The Irish initiative to attract Irish people back to their cultural heartland, known as ‘The Gathering 2013’ is in full swing with events run, running or having preparations put in place. Has the Gathering been a success to date? The number crunchers will point to the increased number of overseas visitors, but I’ll point to a recent gathering that took place in the midlands town of Mountmellick, Co. Laois at the foothills of the beautiful Slieve Bloom Mountains. A gathering that epitomised so much of what a gathering could achieve.
'Ireland has a rich and varied heritage'
The phrase 'Ireland has a rick and varied heritage' slips easily off the tongue of most people in Ireland. It is true, as exemplified in the regions of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. You cannot walk along the small street of Rosenallis village without wondering at the times and the people that lived in this village. The village is a gem waiting to be found in a cultural travel chest that is rural Ireland.
I was doing some research about Rosenallis, Co. Laois in the mid 2012 when I noticed that William Edmundson, the founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers) was buried in the beautiful sleeping ground in Tineel townland. Rosenallis, within close proximity of his home place. He died in September 1712, 300 years earlier that the time of my research. William was an extraordinary man living in complex times in Ireland's history and he was a personal friend of William Penn, the founder the State of Pennyslvania. In my attempt to get clarification of the calendar system used on the headstones in the seventeenth century, I contacted, through Ancestry.com website one Mr. James Edmundson, a direct descendant of William. My query was answered and I reciprocated the favour by sending photographs of the plaque and graveyard to James.
I admire the concept of the Gathering and the many creative and inclusive opportunities for celebration on the island of Ireland in 2013. In the context of people from outside Ireland researching their family history, I felt at the outset in 2012 there was something of a missed opportunity for the national attentive ear to compile the visitor's knowledge. As the events commenced I saw this issue addressed, a point in hand being the Mountmellick Gathering 2013.
Mountmellick Development Association
Independent of my contact, James Edmundson was reaching out to Mountmellick Development Association and offered to donate his family's first edition copy of William Edmundson's journal (dated to 1715) to the Mountmellick Museum. The Association delighted with the offer, accepted and invited James to come and present the journal in person. Months later the invitation was realised and on the 7th April 2013, nearly 301 years after William Edmundson's death, his 8th great grandson presented the copy of William Edmundson's journal to the Mountmellick Museum. James as he said during the presentation, had been looking at Mountmellick via the internet for many years and it was his wish to visit Mountmellick and Rosenallis ever since he started to metaphorically dig into his family history that culminated, as all good family histories do, by sitting down with his aunt with a sheet of paper and an attentive ear.
An important factor in the Mountmellick Gathering was the involvement of representatives of the Quaker community from several parts of Ireland who had travelled to the gathering. One family, Chapman, donated a copy of a book about 100 years of the Quaker school in Mountmellick to the Mountmellick Development Association.
The attentive ear
As part of the planning of the event, the staff of the Development Association invited James to deliver a lecture/ talk to the community about his findings and experiences in carrying out his family research. The lecture was well attended and informative and got a huge response from those present. Much of the feedback was a result of the James' generous nature and enthusiasm for the subject matter. From a small seed grows a wonderful tree. The Gathering was the seed which the community will nourish and grow into a communal family tree with the many Quaker families that played such a treasured part of the heritage of Mountmellick/ Rosenallis region and County Laois in general.
'Ireland has a rich and varied heritage'
The phrase 'Ireland has a rick and varied heritage' slips easily off the tongue of most people in Ireland. It is true, as exemplified in the regions of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. You cannot walk along the small street of Rosenallis village without wondering at the times and the people that lived in this village. The village is a gem waiting to be found in a cultural travel chest that is rural Ireland.
I was doing some research about Rosenallis, Co. Laois in the mid 2012 when I noticed that William Edmundson, the founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers) was buried in the beautiful sleeping ground in Tineel townland. Rosenallis, within close proximity of his home place. He died in September 1712, 300 years earlier that the time of my research. William was an extraordinary man living in complex times in Ireland's history and he was a personal friend of William Penn, the founder the State of Pennyslvania. In my attempt to get clarification of the calendar system used on the headstones in the seventeenth century, I contacted, through Ancestry.com website one Mr. James Edmundson, a direct descendant of William. My query was answered and I reciprocated the favour by sending photographs of the plaque and graveyard to James.
I admire the concept of the Gathering and the many creative and inclusive opportunities for celebration on the island of Ireland in 2013. In the context of people from outside Ireland researching their family history, I felt at the outset in 2012 there was something of a missed opportunity for the national attentive ear to compile the visitor's knowledge. As the events commenced I saw this issue addressed, a point in hand being the Mountmellick Gathering 2013.
Mountmellick Development Association
Independent of my contact, James Edmundson was reaching out to Mountmellick Development Association and offered to donate his family's first edition copy of William Edmundson's journal (dated to 1715) to the Mountmellick Museum. The Association delighted with the offer, accepted and invited James to come and present the journal in person. Months later the invitation was realised and on the 7th April 2013, nearly 301 years after William Edmundson's death, his 8th great grandson presented the copy of William Edmundson's journal to the Mountmellick Museum. James as he said during the presentation, had been looking at Mountmellick via the internet for many years and it was his wish to visit Mountmellick and Rosenallis ever since he started to metaphorically dig into his family history that culminated, as all good family histories do, by sitting down with his aunt with a sheet of paper and an attentive ear.
An important factor in the Mountmellick Gathering was the involvement of representatives of the Quaker community from several parts of Ireland who had travelled to the gathering. One family, Chapman, donated a copy of a book about 100 years of the Quaker school in Mountmellick to the Mountmellick Development Association.
The attentive ear
As part of the planning of the event, the staff of the Development Association invited James to deliver a lecture/ talk to the community about his findings and experiences in carrying out his family research. The lecture was well attended and informative and got a huge response from those present. Much of the feedback was a result of the James' generous nature and enthusiasm for the subject matter. From a small seed grows a wonderful tree. The Gathering was the seed which the community will nourish and grow into a communal family tree with the many Quaker families that played such a treasured part of the heritage of Mountmellick/ Rosenallis region and County Laois in general.
Mr. James Edmundson's lecture to the Mountmellick community
Gathering 2015
The community has already commenced the planning of the Gathering 2015, as the Edmundson journal is being readied for public display in the Museum. The facebook page is established and 2015 will see James, the Mountmellick / Rosenallis community, the Quaker community and perhaps members of the extended Edmundson family and the other Irish descended Quaker families, in Ireland and abroad, add to our recording, appreciation and dissemination of our rich and varied Irish heritage.
If any of you have been part of a gathering in Ireland I’d love to hear you views of the event and perhaps if you give us a shout we could rove down to get involved in one of the many remaining events.
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