This story is reprinted from the Fall issue of TheBonfire, newsletter of the Ballykilcline Society. Dr. Ciaran Reilly alsorequested that we spread the word on various lists and web sites. Thanks, Mary Lee The Gathering 2013 Strokestown ParkWants to Know Your Story As preparations continue for the 2013 Gathering,when Ireland will take center stage in the minds of millions of people claimingIrish descent around the world, at Strokestown Park House an exciting projectis underway as part of those celebrations. For the majority of those tracing their Irishgenealogy, the Great Famine 1845-51 was the catalyst formuch of this emigration. In that brief period, more than a million peopleemigrated, while the ensuing decades saw wave after wave of Irish emigrants.Dr. Ciarán Reilly of NUI Maynooth, in collaboration with Strokestown Park Houseand the National Famine Museum, is currently examining the voluminousStrokestown Archive. Contained therein, in almost 50,000 documents, are theforgotten voices of the Great Irish Famine. During the Great Famine more than5,000 people alone were evicted from the Strokestown estate; more than halfthat number emigrated to Canada, America, Britain, and Australia among otherplaces. Among the thousands of names included in emigration, eviction, relief,and workhouse lists of the Strokestown archive are Brennan, Feeney, Murray,McGuire, Hogan, Fitzsimons, Gannon, Freeman, Conry, Casserly,Doherty, Burke, Murtagh, Moran, Duffy, Fahey, and many more. The lists includethe names, addresses, size of holding, and a description of the very people whowere affected by the Famine. Here, the lives of farmers, millers, shopkeepers,merchants, poor, diseased, destitute, and abandoned are carefully preserved.Indeed, the character of some of the Famine emigrants from Strokestown and thesurrounding area are also revealed, which includes a surprising number ofrobbers, thieves, and bandits!! In total, the archive contains details on morethan 10,000 people during the Great Irish Famine. Frank Coggins and others – the search is on Taking a sample of those who left Strokestown during theFamine, it may be possible to trace the lives of those who reached Canada,America, Australia, and other locations. For example, Catherine Blair ofLissonuffy, near Strokestown, arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1850. She isrecorded in the federal census in 1850 as living there with her husband James,57, and three children: William, aged 11, Thomas, 9, and Jane. 2 years old.Others settled in the ‘Kerry Patch’ in St Louis, Missouri, and in Cincinnati,Ohio. Many, however, failed to adapt to their new life. Ellen Shannon, forinstance, was listed as a patient in a county asylum in 1870. She was buried atRockspring, St Louis, in 1882. What became of James Spellman who arrived in NewYork in 1846? Was he the same person who is listed in the 1860 census as livingin Newport, Herkimer, New York, with his wife, Teresa, 30, and three daughters:Mary, 6, Martha, 4, and little Catherine, by which time he had amassed propertyvalued at $3,377 and a personal estate worth $1,500? Othersremain a mystery and do not appear in U.S. Census material. Take, for instance,the case of Frank Coggins and his whereabouts in America after the Famine. InSeptember 1852, the Freemans Journal newspaper reported that a man namedFrank Coggins, hiswife, son, and three daughters entered the workhouse in Strokestown in March1850 as “miserable and emaciated looking creatures.” Within a short space oftime, the son, then 15, and his father absconded from the workhouse and went toEngland leaving the rest of the family behind. From there, they then went toAmerica, and after about nine months or so, secured passage for their familyand duly sent passage tickets to the master of the workhouse. It is afascinating account of the hardships which many endured and the strength andresilience which they showed. Can any more be found out about Frank Coggins,his family, or subsequent generations? Gathering the Roscommon Famine emigrants’stories As partof The Gathering, Strokestown Park House, in collaboration with theDepartment of History, NUI Maynooth, is looking to trace and invite “home” toRoscommon the descendants of these Famine emigrants for a week of celebrationand remembrance. Owing to current economic circumstances, it might not bepossible for many of the global Irish who wish to take part in some of theevents in Ireland to do so. That is where this project comes in -- Gatheringthe Roscommon Famine emigrants’ stories. We want to hear your story --whether detailed or not, or if you are only in the process of finding out aboutyour Famine ancestors. While the project is primarily aimed atStrokestown emigrants, we would love to hear from those with roots in Roscommonand even farther afield. The stories will be added to our web site and will beavailable to be read by visitors to the National Famine Museum. Send us yourstories, pictures, memories, and any other information that will help put allthese pieces of the jigsaw together. Thanks mainly to the voluminousStrokestown Park archive, the people’s voices are recorded. Now, we want tohear about those who left, how they fared, and what was/is their legacy. Overthe coming months, plans for the Gathering event (to be held in July) will bepublished on the Strokestown web site (www.strokestownpark.ie).It is also hoped that the database containing the records of more than 10,000people during the Great Famine in Roscommon will be made available in the nearfuture, funding permitted, although in what format, i.e., book/CD ROM etc, hasstill to be decided. ToSubmit Your Story Your story can be any length and accompanyingphotographs – make sure to include captions – will be welcomed. Email yourdocument to Dr. Reilly at [email protected] or [email protected] Make sure to include your full name,postal address, email address, and telephone number. Dr. Ciarán Reilly is a PostdoctoralResearch Fellow at the Department of History, NUI Maynooth. His latest book,John Plunket Joly and the Great Famine in King’s County, has just beenpublished by Four Courts Press.