New Irish Consul, Noel Kilkenny, is off to busy start

He may be the new kid in town, but Noel Kilkenny has already begun to make his mark in the New York Irish community.

Kilkenny, 58, a native of Co. Clare, is the new Irish consul general in New York. He replaced Niall Burgess, who moved back to Dublin to take up the position of director general of the Anglo Irish Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Kilkenny isn’t a man who believes in easing himself into the job. He asked for a full schedule to be put together immediately, and he got right to work.

Within his first week he visited the Aisling Irish Center in Yonkers to become acquainted with the older members of the Irish community.

There he met 98-year-old Joe Cunningham. An active member of the senior group at the center. Cunningham promised to keep Kilkenny up to date with the happenings of the group and pledged to paint him a picture.

“We had such a wonderful time at the Aisling Center,” Kilkenny shared during an interview with the Irish Voice last week at the Irish Consulate.

“My wife Hanora came with me and it was very special for both of us to meet the older members -- the heart of our community really -- who came here in difficult times and still maintain such great pride for their country and Irish heritage.”

Referring to the “great work” started by Burgess with the older members of the Irish community, Kilkenny pledged to continue to concentrate on serving the same people and doing for them what he can.

“Niall had a real strong passion for the community and especially the seniors in the community, so I plan to build on that and reach out to them as much as possible,” promised Kilkenny.

Pausing during the interview for a moment, Kilkenny turned around to point out several pictures taken by famous Irish photographer John Minihan of the older members of the Irish community hanging on his office walls.

He smiles and says, “They are wonderful reminders to me every day that these are the people I’m here to serve.”

Kilkenny hails from Kilrush, Co. Clare. There he attended the Christian Brothers primary school and went to Co. Waterford to boarding school for the latter part of his secondary schooling.  He furthered his education with a law degree from University College Dublin.

He spent three years in the Irish Department of Justice and began his career with the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1977.

Since then his career has brought him all over the world, including various stints in Holland, China, Washington, D.C., Bosnia, London, Estonia and Moldova, and many years in between in Dublin.

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