The James Hoban Memorial Arbour, erected to commemorate the Kilkenny-born architect who designed and built the White House, will be officially opened on Sunday October 5.
A delegation from the United States led by William Allman, the Curator of the White House, will travel to Kilkenny to attend the ceremony which will commence at 3.30pm.
Located at Desart, Cuffesgrange, close to the birthplace of James Hoban, the memorial arbour, which incorporates a 'Spirit of Place' installation was erected during the summer by architecture students from the Catholic University of America.
The famous architect attended the Dublin Society’s Drawing Schools for a number of years around 1780, and after practising briefly in Dublin, emigrated to Philadelphia. He later settled in Charleston, South Carolina, where he came to President George Washington’s attention. He lived and worked inWashington DC for almost forty years, a unique record in the first half-century of the new city’s existence.
The original owner of the land, 92-year-old Miss Kitty Kelly, has been invited to attend the opening ceremony, while representatives of the US Embassy in Ireland are also expected to be present. In addition, an invitation has been extended to Mr Walter Curley, the US ambassador who unveiled the original Hoban memorial at Desart in 1976.
Chairman of Kilkenny County Council Cllr Tomás Breathnach and three councillors who have been involved in the advancement of the project including, Tom Maher (FG ), Matt Doran (FF ) and Ann Phelan (Lab ), will attend the event on behalf of the local authority.
The opening of the memorial will take place in conjunction with a number of other events to mark the 250th anniversary of Hoban’s birth including, a full day conference at the RDS on October 3 and a half-day conference to be held in the Parade Tower of Kilkenny Castle on Saturday October 4. Organised by the Kilkenny Campus/NUI Maynooth, the conference will feature four speakers from the United States.
Dr Martin Manseragh, Minister of State at the Department of Finance will launch the events in honour of Hoban at the RDS on Thursday October 3, at which the Honourary Desmond Guinness will make the keynote speech.
An exhibition, similar to the one currently mounted at The White HouseVisitors’ Centre in Washington DC, will also be unveiled at the RDS Library and will remain on public display during the months of October and November.
The exhibition will move to Kilkenny in early 2009 and it is hoped that a more permanent location for it will be found in the Callan area before the commencement of the summer tourist season.
Details of the October seminar programme at the RDS and facilities for registration, are available on the RDS website at www.rds.ie/speakerseries/hoban Further details of the plans to honour this distinguished Irishman and the background to his life and achievements, are available in the James Hoban section of the website www.whitehousehistory.org
