The Paraguayan Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Miguel Angel Solano Lopez, the great-grandson of Eliza Lynch, national heroine of Paraguay, has confirmed that he will be in Charleville from Friday to Sunday to celebrate the life of his famous great-grandmother who was born in the town in 1833.
Ambassador Solano Lopez will be the special guest of Charleville Chamber of Commerce for the weekend and will participate in a seminar on the life and times of Eliza Lynch, who was baptised in Charleville Parish Church (now the Community Centre in Chapel Street) on 2nd May 1834.
The weekend will be officially declared open tomorrow Friday by its major sponsor, Mr. Conor McEnroy, President of the Sudameris Bank of Paraguay and Chairman of the Abbeyfield Group, after which the seminar will take place at the Charleville Park Hotel.
Mr. P. J. McCarthy, Presi-dent of Charleville Cham-ber of Commerce, said this week he was delighted that Ambassador Solano Lopez was coming to Charleville for the weekend. “This will be the Ambassador’s second visit to the native town of his ancestor and on his previous visit in 2012 he promised that he would return again to Charleville if the opportu-nity presented itself. Now we are glad to host his second visit here to celebrate the life of his great-grandmother, 180 years after her birth in the town,” he said.
A full programme of events has been organised for the three days. See the timetable of events on page 4.