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Mallow, Ireland UpdateMarch 2004 The Tinley Park Sister Cities Commission is an all-volunteer Commission established by the Village to support Tinley Park’s sister city relationships. Mallow, County Cork, Ireland is Tinley Park’s twin town. Every year the Village of Tinley Park holds a Volunteer Recognition Dinner for village volunteers. The 2004 dinner had an Irish theme and enjoyed the company of an official delegation from Mallow. Mallow Mayor David Willis, Town Manager Theresa White and Town Engineer Pat Walsh. The Village of Tinley Park is proud of its volunteers and we know our friends from Mallow enjoyed meeting them. Mallow enjoys a very well designed and well maintained website, definitely worth a visit. Go to http://www.mallow.ie/ and learn more about our fine twin town. On a recent visit to the Mallow web site, we learned that the Mallow Library presented a program of story telling and folklore for St. Bridget's Eve (February 1st). The program featured Pat Speight one of Ireland’s best-known storytellers. Pat was appointed “Storyteller in Residence” to the Cork County Council. St. Bridget is the 2nd. Patron Saint of Ireland (St. Patrick being the 1st) and plays a large part in Irish folklore. St. Bridget lived from AD 455 to 523 or 525. Bridget founded the Abbey of Kildare about 490 AD and became its first abbess. The abbey’s specialty was dairy farming, and Bridget became the patron saint of milkmaids. Mallow, Ireland is in the heart of the Blackwater Valley, the “Crossroads of Munster.” Mallow is home to the Cork Racecourse, completely refurbished in 1997, it is part of a long equestrian tradition in the area. Racing is scheduled 12 months during the year.
Mallow offers much for the tourist to see and do. For more information follow the links below or visit the Mallow website. Tinley Park Sister Cities Commission Chairman: Randal Tietz Commissioners: Ann Bartoli, Nancy Dobner, Hermine Kopenec, Jim Kopenec, Rosemary Kostal, Peggy Petr ovich, Carol Tietz, Art Wagner, Ron Wagner
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Not far from Mallow is the town of Buttevant, site of the world's
first recorded steeplechase. In 1752, Messers. Blake and O'Callaghan
raced 4 ½ miles from the steeple at Buttevant to St. Mary's
in Doneraile. Church steeples were the most prominent landmarks
in the countryside and the challenge was to race that distance,
clearing all brooks, walls, hedges and obstacles on the way. In
November 2003, a monument to the event was dedicated. It is an
8ft. by 4ft. bronze plaque depicting O'Callaghan and Blake on horseback
jumping a bank with a church steeple in the background. The plaque
can be seen on the Liscarroll junction of the main Cork to Limerick
road in the center of Buttevant facing the Doneraile Road.