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By Sean Moriarty

The last surviving member of the McShain family, who gifted Killarney House and Innisfallen Island to the Irish State, has died.

Sr Pauline McShain, aged 91, the only child of John and Mary McShain, died last week in Philadelphia, bringing to an end the direct link between the McShain family and the American city.

This week, Kerry County Council opened a Book of Condolences in the reception area of the Killarney Municipal District Offices as a mark of respect.

John McShain was one of America’s prolific builders, active in one of the few growth areas during the Great Depression of the 1930s - government contracts.

Having earned the respect of President Roosevelt, Mr McShain won contracts to build the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, the Jefferson Memorial, the Longfellow Building, the Naval Hospital and, in 1941 the Pentagon. Under President Truman he was awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the White House 1949-1952.

Soon after John McShain purchased this estate in 1959, he arranged with the Irish government that, following his own death and that of his wife, Killarney House would become the property of the Irish State. Accepting this gift, the Irish officials agreed to preserve Killarney House and Gardens and was incorporated into the Killarney National Park. John McShain died in 1989; the death of his wife Mary occurred in 1998.

It is the end of an era for the McShain family both in the USA and in Killarney,” Margaret O’Regan of the National Parks and Wildlife Services said. “The Irish people, and especially the people of the town of Killarney, are indebted to John, Mary and Sr Pauline McShain for the wonderful ‘gift’ of Killarney House and Gardens, Ross Castle, Innisfallen Island the Middle and Lower Lakes of Killarney. [It is] their legacy for generations to come to enjoy.”

Sr Pauline kept regular updates on the restoration of Killarney House and Gardens, a place where she and her parents always referred to as their ‘Irish Home’. Up to the time of her passing she still kept in touch with Killarney and sent a lovely letter on the opening of the new Interpretative Exhibition last September.