Fenian Women's Auxiliary & Herb Mignery Honored Over General John O'Neill Statue

Fenian Women's Auxiliary receiving $2,500 check from the Irish government for John O'Neill Statue project. Front row (l-r): Pam Miller, Lois Schaffer and Marge Walsh. Back row: Buffy Walsh, Denise Pribil, Donna McGinn, Natalie Butterfield and Sandy Dempsey.

The Fenian Women's Auxiliary has received a $2,500 check from the Irish government. The government has a program that gives money worldwide to entities in support of programs for such things as promoting Irish heritage, history and culture. Applications are accepted in January of each year, the Auxiliary received notification in September that their application was approved. The application was for the General John O'Neill sculpture project and dedication ceremony. The group received their check in a ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at The Evergreen Assisted Living Residence.

In addition, they received word that the General John O'Neill statue was featured in the fall edition of the National Sculpture Society magazine. The Society is located in New York City, and evidently the statue was brought to their attention when someone saw it on channel 10/11. The Society notified Herb Mignery that they wanted to feature it, and asked him for a photo. When Herb called Natalie Butterfield to get a picture, she and her husband were in Kilkenny, Ireland. Through the miracle of modern communications and technology, she was able to e-mail a high-resolution photo that Ann Krotter had taken. (It had been taken so Scott Stewart in Lincoln, could use it to make a giant cut-out of the statue, that was used in the Omaha and O'Neill St. Patrick's Day parades.)

The article reads: In June, NSS Fellow, Herb Mignery, was on hand for the dedication of his work General John C. O'Neill in O'Neill, Nebraska. The sculpture, honoring the town founder, was recently featured on 1011 NOW. Fundraising for the statue started in 2017 and received a boost in 2019 when the Fenian Women's Auxiliary started a fundraising brick campaign. The brick shamrock plaza is in front of the statue.

Though Mignery is now based in Loveland, CO, he is a native of nearby Bartlett, NE. After accepting the commission, Mignery spent some time discussing the pose for the statue, resulting in O'Neill having an open left hand – symbolizing the generosity of spirit that he so often demonstrated. 

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