Participated in the annual Doolough Valley walk (from Delphi Lodge to Louisburgh) to commemorate An Gorta Mór. Still painfully relevant as forced starvation is still a weapon being used in this world
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Participated in the annual Doolough Valley walk (from Delphi Lodge to Louisburgh) to commemorate An Gorta Mór. Still painfully relevant as forced starvation is still a weapon being used in this world
Dedicated to Daniel McKenna (Armagh) & Ann Callahan (Ballygiblin, Cork) who left a traumatic life in Ireland to start a new but difficult one in Boston. Both Daniel and Ann are buried at Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery, Watertown, Massachusetts.
ISRC QT-54R-25-00002
To listen to Lament for the Forgotten Irish of Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery | Jim McKenna
Audio: soundcloud.com/jimmckenna-uilleannpipes/sets/from-great-h...
One Family Experience of the Irish Famine | Boston
youtu.be/rJrdt-3zHmg
To listen to Lament for the Forgotten Irish of Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery soundcloud.com/jimmckenna-uilleannpipes/lament-for-the-fo...
• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. 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.
• 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.
• 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).
• 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.
• Performed at the 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019 Mother's Day Walk for Peace, Louise D. Brown Peace Institute,
Code Listen, Boston
• 100 Thousand Poets & Musicians 2014, Exeter New Hampshire
• Boston Celtic Music Festival (BCMFest) 2006
• Folk Song Society of Greater Boston Annual Concerts
• Irish Connections Festival (Singers' Circle) & St. Brigid Festival, Irish Cultural Centre, Canton, Massachusetts
• Irish Christmas Mass, St. Augustine Chapel, South Boston, Massachusetts
• January 2, 2020; arranged & performed Alex Brewer's "The Rose of Saratoga" on Alex's album "Unquoted."
Lament for Bridget O'Donnel: A Victim of Famine | Composed & Performed by Jim McKenna 2010. www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ehh...
Illustrated London News, December 22, 1849.
In November 2017, the audio of this video was included in the Kilkenny Famine Experience Memorial audio visual tour.
Recording Studio: Melville Park Studio, Boston. Steve Friedman, Engineer.
• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
• 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.
Famine graveyard in Manorhamilton, Leitrim. One of three in close proximity to site of former workhouse.
New Ross, Co. Wexford. (File: IRL4845)
'Dunbrody' famine ship centre, New Ross, Co. Wexford. More on this ship: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbrody_(1845). (File: IRL4844)
An Gorta Mór (Great Irish Famine)
Death Within the Text | Social, Philosophical and Aesthetic Approaches to Literature (2019)
• 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.
Playlist: Laments · Jim McKenna
Rock Harbor, Massachusetts
• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
• 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.
Music: Tears of Sorrow
Composed & performed by Jim McKenna.
Kindred Spirits Sculpture (Alex Pentek) commemorates the 1847 donation by the Choctaw Nation (Trail of Tears) to
Irish famine relief during the Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f8gmuhpGgk&t=114s
Native News Online, March 17, 2023. nativenewsonline.net/ Neely Bardwell.
Melville Park Studio, Boston.
Steve Friedman, Engineer.
Club Passim Open Mic, April 3, 2012.
• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
• 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.
An Gorta Mór (Great Irish Famine)
Pilgrimage in Practice: Narration, Reclamation and Healing (2018)
• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
• 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.
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.
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.
Composed and performed by Jim McKenna 2018
• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
• 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.
You may not recognise the name Bridget O’Donnell, but she is one of the most recognisable women in Irish history. www.theirishnation.com/bridget-odonnell
In December 1849 her image (re-presented in the mosaic here) appeared in The Illustrated London News. Over the following decades she became the face of the Great Famine. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)
The Thirsty Scholar is a pub found within the arches of the railway bridge which crosses Oxford Road. It’s one of three pubs, the others being The Sailsbury and Grand Central, which are all nestled near the old steps leading up to Oxford Road Station. All three pubs have something of an old fashioned rock sensibility about them, and, unlike many Manchester pubs of a certain era, they’ve not had their edges filed down. oxfordroadcorridor.com/venues/the-thirsty-scholar/
Mosaic based on public domain work from the Illustrated London News, 1849-12-22 w.wiki/9NER
Strabane’s Union Workhouse 1841 - 1930
The 1836 Royal Commission, was actually aimed at helping the Irish poor, nonetheless said they brought "filth, neglect, confusion, discomfort and insalubrity".
