Mark Hamill named as St Patricks Day Festival Inaugural International Guest of Honour in Dublin

Since filming STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS in Co. Kerry, the actor has been a great ambassador for Ireland.

For the very first time, Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Festival has appointed an International Guest of Honour.

The new honorary role has been created to celebrate the achievements of an individual from the worlds of business, the arts, or the media, who has a special connection or significant affinity with Ireland.

And who else to debut the role but Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.

Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way has been catapulted to global fame, having been filmed in some of the most spectacular spots on Ireland’s western coastline, from the northernmost point in Donegal to the magnificent cliffs and headlands of Clare, Cork and Kerry.

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Hamill will watch the parade from the Presidential stand, shoulders to shoulders with Michael D. Higgins, on March 17.

In addition to Mark’s Star Wars connection, research into his family history has found that he has a double-link to Ireland.

His great-grandmother Elizabeth Keating was born in Kilkenny on 6th December 1873 and left Ireland for America when she was still a teenager.

Further research shows that his great (x3) grandparents John Keating married Margaret Foley of Gurteen married in Carlow Cathedral in 1822.