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A CAPACITY audience gathered at Killarney House on Sunday morning to hear presentations from five speakers on aspects of the life and connections of the McShain family during their occupation of the house from the 1950s to the 1990s, as well as insights into the work of John McShain and others on The White House in Washington DC.

The event was organised by the James Hoban Societies of the US and Ireland, which researches and promotes the life and times of Kilkenny-born James Hoban, the original architect and builder of the presidential mansion, in conjunction with the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Programme director Denis Bergin introduced the session by summarising the contribution of James Hoban and other Irish pioneers to the early development of Washington. Killarney local historian Conor Doolan reported on his research among the many former employees and friends of the McShain family, to give a snapshot of their lives as residents and benefactors of Killarney.

New York author Robert Klara, who has written a book on John McShain's massive reconstruction of the White House in the years 1948-52, reported on his extensive interviews with Sr. Pauline McShain, including her memories of driving with President Franklin Roosevelt in his specially adapted car during a family visit to his New York estate.

Historian Vincent Carmody told of the career of his Listowel-born relative Kathy Buckley, who served three US Presidents as a cook in the White House, and who brought back many mementoes of her time there when she retired to her native place in the 1950s.

Architect Brian O'Connell traced the origins of the American Constitution to documents produced at the Confederation of Kilkenny in 1642, and noted how democratic principles had shaped the spaces used by parliaments from Robert Shee's house in Kilkenny to the former Irish parliament house (now the Bank of Ireland) in College Green and the U.S. Capitol in DC.

Killarney House manager Pat Dawson expressed himself very satisfied with the session, which followed the official opening of the restored reception rooms at Killarney House on July 3, and hoped that the local connection to the McShains and America could be developed as the theme of an annual event.
 

 
Photographed at the Hoban-McShain Mini-Summer School session at Killarney House on Sunday morning are: Harry O'Donoghue, caretaker, Killarney House; Conor Doolan, local historian and speaker (Killarney); Vincent Carmody, local historian and speaker (Listowel); Denis Bergin, programme director; Robert Klara, author and speaker (New York); Brian O'Connell, architect and speaker; and Pat Dawson, manager, Killarney House.