No other community in Manitoba celebrates Saint Patrick's Day like Killarney does!
Teachers in the early years classrooms used to have a leprechaun trap contest with their students, set up much like a Science Fair, to try and catch those mischievous leprechauns that were determined to mess up their classrooms each and every year - that is until the teachers themselves realized the massive mess was up to them to clean up at the end of day!
However, kids of all ages enjoy the festivities surrounding St. Paddy's Day each year the Saturday before March 17th at the Shamrock Centre, with face painting, green ice-cream, bouncy castles and live entertainment. Needless to say it was a full day of family fun at the Shamrock Centre in Killarney last Saturday with green fire trucks ride for the kids!
As Mayor of Killarney-Turtle Mountain, Janice Smith, shares her own special well-wishes on this very important day in the community of Killarney.
"I would just like to wish everybody a very Happy St. Patrick's Day! And please enjoy celebrating our Irish heritage in our beautiful town of Killarney," shares Mayor Janice. "We just wish everybody a lot of love, luck and laughter for this next year ahead!"
Land surveyor and homesteader John Sydney O’Brien named Killarney Lake, because the landscape reminded the Irishman of home. "I think we should call this lake Killarney, after the beautiful hills of the homeland,” said O’Brien.
The 1880’s were busy years, with the establishment of the R.M. of Turtle Mountain in 1882. The following year the first store was built in the community that was quickly forming near Killarney Lake. In 1885 the railway came through and by the following decade the population grew to 300 people. In 1903 Killarney was incorporated as a village, breaking away from the R.M. of Turtle Mountain.
Three years later, in 1906, it officially became a town. The community has struggled and succeeded through two world wars and the Great Depression. With the success of the entire rural and urban community in mind, the Town of Killarney and R.M. of Turtle Mountain have worked as partners to provide the best possible services and opportunities for growth to local residents. In recent years it became apparent that officially combining their resources could only make the community stronger.
On January 1, 2007 the two municipalities made the historic move to merge back together, like they were in the very beginning, to form the newly amalgamated Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain.