In Carlow Cathedral after the St Patrick’s Day Mass (L-R): Fr Thomas O’Byrne; Dermot Mulligan, Carlow County Museum; Josy Bassing, Historian, Vianden; Ambassador Ensch; Bishop Denis Nulty; Mayor Francy Weyrich; Denis Weyrich; Cllr Fergal Browne.;
Credit: Carlow County Museum
On Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 of March 2026, Luxembourg's Ambassador to Ireland, Florence Ensch, as well as the Mayor of Vianden, Francy Weyrich, along with his wife Denise, and Josy Bassing, a medieval historian from Luxembourg, visited County Carlow in Ireland as part of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
In June 2025, as part of the pilgrimage of a delegation from Carlow to Luxembourg to attend the Hopping Procession in Echternach, the delegation visited the town of Vianden (home of Ambassador Ensch) during which Mayor Weyrich hosted a reception: the delegation included Councillor Fintan Phelan, then Mayor of the Municipal District of Carlow, Councillor Ken Murnane and Father Thomas O’Byrne, Administrator of Carlow Cathedral.
The Luxembourg delegation were invited guests of the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Denis Nulty, at the 10:30 St Patrick’s Day Mass in Carlow Cathedral. In the afternoon they were guests of Ken Murnane, Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council, on the St Patrick’s Day Parade review stand for the Carlow Town Parade. Ambassador Ensch addressed the audience at the parade.
On Wednesday 18 March, the Luxembourg representatives had a series of engagements where they had presentations on a variety of Council and agency services from John Shortall, County Librarian, Eileen O’Rourke, Chief Executive of Carlow Tourism, Niall Scull, Interim CEO Visual at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Conor Moriarty, Senior Executive Architect at Carlow County Council on the Carlow Town Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), Kieran Comerford, Head of Economic Development & Enterprise, and Nicola Doran, Chief Executive of County Carlow Chamber of Commerce. They also had a guided tour of Carlow County Museum, which has a display on St Willibrord, Patron Saint of Luxembourg.
Later on, in the company of Canon Máirt Hanley, they were given a tour of St Laserian’s Cathedral, Old Leighlin, on the site of which St Willibrord and his colleagues were ordained in the 7th century by the then Bishop of Leighlin. In Leighlinbridge, the delegation rounded off their visit by joining the hundreds of onlookers to see Willie Mullins’s latest horse parade through the streets of Leighlinbridge, including the recent winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Gaelic Warrior.
On Saturday March 21 March, Ambassador Ensch returned to Carlow as a guest of Carlow GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), where she attended her very first game of hurling, Carlow v Dublin in the final round of the National Hurling League. Although Dublin won, Ambassador Ensch enjoyed her visit, and she even wore a Carlow jersey! The visits were coordinated by Carlow County Museum.
As part of the Irish Government’s St Patrick’s Day international programme, Deputy Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, Minister for State at the Department of Health, visited the BeNeLux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). Minister Murnane O’Connor spent two days in the Grand Duchy, including a day in Echternach where she was met by Mayor Carole Hartmann and given a guided tour of the sites associated with St Willibrord, a visit to his shrine, learn more about this Carlow alumni, and an opportunity to practice her hopping.
As part of the Irish Government’s St Patrick’s Day international programme, Ireland’s Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Jean McDonald, invited Seamus Doran, Assistant Head of Economic Development & Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office, and Norah Ryan, President of the County Carlow Chamber of Commerce to be part of the Irish Embassy’s celebrations in Luxembourg City. The Ambassador facilitated a display about County Carlow to allow the opportunity for her guests to meet with interested parties and organisations.
As part of the Irish EU Presidency, which is from July to December 2026, all 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland have been paired with an EU country. Due to Carlow’s historic connection to Luxembourg St Willibrord, Patron Saint of Luxembourg and the First Apostle of the Netherlands, Carlow has been paired with Luxembourg. A programme of events is currently being developed by Carlow County Council, The Irish Embassy in Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Embassy in Ireland.