The Irish Poor Law of 1838 introduced a relief system for poor, sick and the destitute. Before the Great Famine (1845-1852), workhouses generally remained three-quarters empty despite the fact there were an estimated 2.4 million Irish living in a state of poverty.
The term “pauper” was applied to a recipient of Poor Law relief, while they were often known as “inmates” once resident in a workhouse. By 1847 Ireland's workhouses were bursting at the seams with a nationwide average weekly number of 83,283 inmates.
Ireland was divided into 130 Poor Law Unions, with a workhouse established in each. Families were separated and given a cold bath to de-louse them. Men, women and children were confined to their own dormitories. During the day, they followed a strict regime and were expected to perform manual labour.
Tasks included breaking stones, working in the laundry, digging trenches, cooking, scrubbing floors, picking beaten or unbeaten oakum, a heavy used rope covered in tar, cut up into 2 foot lengths that was beaten with a hammer to remove the tar, the inmates unpicked the strands right down to teasing out the original hemp fibres. This was sold to the shipyard and used to seal the gaps between the ships planks, hence the term “money for old rope”.
Children were educated and taught a trade. Boys learned shoe making and tailoring, while girls were taught embroidery and cooking.
Prior to the famine, Strabane was a bustling market town of over 5000 people, connected to the Foyle by a canal and by the mid-1800s to neighbouring towns by rail like Derry, Newtownstewart, Omagh & Enniskillen.
The Strabane Poor Law Union was officially declared on 6 April 1839 and covered an area of 209 mi2
(541 km2).
The Strabane Union Workhouse was originally planned to be built at Magirr in the Bridge Street area of the town, on land owned by James Hamilton (b.1811 d.1885), Marquis of Abercorn. This site was rejected as unsuitable so the workhouse was planned to be built on a 5-acre site to the North of Strabane, on the east side of the Derry Road.
It was designed by the Poor Law Commisioner’s archetect George Wilkinson (b.1814 d.1890). The building was based on one of his standard plans to accomidate a maximum capacity of 800 inmates. An entrance and administrative block at the west contained porter’s room and waiting room at the centre with Guardians’ board room on the first floor above. Extensions were later added at each side to provide childrens accomidation and school rooms.
The main accommodation block had a Master’s Quarters at the centre, with male and female wings at each side. At the rear, a range of single-story utility rooms such as bake house and washrooms connected through to the infimary and idiots wards via a central spine containing a chapel and dining-hall. A burial ground was located to the north-east.
The Commissioners in Dublin had given Wilkinson instructions to design “a series of plans of different capacities, capable of holding from 330 to 1,300 inmates”.
The Commissioners selected Wilkinson because he had already erected workhouses in Wales, which they believed were similar to the environment in Ireland, and also because his building costs were considerably less than the buildings in England (at least in theory).
Despite the Irish workhouse being larger, compared to England, Wilkinson initially achieved savings of one third from the English buildings, a principal policy of the Poor Law. Expenditure was reduced by a lower standard of accommodation in Ireland, for example, his plans called for earthen floors instead of timber, considered suitable especially for the Irish inmates because, “both in point of economy and in being better adapted to their habits, most of whom did not have shoes and stockings, and were accustomed to floors of common earth”.
Wilkinson also introduced his own cost-saving, sleeping platforms instead of bedsteads in the dormitories, white-washed internal walls instead of plastered, bare rafters instead of ceilings.
The Strabane construction was carried out by Messers Patterson & Catcheside at a cost of £6,885, plus £1,355 for fittings etc, totaling £8,240. It was delcared fit for the reception of paupers on 18 November 1841 and admitted its first inmates the same day.
