A friend from Scotland has pointed me to the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Donald Keough just donated $30 million to erect a new building for the Irish Studies institute and the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies. The former Coca Cola president and current chairman of the board of Allen & Company Inc., a New York investment banking firm, has encouraged business investment in Ireland in addition to previous gifts to ND.

Donald Keough, from ajc.com

The Irish Studies institute is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month with lectures, concerts and an all-star hurling match at the Indiana campus, plus events in Dublin. The anniversary celebration also includes plans for developing a three-hour, three-part documentary television series titled “1916: The Irish Rebellion” in time for the centennial.

Can’t wait for that? The National Library of Ireland has an excellent online exhibit about the event.

“We have a lot to celebrate,”  Notre Dame’s Irish Studies Director Christopher Fox said in a release. “From its early beginnings, the Keough-Naughton Institute’s goal has been clear and unwavering: to bring  Ireland to Notre Dame and Notre Dame to Ireland.”