Trasna na Tíre Welcomes You

Hear from members the Choctaw Nation as they explain about the history of their ancestors who generously donated money to Ireland during the Irish famine (An Gorta Mór) In 2015, a statue was commissioned to be built in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland, to honor the kindness of the Choctaws. But the story begins in 1831, when the Choctaw people were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands in Mississippi. A few years later, Choctaws learned of people starving in Ireland. Only sixteen years had passed since the Choctaws had faced hunger and death on the first Trail of Tears and a great empathy was felt when they heard such a similar tale coming from across the ocean. Individual Choctaws collected and donated $170 in 1847 to assist the Irish people. Landing image is of the Kindred Spirits sculpture by Alex Pentek (www.alexpentek.com)

Seaweed and its Wars - Ireland's Contested Resource by Archivist Cathal Dowd-Smith. Photo credit Lawrence collection by the National Library of Ireland

The cholera epidemic of 1832 struck the town of Sligo with considerable ruthlessness. This talk will provide an introduction to the outbreak, its origins, correspondences with today's Covid-19 pandemic. and the recent discovery of possible cholera burials at Sligo Abbey. Robert Hensey is an independent archaeological research professional specialising in Neolithic Ireland, its monuments, art, society and religion. He is the author of ‘First Light: The Origins of Newgrange’ and co-editor of ‘The Archaeology of Darkness’ both published by Oxbow Books, and over twenty academic papers. Though his primary research area is the monuments and societies of the Irish and European Neolithic, he has an interest in Irish archaeology and history in all time periods. He is currently employed by the Office of Public Works at Sligo Abbey, the site of a thirteenth century Dominican priory

Launch of the Mary Ann McCracken Pamphlet by Reclaim the Enlightenment Mary Ann McCracken was a unique and progressive figure in Belfast’s history. She was a pioneer of women’s rights and a serious revolutionary in the era of the United Irishmen. In the nineteenth century she was able to recognise changed times in which armed struggle was no longer a viable or justifiable strategy. She carried over her reforming zeal into a variety of charitable and campaigning activities into great old age and always on a resolutely non-sectarian basis. Her ideas on social reform remained in advance of her time. She not only cared for the poor, and women and children in particular, but she advocated government policies which could have alleviated their condition. She remained a staunch advocate of women’s rights, and a determined opponent of slavery, when both causes were in abeyance, and she was a critic of the wrongs of empire when imperial enthusiasm was sweeping all before it. John Gray is a committee member of Reclaim the Enlightenment. He is the former Librarian of Belfast’s Linen Hall Library. He served as Chair of the United Irishmen Commemoration Society at the time of the bicentenary of their rebellion in 1998. He has written, lectured, and broadcast extensively on many aspects of Ulster’s Labour and radical history and is the author of two previous Reclaim pamphlets; The United Irishmen and the Men of No Property the Sans Culottes of Belfast, and Cave Hill and the United Irishmen both published in 2018. Also speaking on Mary Ann McCracken is Clifton Houses Archive and Heritage Development officer Aaron McIntyre. Pamphlet price is £5. Delivery by post an additional £1.20 or £4.40 to the Republic. For international Posting email the above. Paypal Send too: j.gray310@ntlworld.com Send a message with the payment regarding delivery address.

Clodagh Finn has raised some important questions in her book 'Through Her Eyes: a history of Ireland in 21 women' But who could these women be? Grace O’Malley, Countess Markievicz, Nell McCafferty, and Mary Robinson surely. And maybe even Queen Elizabeth the First whose political move through plantations in Ireland ultimately led to the country splitting in two and has come home to roost recently in the thorny question of Brexit and the Irish border. Clodagh with a degree in French and Archaeology from UCD and has a particular interest in history and archaeology. She is also a journalist and these skills and experiences have worked well in giving her the skills to waeve an exceptionl narrative on Irish history based around 21 women’s lives. One of her subjects, Mabel Colhoun, worked with folklore and local knowledge or seanchas during her archaeological research to great success, and Finn has adopted this methodology in the book: she uses whatever is available to tell these women’s stories and at the same time illuminates a particular part of Irish history

The story of Irish immigration to Cleveland reflects the overall story of immigration to the US but is also a more particular one. Cleveland’s location in the heart of the country’s Great Lakes region placed it in the middle of many of the country’s major economic and industrial developments—the building of the Ohio and Erie Canal, the railroad boom, the rise of the steel industry and of more diverse manufacturing. The canal, the railroads, steel, and manufacturing all drew successive waves of Irish immigrants to Cleveland. Presenter Margaret Lynch is Executive Director of the Irish American Archives Society, a group that preserves and presents information about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. Lynch has developed and presented talks, displays, articles, and walking tours about the history of the Irish in Cleveland and family history research. She manages a research internship at John Carroll University focused on documenting 3000+ immigrants who left northwest Mayo in 1883-1884 on an assisted immigration initiative. Picture is of Cleveland's first steel mill, the Cleveland Rolling Mills, which converted to the Bessemer steel-making process in 1868

The 1912 signing of the Ulster Covenant in Belfast was a defining moment in Irish History. This was a very significant march-step down the road towards partition, further entrenching the political and sectarian divisions on the island. The final outcome of this was Partition. There were some confident and outspoken opponents to this covenant, mainly prosperous Presbyterians with a fond wish for all people of Ireland to be united under Home Rule. This talk explores an all-but-forgotten story and the main players in promoting an ideal that was not to be realised. Mark Doherty is Belfast-born, and an enthusiastic amateur historian and member of 'Reclaim the Enlightenment'. He is a trained and experienced tour guide working at Belfast City Hall and Clifton House (the former Poor House). He also edits the Belfast Titanic Society magazine. He has a great interest in many aspects of local history, particularly the shipyards and the era of the United Irishmen. He has always been intrigued by the forgotten tale of this covenant of an Alternative Ireland.