Throughout 2013, Ireland will open its arms to hundreds of thousands, of friends and family from all over the world, calling them home to gatherings in villages, towns and cities. The Gathering Ireland 2013 provides the perfect excuse to reach out to those who have moved away, their relatives, friends and descendants.
My home-town of Kenmare, Co. Kerry will be hosting the:
Kenmare ‘Gangs of New York’ Gathering, “Triumph over Adversity”
The Central Bar in 109 East 9th Street, Manhattan, New York on the
Friday the 18th of January at 6pm New York, January 18th 2013.
The event will commemorate the forced emigration of five thousand tenants from the Lansdowne estate in Kenmare shortly after the Great Famine of the 1845- 1850. Many of the emigrants settled in the Five Points area on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, as depicted in Martin Scorcese’s “Gangs of New York”. Here they encountered much hardship, but persevered to triumph adversity and integrate into Irish American life, helping build the nation as it stands today.
We will particularly be celebrating the life and legacy of Senator “Big” Tim O’Sullivan, whose mother, was a Lansdowne tenant, and after whom he named a Manhattan street, Kenmare Street.
I would personally like to invite you to join us in New York on the 18th of January for the event which will be held in Kenmare man Giles Cooper’s bar, The Central Bar in 109 East 9th Street, Manhattan, New York on the Friday the 18th of January at 6pm it is sure to be an enjoyable evening of remembrance and celebration of the history of Irish emigration globally.
Please let us know if you are able to attend the event. Brian Dennehy and Niall O’Dowd, both great friends of Kenmare, will be in attendance. If there is anyone you would like to invite, please feel free to let me know.
Finally, as part of The Gathering, a ‘Gangs of New York’ festival will be held in Kenmare, the provisional date being August 31st 2013. It would be wonderful if you were able to make the trip and join us in Kenmare for the celebrations.
For a more in-depth history of the life of Big Tim O’Sullivan, please find below a link to a radio documentary on Kenmare Street, aired on RTÉ Radio One on December 1st 2012.