Killarney (Irish Cill Airne, „The Church of the Sloes“) is a town of 14,504 inhabitants (2016) in County Kerry in the south-west of the Republic of Ireland.
And there was once a church – the Schlebuscher church – in Schlebuschrath („-Rath“ = clearing)
Wikipedia writes to Schlebuschrath:
The first signs of settlement in the area were discovered around 900 AD with the excavation of several moth mounds. These could have already hinted at the development of the place as a knight’s seat and parish.
In the 12th century a series of deforestations can be seen in the surrounding area. This was created by the new settlement activity, which in turn was triggered by the settlement of new monastic orders in the area. The forest along the Dhünn, in which Schlebuschrath lies, was known at that time as Schlehenbusch or Schliebusch. Schlebuschrath was first mentioned in documents in 1174. Around Schlebuschrath several knight seats can be detected, such as the one from the first documentary mention, which is referred to as knight „Arnoldus de Rode“. But also the knights of Schlebusch in 16th century and later the knight seat Morsbroich can be assigned to this.
(Today: Schlebusch is a district of the city Leverkusen.) On an area of 1031 ha it has 26.149 inhabitants)
“In these times, it’s good to have good friends… in our personal circle of friends, in our neighborhood, and in the country where we live. And it’s good to have good friends in Europe.”
With these words, Bernhard Marewski, our mayor of Leverkusen, opened his speech on March 17, 2024. Where? In Killarney, a town with 14,504 inhabitants (2016) in County Kerry in the southwest of the Republic of Ireland – as Wikipedia tells us. The Irish word Killarney translates to “The Church of the Blackthorn.” This shared name formed the basis of the “village friendship” with our blackthorn bush in Leverkusen, which has existed for five years.
Marewski went into greater depth in his speech. He placed the village friendship in a broader context: “We need a strong community in our Europe – economically and especially politically. Nothing is more important today than truly well-functioning international relations and – when it comes down to it – joint, solidarity-based action. Here, we must think in European terms.”
In addition to social and political explanations, Marewski reports: “Both settlements – Killarney and Schlebusch – originated around the 7th/8th century.
Killarney is slightly smaller than Leverkusen in terms of area (8.1 sq km vs. 10.3 sq km). Schlebusch has about 26,000 inhabitants, Killarney around 15,000.
That works out. And the people get along just fine. And so, on the initiative of the Friends of Ireland Leverkusen, the village friendship between Schlebusch and Killarney was established on September 14, 2019. It was during the 26th Schlebusch Weekend, a festival organized annually by the Schlebusch Business and Promotion Association, a local business association.
The friendship agreement was officially signed in 2019 by, among others, Chieftain Matthias Brandes of the Friends of Ireland, Paul Sherry, then President of the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Trade, and Hans-Peter Teitscheid of the Schlebusch Business and Promotion Association.” …and from me. Today, together with our Irish friends, we can celebrate the 5th anniversary of our village friendship. Congratulations to us all!
The delegation described above signed the city’s Golden Book and celebrated the legendary St. Patrick’s Day in honor of the Irish saint. Mayor Niall Keleher, along with Paul Sherry, former President of the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce and former organizer of the St. Patrick’s Festival, and Jason Clifford, current Chairman of the St. Patrick’s Festival, accompanied “our men” through the festivities.
The WFG (Economic Development Corporation) was pleased to support the visit with a small financial contribution towards meals. Following Bernhard Marewski’s idea, we are delighted to strengthen European relations on a small scale.