To celebrate Ireland’s patron saint and enjoy a bit of Irish heritage and friendship with his friends, John O’Connell once again brought a little bit of the Emerald Isle to Wiscasset March 14.

The Lincoln County Administrator celebrated this year’s St. Patrick’s Day by treating 40 guests to a bit of traditional Irish food spiced with tales of the “old sod.” Guests at O’Connell’s fifth annual celebration enjoyed a menu of colcannon, a mixture of potato and cabbage, corned beef, ham, Irish bread, cheeses, vegetables, trifles and more. Many of the guests joined in the spirit of the event by “wearing the green.”

It's no secret O’Connell is proud of his Irish heritage. He ever hesitates, when given the opportunity, to talk about the country of his birth. He was born in Limerick, earned a bachelor's degree from Dublin’s storied Trinity College, and in 1973, he earned a master's degree from the University of Maine at Orono.

He first came to America in 1970, to work for Boothbay Harbor Brown Brothers Motel & Restaurant. Tiny Boothbay Harbor was a big change from his hometown, the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland. In the harbor, he met Eugenie Waugh and the couple wed 1974. They soon moved to Cork, where O’Connell worked as a financial executive. They later moved to London where he worked as a loan officer for the Chemical Bank.

Returning to Boothbay Harbor in 1979, he quickly became involved in community affairs and raised a family. They have two children, James, now living St. Louis, Mo., the father of the O’Connell’s granddaughter, Maggie. They also have a daughter, Maeve, who lives with her parents.

For the last 30 years, O’Connell, who became an American citizen in 1985, has been involved in public and civic service. For five years, he served as a Boothbay Harbor selectman. In 1999, he was appointed as a Lincoln County Commissioner serving until December of 2004.

O'Connell has served on a number of town committees including the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, the Comprehensive Planning Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Board of Appeals. Along the way, he found time to serve on the Chamber of Commerce Windjammer Days Committee, while teaching Sunday school and coaching a YMCA youth soccer team.

In Wiscasset, he was appointed as the town’s first interim town manager and helped select the town’s first permanent town manager, David Kenney.

Charlotte Boynton can be reached at 207-844-4632 or cboynton@wiscassetnewspaper.com.