"I was asked before, 'Why do Irish people know so much about their history?' And the answer is, 'Because we sing about it all the time.'"
Irish musician Colm Keegan said that to the Post and Courier ahead of a concert in Clover this past winter. In Clover, a lot of that history sits on the calendar. The Highland Games are set for Saturday, November 14, at New Centre Park, and the Town describes the day as a celebration of the shared heritage between Clover and its sister city, Larne, Northern Ireland.
You've probably driven past the welcome signs and the Larne Building more times than you can count. The connection behind them is older than many of the subdivisions around town. It's also more organized than a once-a-year festival would suggest. Over the years it has moved from a mayor's idea to a signed agreement, and from a chamber event to a Town-run program. It now has a permanent address on North Main Street.
A Link in 1997, an Agreement in 2007
Larne sits on the coast of County Antrim. The Town of Clover describes it as one of the closest ports to Scotland. Larne's Curran Park has a Memorial to the Emigrants, a statue of a family heading toward a ship bound for America. It marks the town's role as a port of emigration. Keegan's concert program traced that same story across 300 years, ending with Irish immigrants building lives in the Carolina backcountry.
The relationship came together in steps:
- 1997. Clover and Larne twinned in September, a link the Post and Courier credits to then-Mayor Vance Stine. The BBC quoted band director Rick Langdale recalling the twinning as 1996, but the Town's own page gives September 1997. Feis Chlobhair, Clover's Highland Games, started the same year.
- 2006. The Town of Clover Ulster American Society formed in August to carry out the goals of the sister-city relationship.
- 2007. In September, a Clover delegation traveled to Larne to finalize a formal Sister Cities Agreement.
- 2019. Town Council minutes record that the Town took over the Highland Games from the Greater Clover Chamber of Commerce.
- 2024. The Clover High School band marched in a parade in Larne.
According to the Post and Courier, the two towns wanted a personal relationship as well as an economic one, built on shared heritage. The Ulster American Society's assignments show what that looks like day to day. The list includes commemorative plaques on the Town's welcome signs, an Irish Heritage Appreciation Month every September, and a Young Artist Competition and Young Author Competition every March. Those plaques are the reason Larne greets you every time you drive into town.
The Larne Building Keeps It on Main Street
The festival takes up one Saturday a year. The Larne Building at 103 N. Main Street is there the other 364 days. The Town rents it out as a historic downtown venue, and it houses Gallery 120. Gallery 120 opened in January 2015 as a community gallery for professional and emerging artists and for arts education. Its exhibits change every two months.
The current show is "Reflections of Self." Its opening reception is Thursday, October 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. That's an easy weeknight reason to head downtown, and parking is simpler than it was a year ago. The Town says the Guinn Street parking lot is open, with improved parking and better lighting, though a few items are still being finished.
Some downtown changes are still waiting their turn. In its January 2026 minutes, the Clover Main Street Steering Committee said the streetscape project and Centennial Park work would resume after the parking lot was done. The same meeting reported that nine new businesses had opened downtown in the past year. The minutes also explain the garland on the Main Street light poles. It went up three years ago as a temporary decoration until power was installed through the streetscape project, and it has stayed up because that timeline slipped.
October Is the Lead-Up
Most of Clover's fall events are held at New Centre Park, 499 Memorial Drive, the same grounds where the caber toss will close out the season. Here are the Town's dates from now through the Highland Games:
- Saturday, October 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fall Fest & Classic Car Show at New Centre Park. Admission is free. There will be classic cars, live music from John C. Riley and Coming Up Brass, food and craft vendors, inflatables and face painting.
- Thursday, October 15, 6 to 8 p.m. "Reflections of Self" opening reception at Gallery 120 in the Larne Building.
- Friday, October 23. Last day for vendor applications for the Highland Games.
- Saturday, October 24. Movie in the Park at the New Centre Park Amphitheater. The Town's event page lists Hocus Pocus at dusk, along with food trucks, music and a free waste-free costume swap. The Town calendar entry still invites residents to vote on the movie, so check the event page before you go.
- Saturday, October 31, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Halloween Food Truck & Treat in the Town Hall and Clover Police Department parking lots. Kids trick-or-treat from vehicles decorated by local businesses and organizations.
- Saturday, November 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Clover Highland Games, Feis Chlobhair, at New Centre Park.
If you sell anything handmade or run a small business, October 23 is the date to watch. The Town is asking local vendors, artisans and businesses to apply for a booth at the Games.
What Changed When the Town Took Over the Games
In October 2019, Town Council minutes noted the takeover from the Greater Clover Chamber of Commerce. They described that year's event as more focused on athletics, with a band and food trucks. Every Town listing since 2021 puts the Games at the New Centre Park Amphitheater in November. Recent dates were November 13, 2021, November 9, 2024, and November 8, 2025.
The Town's 2021 listing called that year's event the "25th Annual Highland Games." If the count has continued one year at a time, this November's Games would be the 30th.
The Southeastern Highland Athletics Group, known as S.H.A.G., runs the athletics. Events include the caber toss, the stone throw and other traditional contests. Athletes of any skill level can compete, and registration goes through the group's site at throwshagshag.org. In 2021, Scottish American Military Society Post #1775 hosted the opening ceremony before S.H.A.G. started the games. In 2024, the Town invited clans and heritage societies to set up and teach visitors about their culture and history. This year's listing adds live music, cultural performances, arts and crafts, local vendors, food and activities for all ages.
The vendor application connects the athletics directly to Larne. The Town's 2026 page describes the day as a celebration of Clover and its sister city through Scottish and Scots-Irish traditions.
The Connection Runs Both Ways
In March 2024, the Clover High School band sent 160 members to march in a parade in Larne, along with more than 100 teachers and parents. Band director Rick Langdale told the BBC it was the largest student group to visit. Langdale also told the BBC that the link reflects the Ulster immigrants who settled in South Carolina.
This year, the connection showed up in a school auditorium too. "From Larne to Clover: A Celtic Celebration" was scheduled for February 28 at the Clover School District Auditorium, 1625 Highway 55 East. The bill included Colm and Laura Keegan, Brian McGrane, the Clover Middle School Honors Chorus and the Clover High School Band. Tickets were $10, and all proceeds were set to go to the district's performing arts programs. Clover resident Gary McGinnis, who helped organize it, told the Post and Courier, "Many people in the area have heard about the association, but they haven't really looked deeply at where their own roots often tie together."
That idea carries through the rest of the year. The Young Artist and Young Author competitions run every March, and Irish Heritage Appreciation Month comes every September. If you'd like to get involved with the Ulster American Society or the sister-city program, the Town lists Town Administrator Allison Harvey as the contact at 803-222-9495. Before November 14, you can see the gallery on October 15 and the vendor deadline passes October 23.
Got family coming in for the Highland Games and want help planning the day, from where to park downtown to which Main Street stops to fit in? Sierra Garren Group has York County roots and is always glad to talk about Clover. Let's Connect.
