By John Ferrannini

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors decided to begin the process of creating an Irish cultural district centered in the neighborhood. The St. Patricks’ Day vote expressing the intent of the City to create a Sunset Irish Cultural District was unanimous. District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong called it, “an important first step.”

“The Sunset has always been a neighborhood shaped by many cultures, and this effort reflects that shared spirit,” Wong continued. “It is about recognizing Irish heritage as part of the fabric of the Sunset, while continuing to build a community where different traditions are respected, celebrated and brought together. In the weeks ahead, we will work closely with cultural leaders, residents and small businesses to shape a district that preserves these traditions and creates space for them to continue growing.”

The next step is for a steering committee to identify goals and boundaries for the district. Then the proposed district will return to the supervisors for final approval.

In his remarks to the board before the vote was taken, Wong said, “When people think about the history of San Francisco, they think about the Gold Rush, the earthquake, the counterculture. They don’t always think about the Irish. But they should.

“Irish immigrants were here from the very beginning – arriving in the 1840s and 1850s, many of them fleeing starvation, and building a life in a City that wasn’t always welcoming,” he continued. “By 1870, one in eight San Franciscans was Irish. They dug the roads, organized the unions, staffed the firehouses and police stations. They didn’t just live here – they built here.”

Many of San Francisco’s Irish diaspora first settled in tenements in the South of Market neighborhood, and in Potrero Hill. But Liam Reidy, board president of the United Irish Cultural Center at 2700 45th Ave., said the district will be appropriately anchored in the Sunset.

“The Irish have made the Sunset home for the past 100 years,” he said. “It was windswept sand dunes when they came to build their schools, churches and homes.”

Reidy said Irish Americans began to move in large numbers to the Sunset District in the 1920s and 1930s. In later decades, they moved over the Twin Peaks from Noe and Eureka valleys.

Reidy also thought it appropriate the district focus on the United Irish Cultural Center, housed in the Sunset, which celebrated its golden anniversary last year. The center is the hub of San Francisco’s Irish American community and hosts a wide variety of events and groups, including boxing, Chinese American ballroom dancers, bar mitzvahs, quinceaneras and, of course, the Irish pipers. The Knights of the Red Branch (KRB) Hall in SOMA had been a place Irish San Franciscans went dancing for decades, and after many KRB members moved to the city’s west side, a group bought the land the center now sits on, at Wawona Street and 45th Avenue, in 1971 for $130,000.

Reidy said he is excited about the designation, which will help preserve the Irish American history of the City.

“I think it’s an absolutely fantastic thing for the Irish American community to be recognized as culturally important in the City,” he said.

Hilda Kissane, president of the United Irish Societies of San Francisco, concurred, stating, “The Irish community in San Francisco has always been built on strong connections between families, organizations and neighborhoods. This effort helps ensure those traditions remain visible and celebrated.”

Jennifer Drennan, librarian of the Patrick J. Dowling Library, said the designation will bring attention to the center’s on-site library.

“The Patrick J. Dowling Library preserves an important collection of Irish history and literature that reflects the community’s presence in San Francisco,” she said. “Recognizing the Irish Cultural District helps highlight those stories and encourages more people to explore this history.”

James Quinn, a board member of the United Irish Societies of San Francisco and the director of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade (which occurred this year on March 14) said, “The St. Patrick’s Day Parade has long celebrated Irish heritage in San Francisco. This effort recognizes the lasting impact of the Irish community and helps ensure those traditions continue for generations.”

Wong thanked the center and the United Irish Societies in his remarks.

“What I want my colleagues to understand is that this resolution isn’t an act of nostalgia,” Wong said. “The traditions we are talking about – the music, the dance, the language, the sporting clubs – are not preserved behind glass somewhere. They are alive. They are being passed down right now, in the Sunset District, to the next generation. … A cultural district designation would give that living community the same institutional support and recognition that other cultural communities in this City already have access to. That is all we are asking for. And I think it is long overdue. This is the beginning of a process, and I look forward to doing that work alongside this community.”