Los Gatos Town Councilmember Patrick O'Laughlin (left) and Dublin City Manager Frank Feely drink a toast at C.B. Hannegan's as Silicon Valley's Irish Week kicks off.
It was in the 1840s that Daniel Hannegan, fleeing the potato famine in Ireland, found himself shipwrecked off the coast of Canada. A few generations later, young John Hannegan, curious about his heritage, nagged his father for information about his Irish ancestors, including Daniel, the first in the family to leave Ireland. John's father, however, was not much interested in backwards glances. Don't worry about those things, he advised his son, assuring him that he would find no princes in his background.
These days, it's hard to imagine a time when John Hannegan, who chairs the San Jose-Dublin Sister City Committee and heads up the Silicon Valley Irish Week activities currently under way, was not steeped in Irish heritage.
Some say Hannegan's Irishness began to take hold when he played rugby at Santa Clara University against Irish teams. Hannegan himself says the year he spent traveling in Europe, and especially in Ireland, after his college graduation had a profound impact. Certainly, the many groups he took to Ireland as part of promotional activities for Mountain Charley's when he was manager there and, later, as co-owner of C.B. Hannegan's made a difference.
His friend Ray O'Flaherty thinks these all played a role. Still, O'Flaherty, who's known Hannegan since 1972, thinks it was his involvement with the sister-city programs, San Jose-Dublin and Los Gatos-Listowel, that had the most dramatic impact.
"He used to go to Ireland with his pals, but it wasn't until he went as a guest of Irish officials that Johnny began to develop his Irishness," O'Flaherty says.
So far as his friend Tom McEnery is concerned, it's been a natural and inevitable progression. McEnery, who was mayor of San Jose when San Jose and Dublin became sister cities, says: "The more exposure Irish-Americans have to Irish culture, the more interested they become. Johnny Hannegan is just coming home."
From college, Hannegan found his way to Los Gatos, where his friend Jim Farwell was renovating a building which he turned into an Irish-style pub called Mountain Charley's. After a stint with the U.S. Army, Hannegan became manager of the pub, a place where he met the likes of Patrick O'Laughlin, who would eventually become a Los Gatos councilmember and mayor; Ray O'Flaherty, who grew up in Ireland and moved to the United States in 1972, leaving behind many friends who now hold public office; and Chris Benson, a contractor who was adding a banquet room to Mountain Charley's.
Benson had shared with Hannegan a passion he had to open a pizza parlor; he wondered if Hannegan would like to open a business with him. Hannegan wasn't much interested in pizza parlors, but his enthusiasm caught fire when his friend, Reed Whitlam, who owned the Cranberry House, told him he was going to retire and sell the restaurant.
Benson and Hannegan had little difficulty dividing the responsibilities. Benson, with a passion for things culinary, took over the restaurant, and Hannegan put his MBA in finance and his undergraduate minor in philosophy to good use as manager of the bar.
Because Benson had many friends in the construction business, and because Hannegan knew many professionals from his days at Santa Clara, C.B. Hannegan's immediately attracted an eclectic clientele.
Hannegan insists that C.B. Hannegan's was never supposed to be an Irish pub. "We seldom put Irish flags out," Hannegan says. "We want it to maintain an American feel."
There's no denying, though, that C.B. Hannegan's feels very much like an Irish pub. And that explains why it's become a gathering place for the visiting Irish dignitaries and business people who have become increasingly involved with Silicon Valley.
More than 100 West Coast companies, including many in Silicon Valley, are major players in Ireland's emerging electronics scene, according to O'Flaherty, an industrial development consultant. The Silicon Valley business connection to Ireland is seen as important for the local economy and critical for Ireland's future because of its promise of jobs for that country's young people.
"I nearly cried when I heard the violence had started again [after 17 months of peace]," O'Flaherty says. "If they scare away industry, it will be a tragedy because the bottom line is that if there's more industry, there will be more jobs in Northern Ireland, and the young people will be employed, and many of the problems will disappear."
"It used to be that New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., were the Irish centers," McEnery says. "But those who are interested in the future of Ireland now make a beeline for San Jose." McEnery notes: "It's San Jose where you'll find the lord mayors of Dublin and Belfast for St. Patrick's Day activities. They all stop at Hannegan's."
That, according to McEnery, is because Hannegan's reminds them of an Irish pub. "And because Johnny Hannegan is a fine publican." McEnery points out that in Ireland, the local pub is where people in the community gather for social activities, entertainment and political discussions.
McEnery insists that Hannegan's also has developed an international reputation as a center for historians as well. "It must be true," McEnery says, "for Tim Pat Coogan, one of the great Irish historians, often goes to my place in Santa Cruz, and when he does he always stops at Hannegan's for lunch. The fact that he never made it to Santa Cruz on three different occasions is what leads me to believe the place must be a great center for historical activity."
