 |
The
Group pose for a photo at Hennigan’s |
A
couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of participating in a “welcome
home” event here in Ireland, hosted by Tom Hennigan and his
family at “Hennigan’s Heritage Farm & Centre” in
Rubble in the parish of Killasser, near Swinford, County Mayo
This was the occasion of the visit to “Hennigan’s” by
a group of Irish emigrants from various centres in Birmingham and the
East Midlands, including the Fireside Day Centre in Birmingham which
undertakes tremendous work for the less fortunate in the community
there.
The group were in County Mayo for a short break, courtesy of the Mayo
Emigrant Liason Committee. A prominent member of the Committee, and
visiting “Henni-gan’s” that day with the group, is
Kevin Bourke from near Castlebar, himself a one time emigrant to Birmingham
and a stalwart of the Mayo Association in Birmingham in the 1970s,
which was when I first made his acquaintance at the “old” Birmingham
Irish Centre in Digbeth.
The Mayo Emigrant Liason Committee is very active in bringing back
to the west of Ireland, on an annual basis, groups of people who, perhaps,
through financial or other circumstances may not readily have the opportunity
or means to pay a return visit to the land of their birth, with some
perhaps not having made the trip for many years, if at all, since they
first “took the boat” to England.
 |
Kitchen
in old homestead at Hennigan’s Heritage Farm & Centre
|
On
arrival at “Hennigan’s”, the group were made comfortable
in the visitor centre there, a re-created “stone floor” kitchen
housing items such as old “kitchen dressers” and various
artefacts from times gone by in rural Ireland. Whilst enjoying tea,
coffee and scones, and a few “small ones”, the group were
heartily welcomed to Rubble, and “home to Ireland”, by
Tom Hennigan, in his own inimitable style. Tom gave a detailed and
illuminating account of the history and development of the “Hennigan’s” project,
based upon the original Hennigan homestead, and a dedicated labour
of love for Tom and his family over the last 12 years or so.
He enlivened his talk to the group with a number of stories and anecdotes,
as well as highlighting various events connected with the Centre, one
of the most significant being the visit last year by the current American
Ambassador to Ireland, and whose own ancestral roots are in Killasser.
Many of the group were noted nodding their heads as Tom struck reminiscent
chords within them in describing various customs and practices of
the rural Ireland of yesteryear. He also engaged in a few “theatricals” with
the group to illuminate his talk.
After the talk members of the group were invited to walk around the
Centre and to view the restored thatched cottage complete with “half
door” and open fireplace, the original Hennigan family home that
is the centrepiece of the project, and other attractions there. These
include an impressive collection of old farm machinery, a museum complete
with a turf stack (housing within it a mock up of an original poteen
distillery, a throw back to a time when poteen making, then and now
an illegal activity, was a significant local “industry”!)
and a re-created early 20th century rural school classroom.
On returning to the visitor centre, the reassembled group took part
in a spirited sing-song, encouraged
by yours truly, which lasted an hour or so.
The proceedings then drew to a close, group photographs were taken,
farewells were bade with invitations extended to the visitors to “come
back and see us again”, as they boarded their coach to return
to Castlebar where they were staying for the duration of their break. |
