An Taoiseach Enda Kenny
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will address graduates of Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts, at the school’s 137th annual Commencement Exercises on May 20.

Boston College President Rev. William P. Leahy, SJ, will present Kenny with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the ceremony, where 4,400 Boston College students will receive their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

University Spokesman Jack Dunn said that Boston College was delighted to have the Prime Minister speak at its Commencement, given the school’s historic ties to Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“Boston College was founded by a Jesuit from Ulster 150 years ago to serve the sons of Boston’s Irish immigrants. Given our connections to Ireland and Boston College’s reputation as America’s foremost university in the field of Irish Studies, we are pleased that the Taoiseach will join us for our Commencement and receive an honorary degree during our Sesquicentennial celebration,” said Dunn.

Boston College also announced earlier this month that former Irish President Mary McAleese has accepted an invitation to become its Burns Library Visiting Scholar, beginning this fall. As Burns Scholar, McAleese will present public lectures during the fall semester while pursuing research in the Burns Library Irish Book and Manuscript Collection. The Irish Collection of Burns Library, the largest and most comprehensive in the United States, includes materials from Nobel laureates William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw and Seamus Heaney.

Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Ranked among the best universities in the United States, the school enrolls 9,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students from all 50 US states and more than 40 countries.