A Permanent Home
Terry O’Connell has left Dublin before, but he and his wife, Cindy, always seem to find their way home.
O’Connell hails from Simsbury, Connecticut, and became acquainted with Ohio when he attended Xavier University. After graduation, he moved to Cindy’s hometown of Cincinnati. Then, when O’Connell was recruited by Spectrum, then Warner Communications, he and Cindy would unexpectedly find their lifelong home in Dublin. O’Connell, who is now retired, remained with Spectrum for 30 years. During those three decades, the O’Connells moved three times from Dublin to Boston and southern Connecticut.
Despite being closer to O’Connell’s hometown, the couple knew they wanted to make their way back to Dublin – permanently. In fact, after moving back to Dublin for the third time, O’Connell, now an executive vice president for Spectrum, talked executives into allowing regional executives to move to the area for which they were responsible. A major reorganization, all to be able to stay in Dublin.
“The third time, I knew that it would be our final move with the company,” says O’Connell. “Cindy very much wanted to come back here. … Coming back to central Ohio got us a lot closer to her family and, in particular, to her mom and dad.”
Irish in Blood – and Attitude
As an executive with Spectrum, a major Dublin Irish Festival sponsor, O’Connell was appointed the Irish Festival’s second-ever honorary chair in 1998. Though his position with Spectrum was important, his dedicated work in Dublin and his love for both the city and Irish Festival made him perfect for the position. And it didn’t hurt to have a last name like his, either.
“Given my last name is O’Connell, I knew that if they served cold beer and had good Irish food and music, this concept would be a home run,” he says. “Because of the leadership we have in Dublin, I knew that this thing would just grow bigger and bigger year after year, and it has done that. And it continues to do that.”
It’s no surprise to O’Connell that, more than 30 years after its inaugural year, the Dublin Irish Festival has become the largest three-day Irish festival on the planet. Still, he’s blown away by the amount of work put in year after year by city officials, festival affiliates and volunteers, as he and Cindy return every August to volunteer and enjoy the festival.
“Under the tutelage of (city of Dublin Events Administrator) Mary Jo DiSalvo, think about it. The number of volunteers she coordinates – it’s over 1,200 volunteers working over 10,000 hours last year,” O’Connell says. “It’s just an amazing, amazing management effort to pull something of this magnitude off.”
Cindy and O’Connell can be found every year at the opening ceremony, and volunteer in the Emerald Club. Now that O’Connell has seen it from both sides – first, as a corporate sponsor and now, as a volunteer – he is wholly appreciative of the effort.
“We welcome all the VIPs, all the sponsors of the festival, people from companies that donate a lot of money to help pull this large of an event off,” he says. “It’s an honor for both Cindy and I to serve all these people that make this festival possible.”
Here for Good
For the O’Connells, it’s hard to pinpoint just one thing that makes them want to stay. With two of their three adult children in the area, the rapid expansion of Bridge Park, and their vast network of friends and family, no other place on earth would truly feel like home.
“Dublin is a vibrant, obviously growing community, and it just seems to get better and better and better,” O’Connell says. “Bridge Park has just been another example of how Dublin continues to grow and prosper, and let’s not forget the economic impact that Dublin enjoys from the festival.”
Though the O’Connells had to experience the heartbreak of moving out of Dublin not once, not twice, but three times, they promise that this is the forever home. After reforming a piece of how Spectrum operates just to continue living in Dublin, the couple is here to stay.
“This is a great community in which to live,” O’Connell says. “If you look at the various things (the city of Dublin) does all year long, not just the festival or the Fourth of July festivities, it’s just all those experiences that makes Dublin what it is. I think it really separates itself as a city in central Ohio.”
Amanda DePerro is an editor. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.