Hannegan has been working for nearly a year to pull off an Irish "week" that began with the arrival of the Irish delegation March 6 and continues through March 19. That delegation includes eight members of the Dublin City Council, representing every Irish political party, and three members of Ireland's parliament. O'Laughlin, who has worked with him on the committee, says he's amazed at Hannegan's ability to pull together all the parts that make up the Irish Week activities. "It's a very demanding job because the chair is subject to a lot of political pressure; it requires a lot of delicate diplomacy."
He says Hannegan pulls it off "by force of personality and the people he knows." He adds: "Of course, Johnny downplays how much work he's put into it. He'll say, 'Oh, we're just getting together to have a good time.' "
One person who's not surprised at Hannegan's success is his partner, Chris Benson. "Johnny is the ambassador's ambassador," he says. "They've put him in a position where he's a semi-potentate; but he's very unassuming, and not at all enamored of the title, but he is enamored of the responsibility."
Benson adds: "I didn't go to Ireland until Johnny had been 15 times, and I can tell you he is held in high regard there--whether you're talking about the Lord Mayor of Dublin or a pub keeper."
There will be plenty of activity at Hannegan's, including bagpipers, an Irish singing duo and an informal gathering following a reception in the home of Patrick O'Laughlin honoring special guest Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., minister of state for agriculture.
Listowel, a community that boasts many artists, particularly writers, became a Los Gatos sister city two years ago, thanks largely to the efforts of Deenihan, Hannegan, O'Laughlin and Dan McFadden, another Los Gatan, who at the time was an assistant city manager in San Jose. Listowel, not coincidentally, is just about the same distance from Dublin as Los Gatos is from San Jose. O'Laughlin and Hannegan co-chair the Los Gatos-Listowel committee.
As of late as last Wednesday afternoon, Hannegan still wasn't sure if President Clinton would be able to come to San Jose to accept the Spirit of Ireland Award at a luncheon at the Fairmont Hotel on March 8. "I've been on the phone with Ted Kennedy's office, and it looks like it might happen," Hannegan told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times as he headed out of Los Gatos to meet the Irish delegation at the airport. As it turned out, Clinton had to decline, but he sent former House Speaker Tom Foley in his place. The award was presented in recognition of Clinton's efforts in supporting the peace process in Ireland.
Hannegan's will hold its traditional St. Patrick's Day festivities--a fundraiser for cerebral palsy--from 10 a.m. on March 17 until 12:30 a.m. March 18. This year, however, there'll be a twist. With Dublin City Manager Frank Feely back home following Irish Week activities in San Jose and Los Gatos, he'll kick off St. Patrick's Day with a phone call to Hannegan's at 4 p.m. on March 16, at which time St. Patrick's Day will arrive in Ireland--and at Hannegan's.
On March 18, Hannegan's partner will mark his birthday as he has for some time. "We'll clean up and I'll crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head," Benson says. "I used to celebrate my birthday on March 18 until I met Johnny Hannegan."
Silicon Valley Irish Week, which kicked off March 7, continues this week with a variety of activities. Highlights include:
Tuesday, March 12
6:30 p.m.: "A Tribute to Listowel," a reception with special guest Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., minister of state for agriculture, in the home of Patrick O'Laughlin. Call 279-6002 for information.
8 p.m.: Informal gathering at C.B. Hannegan's, 208 Bachman Ave., following formal reception.
Wednesday, March 13
6:30 p.m.: Reception and South Bay premiere of Frankie Starlight, by the producer of My Left Foot, at the Los Gatos Theater. Introduced by Michael Hannegan, director, Cork International Film Festival. Preceded by entertainment by the Mostly Irish Theater Company. Call 279-6002 for reservations.
Thursday, March 14
7:30 p.m.: Poetry reading by Eavan Boland, renowned Irish poet, at Le Petit Trianon Theater, 72 N. First St., San Jose. Cosponsored by San Jose State University. Call 279-6002 for reservations.
Friday, March 15
7:30 p.m.: Irish Evening at the San Jose Symphony, underwritten by IDB Northern Ireland. Call 288-2828 and mention Irish Week for a 20 percent discount.
Saturday, March 16
1-5 p.m.: San Jose vs. San Francisco in Gaelic football and soccer at PAL Stadium, San Jose. Call 249-1632 for information.
2-3:30 p.m.: Children's Irish Literature and Story Reading. Call 450-0404 for information.
Sunday, March 17
10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Traditional Irish Brunch at Fairmont Hotel. Call 998-1900 for information.
3-7:30 p.m.: Ladies' Ancient Order of Hibernians lunch at Mariani's, Santa Clara. Call 269-3971 for information.
Tuesday, March 19
7:30 p.m.: Reception and book signing of A New Ireland, featuring its author, the Hon. John Hume, M.P., M.E.P., at the Fairmont Hotel. Hume was last year's winner of the Spirit of Ireland award. Call 244-8270 for information.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, March 13, 1996.
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