LTB Paddy Dennehy

Today on Let’s Talk Butte, we hear excerpts of an oral history with Paddy Dennehy, a longtime union carpenter who grew up in Centerville. Paddy’s oral history was recorded as part of the Verdigris Project, and today we start off asking him about his grandfather. 

[Paddy 1]

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[Paddy 2]

And Paddy Dennehy described his childhood fondly. Growing up in Butte, he had a large, stable family and a dad who was stern, but loving, he says. Along with his dad, all of Paddy’s uncles were also in World War 2. 

[Paddy 3]

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This is Let’s Talk Butte, and today we’re chatting with Paddy Dennehy. He was just describing how his uncle’s experiences as a prisoner of war stayed with him for his entire life. When we come back, we’ll speak with Paddy about the impact of the Berkeley Pit on his childhood neighborhood of Centerville, and how Paddy has dealt with the legacy left by open pit mining in Butte.

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[Paddy 4]
[Paddy 5]

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[Paddy 6]

That was Paddy Dennehy, interviewed at the Butte-Silver Bow Archives as part of the Verdigris Project. We’ll return next time with the rest of our conversation, and hear about Paddy’s time with the Carpenters Union in Butte and his efforts in the early 1990s to renovate and save the Carpenters Union Hall. This is Let’s Talk Butte and for KBMF, I’m Clark Grant. Thanks for listening.