“Operation Shamrock” Roundtable Discussion and Exhibition Date/Venue: 10 October 2019, Appellate Court (Glucksman Library), 4-6pm ALL WELCOME!
With H.E. Deike Potzel (German Ambassador); Monica Brandis (Curator of the exhibition); Klaus Armstrong-Braun & Friedhelm Krüll (Participants of Operation Shamrock) and Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel (Chair) We are delighted to present the exhibition "The Children from Operation Shamrock", a project by Monica Brandis, who is a journalist, writer and Gestalt therapist and has recently been awarded a writer-in-residency stay at the Böll cottage. The exhibition features 18 children who came to Ireland via Operation Shamrock after World War II and we are honoured that two of them will be joining us for the opening of the exhibition and a roundtable discussion. The Irish Red Cross was put in charge of "Operation Shamrock", bringing almost 500 children, all from the British occupation zone in North RhineWestphalia, to Ireland. Most of the children, aged 3 to 10 years old, found a temporary home in Irish families. Many children who came to Ireland had lost one or both parents, were malnourished, ill and traumatized. By 1949, most were sent back to their families in Germany, but about 50 of the Operation Shamrock children remained in Ireland. Former Saltney town councillor Klaus Armstrong-Braun was one of the children from Germany, Austria and France sent to Ireland at the end of the war as part of the Red Cross initiative Operation Shamrock. He was passed from family to family before moving to England. Friedhelm Krüll grew up in a family of twelve children and was the only one sent to Ireland. After six months in an orphanage he was able to stay with his first Irish family. He returned to Germany when he was 16. Mr Armstrong-Braun and Mr Krüll will be part of the panel discussion and talk about their experiences.
The exhibition Operation Shamrock will be opened by the German Ambassador H.E. Deike Potzel. We are delighted to welcome her to Limerick again! The roundtable discussion will be chaired by Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel (Lecturer in the history department of UCC and member of the Centre for Irish-German Studies). The support of the DAAD, London, and the Glucksman Library, UL, is gratefully acknowledged! Free admission but please reserve on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/operationshamrock-exhibition-and-discussion-tickets-73424959029, there is only limited space!