Letterkenny celebrates St Patrick's weekend with German twin town Rudolstadt

The Letterkenny guests in Rudolstadt for St Patrick's weekend. Photo Heike Enzian

placeholder image — The Letterkenny guests in Rudolstadt for St Patrick's weekend. Photo Heike Enzian

The official signing of the Town Twinning Agreement between Letterkenny and Rudolstadt took place in October 2018 and this weekend the German town has turned green for their guests

Letterkenny’s twin town - Rudolstadt in Germany - is enjoying the St Patrick’s Day festivities with plenty of familiar faces.

The flag of Letterkenny and Irish tricolour are hanging proudly in the Market Square alongside its German equivalent with 36 visitors from Letterkenny having made the trip, led by the mayor of the Letterkenny/Milford Municipal District Jimmy Kavanagh and councillor Gerry McMonagle.

Rudolstadt will turn green for the weekend with a host of events taking place, including live music in the Marketplatz featuring Maria McCormick from Letterkenny, after Friday evening’s official welcome. Local musicians including John Muldowney and High-Heeled Converse are also playing.

Today, the guests were taken on a tour of the Volkstedt porcelain manufactory and then Heidecksburg Palace, the former residence of the counts and princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, which will be illuminated green as well.

The German Ambassador to Ireland Deike Potzel visited Letterkenny in 2018 to mark the signing of the official twinning agreement between Letterkenny and Rudolstadt.

Letterkenny native Karol Kerrane and his Scottish wife Selena Mowat are residents of Rudolstadt, as are two former students of St Eunan’s College, Luca Villamajna and Cian Mulligan, having initially went to the German town to learn the language on a student exchange.

“The whole place will turn green,” Kerrane told DonegalLive today. “It’s great to see the flag flying here and so many having made the trip over from Letterkenny. It should be a great weekend and we’re delighted to have so many over from home, as well as fantastic support from all of the locals who have really bought into the spirit