Eamonn Wall (fourth from left in front row), the Smurfit-Stone Corporation Professor of Irish Studies at UMSL, is surrounded by dignitaries and three other St. Louis Irish Americans, Mike Tevlin (second from left), Susan Powers and Thomas Finan (fifth from left), who were all honored at the St. Louis Irish American Heritage Celebration, organized by the City of St. Louis and The Ancient Order of Hibernians in the City Hall rotunda. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)
Eamonn Wall has spent more than 20 years sharing his love of his native Ireland with the St. Louis community. As the Smurfit-Stone Corporation Professor of Irish Studies at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, he teaches courses in Irish literature, brings Irish and Irish American thought leaders to campus and even explores the country with students during annual study abroad trips.
On March 26, Wall was honored by the City of St. Louis for his impact on the community at the Irish American Heritage Celebration. In his letter to Wall announcing the award, Recorder of Deeds Michael Butler said that his “unique contributions have and will continue to inspire future leaders.”
Patrick McDonough, the St. Louis Division II President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, presents a proclamation to Professor Eamonn Wall during the St. Louis Irish American Heritage Celebration, organized by the City of St. Louis and The Ancient Order of Hibernians. Michael Butler (at right), the recorder of deeds for the City of St. Louis, hosted the event.
“To receive any award or accolade is fantastic and humbling,” Wall said. “But the ultimate way a community embraces you is to give you an award – especially if you’re someone who came here as a stranger.”
Originally from Enniscorthy in County Wexford, Ireland, Wall came to the United States in 1982 and has been at UMSL since 2000. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Irish, English and Scottish literature and directs UMSL’s summer study abroad program in Galway, Ireland, held in June and July at the University of Galway.
“When I was hired in 2001, one of the things I was asked to do was to set up a study abroad program for UMSL students in Galway, a sister city of St. Louis,” Wall said. “Most of our students have never been abroad. Galway is a nice first step because it’s English speaking, very laid back and very friendly to Americans. When they’re in Ireland, you can see how happy the students are in their faces. It gives them great confidence having done this, traveling from St. Louis to Galway, studying, doing all these different things – and it just gives them confidence to go on and do other things in their lives.”
Wall also takes great pride in curating the monthly Irish Lectures and Concerts Series, an initiative through UMSL Global that brings the best of Irish and Irish American scholars, writers and musicians to UMSL to lecture and perform.
He invites historians, musicians, writers and other notable people for the lunchtime events, which are all free and open to the public. Past events have included Kevin O’Malley, former ambassador to Ireland and a native St. Louisan, speaking on his experiences as U.S ambassador, and a lecture on the 25th anniversary of the peace process in Ireland. For another, Wall teamed up with Eiichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Endowed Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Anthropology Laura Miller for a discussion on how Hollywood has historically represented Japan and Ireland in movies and TV.
Wall also organizes an annual holiday concert of Irish music at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, which draws hundreds of attendees every December.
In addition to his teaching and community outreach efforts, Wall has written the books “Writing the Irish West: Ecologies and Traditions,” “From the Sin-e Café to the Black Hills: Notes on the New Irish” and “My Aunts at Twilight Poker.” He is also the author of eight collections of poetry as well as three books of cultural and literary criticism. His essays, articles and reviews have been published in journals and newspapers in the U.S., Ireland and elsewhere.
A past president of the American Conference for Irish Studies, Wall was honored and humbled to be recognized by the City of St. Louis.
“In the Irish way, I will enjoy it!” he said. “I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool academic type who’s buried under books in the library all day. I like to be doing things and engaging with the community, so UMSL and I were a good match.”
