Flying the flag from Inishcuttle to Chicago

FAMOUS SON OF INNISCUTTLE Alderman Jim Kearns.

Áine Ryan

CULTURAL connections between Westport and Chicago are set to be celebrated this morning (Tuesday) in the Westport Coast Hotel at 10.30am, when a flag representing the US city is presented to the Cathaoirleach of the West Mayo Municipal District, Cllr Michael Holmes, by the grandson of an emigrant whose forebears lived on the Clew Bay island of Inishcuttle.     
A group representing the popular ‘Skinny and Houli Irish Radio Hour’ will travel with Dennis A Kearns, the grandson of the late Chicago City Council Alderman, to present the flag to a group of Mayo County Councillors.
Known as ‘Weeping Jim Kearns’, because of his fondness for Irish wakes, James Ambrose Kearns is widely recognised as ‘the father of the Chicago flag’.
Like so many of his fellow Mayo men he emigrated to the US in the late 19th century.  His public service ethos led to his appointment as an alderman during which time Kearns championed his 1915 resolution for a dedicated design for the city’s flag. This led to the establishment of the Chicago Municipal Flag Commission.
Just over a century later, his grandson, Dennis, an Irish citizen, will lead this cultural delegation to Westport.  
A longtime consultant and lobbyist for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in Chicago, he is a native of the south side of Chicago. A Hibernophile, Dennis Kearns travels to the home sod each year with the Skinny and Houli Irish Radio Show.

Special ceremony
However, this year’s trip – with its special ceremony – will encompass a group of 40 descendants of Irish emigrants, including  Irish fiddler Katie Grennan. As well as spending two nights in Westport, the group will also visit Achill and the Aran Islands, Knock Shrine and Galway.  
While in Westport, Kearns, along with radio show radio co-hosts Skinny Sheahan and Mike Houlihan, and the Irish American Heritage Centre President, Geno Cooney, will present Westport’s representatives with a Chicago flag.
James Ambrose Kearns was born to James and Catherine Quinn Kearns on January 13, 1871, on the tiny inner island of Inishcuttle Kilmeena, Co Mayo. He emigrated to America in 1883 and became a lawyer in Chicago where he served as an Alderman, Clerk of the Municipal Court and City Treasurer – the second highest ranking official in Chicago. He is considered the father of the Chicago flag.