O'MORE COLLEGE JOINS FORCES WITH FRANKLIN, WILLIAMSON COUNTY
TO FORM NEW IRELAND, SISTER CITY RELATIONSHIP
(The ancestral homeland of the O'Mores)

Delegates from O'More College of Design and Franklin/Williamson County have returned from County Laois, Ireland, with an established framework for a sister city relationship with Abbey Leix and County Laois in the midlands of Ireland.

"At O'More, we place an emphasis on cultural awareness, and we wanted to add another opportunity for our students and the citizens of Williamson County to expand their international relationship," said O'More College President Mark Hilliard, who first visited Abbeyleix in 2004. "The program will be based in the O'More clan's ancestral homeland of County Laois, and it made good sense to capitalize on those historical roots while allowing our community an outstanding opportunity to explore the Irish culture."

Franklin's own Abbey Leix Mansion, a circa 1866 Italianate Revival-style home now serving as the O'More College administration building, is named for the Abbey Leix Manor in County Laois, where our students study while in Ireland. Daily lectures are led by Irish professors, and expose students to the Gaelic language, Irish history, literature, musicand dance. Additionally, participants work beside Irish artisans and craftsmen in crystal, pottery and woolens.

Sir David Davies, owner of the Abbey Leix Manor, hosted Hilliard, the O'More students and Williamson County delegates last July. He, along with Marianne Moloney of Limerick, Ireland, has been working to further develop the O'More & Ireland curriculum. Kevin O'Brien, of Abbeyleix, Ireland, was raised on the O'More property and serves as the docent and historian for the semester. Both Moloney and O'Brien are O'More board members.

"O'More students have studied abroad in England, France and Italy in recent years, and the exposure to other cultures has undoubtedly helped them to become better professional designers," said Hilliard. "These types of opportunities are part of what makes an O'More College design education so valuable."