Creedon, and this is the Montana State football team of 1911. I know very little about him, so I’m hoping to learn more,” said Joe Creedon of Inchydoney, Ireland.
Organizers of the trip wanted to Beare to continue to have a lasting relationship with Montana and Butte.
“Butte has always been seen as the parish that was 4,200 miles away, because our people were there, that’s where we went, that’s where they lived, they made lives for themselves,” said trip organizer Wayne O’Sullivan Shandon.
