This video are members of the McKenna Family: Thirty-four relatives, 12 of whom were 6, 8 were 1 year or younger.
Background music performed and composed by Jim McKenna 2021.
Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Watertown, is a cemetery for mostly Irish immigrants who came to Boston during the Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór). From 1854 to 1881 there were 15,562 burials, 49% of them were children under the age of 6 years.
On April 29, 2021 Cambridge Public Library hosted a lecture entitled "The Forgotten Irish of Mount Auburn Catholic Cemetery" in which Bill McEvoy discussed his recently published book entitled "Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery East Watertown, MA by William A. McEvoy, Jr" and is available Free Online: mountauburn.org/catholic-mount-auburn-cemetery/
Recording Studio: Melville Park Studio, Boston. Steve Friedman, Engineer. Recorded October 4, 2021.
Photo of headstone of Daniel McKenna, and his children from findagrave.com. Photo submitted by Bill McEvoy.
• Members of his family, Daniel McKenna and Ann Callahan, had emigrated to Boston during the Irish Famine (An Gorta Mór) in 1850 (Armagh) and 1852 (Ballygiblin, Cork) respectively. Daniel McKenna and Ann Callahan were married in Boston (Charlestown) on October 1, 1854. Daniel, and his brother Neil, were two of the six founding members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Boston (American Society of Hibernians) on March 17, 1857. This organization was formed "for the purpose of rendering assistance to the sick and disabled members of their society, and also of providing for the decent burial of the dead". Jim's great great uncle from Drumkeeran Ireland, Thomas McPartlin, performed traditional music on the banjo in Boston during the late 1800's. Daniel and his brother Neil are both buried at Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery in Watertown, Massachusetts. Thomas is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts. Jim great great aunt, from (Ballygiblin, Cork), Bridget married Daniel Murphy (Galway) in Boston Nov 5, 1876 at Holy Cross Cathedral, Boston.
• Dr. E. Moore Quinn wrote on the subject of the Irish Famine: "...a recently composed pipe lament by Jim McKenna entitled, 'Bridget O‘Donnel: A Victim of Famine'. The latter decries the interlocking set of awful truths that existed behind the journalists' reports and images that were published in the mid-19th century about the Famine.", The Many Voices of Pilgrimages and Reconciliation, Mansfield College, Oxford University, Publisher CABI (October 27, 2017). Pilgrimage in Practice: Narration, Reclamation and Healing (CABI, April 2018). Death within the Text | Social, Philosophical and Aesthetic Approaches to Literature (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019). A Human Rights Pilgrimage in Ireland: Commemorating the Doolough Tragedy in the Twenty-First Century (Inter-disciplinary Publications, Oxford, England, July 2015).
• Composer of "Lament for Bridget O'Donnel: A Victim of Famine" youtu.be/ehhk2nMmMZU, Lament for the Forgotten Irish of Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery" www.youtube.com/watch?v=avLdHsUwhAc, "Tears of Sorrow" youtu.be/k-86J_qh66Y, "Lament for the Children of the Kilkenny Workhouse" youtu.be/KeDapwhcM3w, "Lamento por los Niños en Jaulas" - "Lament for the Children in Cages" soundcloud.com/jimmckenna-uilleannpipes/lament-for-the-ch..., et al.
• November 7, 2017, Jim's performance of his composition "Lament for Bridget O'Donnel" was included in the soundtrack of the Kilkenny Famine Experience Memorial audio visual tour.
