Aer Lingus – Ireland’s national airline – have some good offers on their website right now. Their Summer Sale 2013 has just started.
Go check it out – they fly from Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver to Dublin.
For other airlines and ways to get here, see our “Getting here” section.
Friends it gives us great pleasure to present our programme of events for the Power Clan Gathering 2013 … click here to see the exciting itinerary.
We’ve come across this very interesting site and think it’s worth a look – there are many of us in the south-east of Ireland with a close association with the Kennedy clan in and around New Ross.
This summer should see some great events commemorating the great man’s visit to New Ross in 1963, shortly before he was assassinated. Check out the site and events listings here.
Today is “National Family History Day” in Ireland and the perfect time to start planning your Irish family research.
To celebrate this occasion, the website FindMyPast.ie is offering 50 free credits (about $5) to users who sign up with them – they’ve also added tonnes of new records on BMDs and other areas to their site.
Go check it out – you’d never know what you might find – the courts records are of particular interest. Don’t forget to check our the local Waterford resources on our own site here at the Power Clan Gathering. Click here for these.
Waterford and Canada have had an unexpectedly close historical relationship that dates back almost 500 years.
The first record of a ship travelling from South East Ireland to Newfoundland dates as far back as 1534 and by the eighteenth century, boats were making regular journeys to Canada for the fishing routes. While at the beginning they would return home for the winter, later on they would start to “over-winter” in Newfoundland. Emigration to this part of the world peaked in the early 1800s, and as a consequence it is estimated that today over 50% of Newfoundland’s population is of Irish origin. Not surprisingly it has been called “the most Irish place in the world outside of Ireland”.
As landlord of Comeragh House in 1853, John Palliser (seen opposite) had built a strong reputation as a Victorian adventurer from his travels to the Mississippi-Missouri river and across the Western Plains; which interestingly involved sharing a passage with Barnum Bailey Circus and General Tom Thumb.
In 1856, he began to get itchy feet and after garnering support from Dr Livingstone, he left the Comeraghs for a two year expedition to survey and map the Canadian North West. Over two years Palliser and his companions explored the entire region between Lake Superior and the Pacific Coast. They collected 460 species and some 60,000 specimens, some of which can still be found in the Botanical Gardens in London. They “discovered” and named many rivers and mountains such as Palliser’s River in the Rocky Mountains, the Bow River, Kananaski River and Pass, Fairholme Mountain, Palliser Range and most famous of all, Palliser’s Triangle which stretches for hundreds of miles.
The close relationship and cultural similarities of these two coastal communities do not go unacknowledged: with the annual Festival of the Sea held in Newfoundland and Ireland; a number of Trees of Honour were also recently planted in the Anne Valley, in memoriam to our Newfoundland-Irish ancestors and of course the solid presence of Canada Quay.
In 1967, Dunhill village was the focus of the international media when Jacqueline Kennedy came to see a play at the parish hall of Many Young Men of Twenty by John B. Keane, performed by the Dunhill Players and produced by Paddy Barron. Jackie had been widowed four years previously and was holidaying in Woodstown with her children. She declared the entertainment in Dunhill as “better than a night out in Broadway”.
What is less well known is that a few years earlier, Sir Alfred Dunhill, the founder of the luxury menswear brand, with shops in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai, had been to Ireland to investigate his heritage. Unfortunately he had been told in Dublin that neither the family name nor the place name, “Dunhill” existed in Ireland. It was only when the former First Lady visited the village and Sir Alfred saw all the media coverage that he realised he’d been misinformed. As a result he decided to give his namesake’s village a visit including of course, Harney’s Pub, where he met the owner, Jim Harney.
A friendship was struck up between the two men and Sir Alfred visited again the following year, bringing with him cartons of Dunhill cigarettes as well as bottles of the branded whiskey. Jim also later visited the Dunhill shop in London where he met with Sir Alfred’s nephew. He was taken up to the store archives to be shown some letters sent from Dunhill NS to London a few years previously. A circle completed!
Glad to report we’ve been given the status of a flagship event for our 2013 gathering event. See here for more information. (press release)
We look forward to working with IPB insurance, the generous sponsors.
Check out this very interesting website – they’ve got some awesome surname maps and castle related goodness !
PS - Our Power Clan Gathering 2013 itinerary has been finalised and will be up on this website in the coming days ! Check back and download …
This Wednesday the 16th January 2013, at the Town Hall Theatre, Dungarvan, Co Waterford at 8pm, in conjunction with The Gathering, William Fraher will give an illustrated talk titled “An Emigrant’s Tale” by Patrick McGrath 1812-1894.
Patrick McGrath was a stonemason who was born in Youghal and later set up his business in Dungarvan. He emigrated with his family from Dungarvan to Saint John, New Brunswick in 1847 during the Famine. The family prospered and eventually settled in Quincy, Massachusetts. One of the children, Mary Elizabeth married Doctor Blake. She became a well known writer/poet in the Boston area.
Entry Fee is €5.
Michael Power was born on October 17, 1804 in Halifax, Nova Scotia to Irish immigrant parents. Something of an unsung hero, Bishop Michael Power started the construction of St. Michael’s Cathedral and founded the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Shortly after his installation as bishop in 1842, Power called a synod. During this meeting, Bishop Power laid down a number of rules designed to put the new Diocese on a firm footing and get it off to a good start. Pastors were not allowed to wander outside of their assigned parishes. Priests were not allowed to charge a fee for the administration of the sacraments. Churches were also required to erect baptismal fonts and confessionals, as well as to keep detailed baptism, marriage and funeral records. Immigrants who wanted to marry were also thoroughly investigated.
One of Bishop Power’s most notable achievements was the foundation of St. Michael’s Cathedral. At that time St. Paul’s parish was serving all of the Catholic population in the city of Toronto. Construction on the Cathedral began in April 1845; however, Bishop Power did not live to see it completed. While ministering to immigrants dying of typhus, he contracted the disease himself and died on October 1, 1847. Bishop Power’s remains were buried in a crypt beneath his unfinished cathedral.
