Georgia Southern hosts Irish visitors

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - While plenty of people will be focused on all things St. Patrick’s Day this week, Georgia Southern has a presence and spirit of the Irish year round.

Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and celebration shines as an example of the region’s Irish roots. It’s that depth and history that prompted faculty to found the Center for Irish Studies back in the 1990′s.

“Obviously, the Irish presence in Savannah goes far beyond St. Patrick’s Day. There’s lots of fraternal organizations. There’s the school system with St. Vincent’s and Benedictine. Really a profound tradition,” Dr. Howard Keeley said.

It’s evolved to become the Center for Irish Research and Teaching, and it reaches beyond Coastal Georgia. The university boasts a presence in Wexford Ireland. Visitors from there arrived in town Tuesday for the St. Patrick’s observance.

University leaders say the partnership across the Atlantic helps both communities.

“It’s a landmark. It’s an opportunity, not only from an educational standpoint and a chance to expand, but also an economic partnership in terms of what we do here, in Savannah and in the whole Southeast Georgia region,” GSU President Dr. Kyle Marrero said.

While they’re touring campus today, they’re also finalizing plans for Southern students to begin studying abroad at Wexford again this summer for the first time in two years. Keeley says the experience will benefit the university, it’s students and their future employers.

“They’ll take the experience of Wexford, Ireland back with them to Statesboro, Armstrong, Hinesville through the rest of their lives.”

It also helps study the history and culture of one of the region’s most beloved founding groups.

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