The family affair of clan rallies

The September 1992 Homecoming Festival promoted jointly by Bord Failte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board was a financial flop. However, clan gatherings are now very much on the tourism agenda.

John Bradshaw a board member of the State-supported "Clans of Ireland" and the driving force behind the Tipperary Clans Office says that after the initial burst of interest from the tourist board which saw 17 separate clan rallies in the homecoming festival, the years between then and 1999 suffered from "a lack of tourist board policy".

Now, however, he is organising clan gatherings on a more local basis, promoting rallies in the home towns of the clans rather than on a State-wide basis. Already this summer he has assisted rallies of the Hayes family, held in Aherlow in July, and the Hogan family whose rally was held in Carrick-on-Suir, also in July. But the families have to play a major part.

The Egans held a rally in Thurles at the start of August while the Crow family gathered in Dundrum around the same time. September 8th to 10th is earmarked for a Ryan clan gathering, also in Dundrum, while on September 22nd a weekend dedicated to the Mansergh family gets underway. The O'Dwyer family will hold their rally starting on September 29th.

Those attending the clan rallies are provided with an information pack on their clan, typically information on where the name derives from; the coat of arms, if any; news of important branches of the family; family mottoes and information on local family residences.

Tourist maps are provided and suggested places of interest are detailed. Also provided is a list of Irish genealogy centres .

They are called clan gatherings but in many cases those who gather under the same surname may not be related to one another. As the name O'Brien implies, the holder is a descendent "of Brian" but someone of the same surname may not be a descendant of the same Brian. Similarly, the Tyrone O'Neills are not in any way connected to the Tipperary O'Neills other than by coincidentally having the same surname. The Murphys are another strong example of a large group of people with a common name but who are descendants of different people.

On a beautiful summer's weekend in the Glen of Aherlow, however, with the sun slanting through the oak trees, everyone is family.