What better choice could there possibly be? Mark Hamill is to be the very first International Guest of Honour at the St Patrick’s Festival. Great news, and Mark’s pretty darn pleased about it.
And I am delighted to return to the beautiful Emerald Isle to spend St. Patrick’s Day with the people of Ireland at the Festival & meet your President! Also a rare opportunity to indulge in a mug of delicious green milk. ??☘ https://t.co/aePeuiQgDd
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 12, 2018
Mark Hamill, star of the stage and screen, and known for his Star Wars role of Luke Skywalker, will be welcomed back to our shores as the inaugural International Guest of Honour.
The new honourary role of International Guest of Honour has been created to celebrate the achievements of an individual from the worlds of business, the arts, or the media, who has a special connection or significant affinity with Ireland. The role will be an opportunity to recognise and celebrate their relationship with and contribution to our country. While here Mark will be a special guest in the Presidential stand to view the National Festival Parade on March 17th.
Audiences were introduced to the savage beauty of Skellig Michael, the legendary island off the coast of Kerry, in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS when Rey tracked down the long-lost Luke Skywalker, portrayed by Mark Hamill. Since the opening of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way has been catapulted to global fame, having been filmed in some of the most spectacular spots on Ireland’s western coastline, from the northern-most point in County Donegal to the magnificent cliffs and headlands of Counties Clare, Cork and Kerry.
And there’s another reason beyond filming two of the Star Wars sequels in Ireland. Mark has family connections to the Emerald Isle.
In addition to Mark’s Star Wars connection, research into his family history has found that he has a double-link to Ireland. His great-grandmother Elizabeth Keating was born in Kilkenny on 6th December 1873 and left Ireland for America when she was still a teenager. Further research shows that his great (x3) grandparents John Keating married Margaret Foley of Gurteen married in Carlow Cathedral in 1822. A second family line connects Mark to the Harvey family, possibly from Donegal, who were Famine immigrants that settled in America. In 1864, Frederick Mumford, a young English sailor was married in New Jersey to Mary Harvey, a recent Irish immigrant. These are Mark’s great-great-grandparents. The young couple moved to New York City and settled in Manhattan where they had five children.
The festival itself is set to be a colourful, boisterous affair in the heart of Dublin.
A firm highlight of St. Patrick’s Festival, the Festival Parade on March 17th will weave its way through the heart of the capital city in a flourish of colour and flair. Community groups and pageant companies from all over Ireland will come together to celebrate the parade theme Home Is Where the Heart Is through a variety of performances and street theatre around subjects such as precious moments treasured by the family clock and ‘Home’ as a tribe, family and shared experience. This year will also see over 2,000 band members from far and wide deliver dazzling rhythms and uplifting music that will reverberate throughout the city’s streets.
