City discovers long lost Californian cousin

BY DARA BRADLEY

Moves are afoot to restore important links between a small Galway suburb and its affluent American namesake, a town in the heart of Silicon Valley and home to some of the world’s biggest rock stars.

Thanks to the efforts of one Galway native, the prospect of Menlo on the outskirts of Galway city forging links, and possibly ‘sister city’ ties, with its affluent namesake town in California, is back on the cards.

Historians, business leaders and Council officials in Menlo Park, California – named after Menlo village – are anxious to explore the possibility of establishing a friendship with Galway City, and possibly a sister city connection.

Menlo Park in California was founded in the 1800s by two men from Menlo in Galway, Dennis J Oliver and D.C. McGlynn, who emigrated to the United States during the Great Famine.

Today, it is one of the hubs for Silicon Valley’s venture capitalist companies and boasts of being the birthplace to one of the biggest internet companies ever, Google, and is the location for the headquarters of another internet giant, Facebook.

In the early 1850s the two Galway exiles purchased a large ranch or tract of land of between 800 and 1,700 acres and named it Menlo Park, after their hometown. The entrance to the ranch was, apparently, modelled on the archway entrance which was the former gatelodge at Menlo Castle. Some years later when the train system was being built in America, one of the stops on the railway was at Menlo Park and the town ‘grew up’ around the station.

At a recent meeting in Menlo Park, California members of the Menlo Park Historical Society, the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor of Menlo Park, Kirsten Keith, said they were keen to explore the possibility of establishing friendship links and sister city ties between the two areas.

Castlegar native Gerry Hanley, who has a keen interest in the historical links between the two Menlos, visited California where he had lunch with the local dignitaries and was given a tour of Menlo Park, including the train station, St Patrick’s Seminary and the Civic Centre.

“They are anxious to forge some sort of link with Galway. They are keen to explore the possibility of forming sister city ties,” said Mr Hanley.

Now, Fine Gael Councillor Padraig Conneely has tabled a Notice of Motion with Galway City Council for its meeting on Monday night proposing that Galway establish a formal relationship with Menlo Park in California.

“I want this put on a formal footing,” he said this week. “After all, there are not too many places around the globe with such an established connection with Galway. This city in California would never have existed in its current guise but for the Famine forcing these two Menlo men to emigrate in the mid 19th Century.

“I believe this link should be established from an historical perspective alone, but if the two cities can be mutually beneficial to each other in the years ahead, then all the better. I sincerely hope the City Council react favourably to my proposal,” he added.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.