It’s operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 25 in number. The board also included 5 ex-officio Guardians, making a total of 30. The Guardians met each week on a Tuesday.
The nomination of Guardians for this Union took place on Thursday, 25 April 1839, before the Returning Officer, the Hon. Mr. Clements being also in attendance, besides several Magistrates of the town and neighbourhood, and others throughout the Union. The following rate payers were put in nomination as Guardians for the year ending 25 March 1840.
Nomination of Poor Law Guardians for the Strabane Union 1839.
Co.Tyrone divisions Nominees
Strabane: W. Ramsay, W. Stevenson, Samuel Morton, Thomas Smith (resigned), Robert Hamilton (resigned), Neal Doherty.
Altaclady: Daniel Patton, J.R. Auchinleck.
East Urney: Charles Hamilton, Robert Porter.
Church Lands: Arthur Foster, John Smith.
Douglas Burn: William Dick, James Tynan.
Baronscourt: Oliver Stewart (elected), John Kyle (resigned).
West Urney: James McCurdy (elected).
Glenmornan: James Sinclair (resigned), W. Segerson (elected).
Ballymagorry: Thomas Brown (elected).
Camus: G. Lowther (resigned), Robert Smyth (elected).
Ballyneanor: James Craig, A. Woods, A. Edie (resigned).
Mountcastle: Francis O’Neil (elected).
Dunemanagh: W. McCrea (elected), A. Edie (resigned).
Newtownstewart: A. Edie (elected).
Donnelong: A. Edie (resigned), Robert Alexander, Robert McCrea.
Co.Donegal divisions Nominees
Clonleigh North: Robert Montgomery, John Kerr, Tasker Keys (resigned).
Clonleigh South: George Knox (elected), James Ball (resigned), Andrew Clark (resigned).
St. Johnston: S. Hamilton (elected).
Figart: Charles Hamilton (resigned), Robert Montgomery, William Witherow.
Raphoe: Robert Montgomery, Samuel Ramsay, Robert Kincaid, W. Hamilton.
Castlefin: Walter Jones, William Sims.
Feddyglass: John Lowery (elected).
Trentamucklagh: Robert Gregg (elected).
They represented the 24 electoral divisions listed as follows:
Co.Tyrone: Altaclady, Ballymagorry, Ballyneaner, Barron's Court, Caums, Church Lands, Douglas Burn, Dunnalong, Dunnamanagh, Glenmornan, Mountcastle, Newtown Stewart, Strabane, and East Urney.
Co. Donegal: Castle Finn, Cloghard, North Conleigh, South Conleigh, Feddyglass, Figgart, Raphoe, St Johnstown, Treantamucklagh, and West Urney.
In 1845 the Great Famine (An Gorta Mór) began and hundreds went to the workhouse to receive aid. Food in the workhouse was prepared in two 400 gallon boilers, with a further 100 gallon boiler used for “stirabout”. It has been estimated that on the eve of the famine 30% of Irish people were largely or wholly dependant on potatoes as the primary diet.
The initial workhouse diet was a breakfast of stirabout (a weak oatmeal porridge) and milk with a dinner of potatoes and milk. When the potato blight struck, this diet was substituted by white bread and Indian meal.
Breakfast: 7 oz Stirabout & 1 pint Buttermilk or 1/2 pint new-milk.
Dinner: 3 1/2 lb. Potatoes weighed raw & 1 pint Buttermilk or 1/2 pint new-milk.
The workhouse was run in a very disciplined way and there were penalties for not following the rules.
The Belfast Newsletter, 1851 recorded the following: A female inmate in Strabane was sentenced to six months hard labour for attacking the matron.
The following punishments were recorded in the 1840s.
a. Refusing work: 12 stripes of a rod.
b. Stealing money: 14 stripes and 8 cold baths over 4 weeks.
c. Throwing stones and annoying a lunatic: 20 stripes, or 12 hours confinement, loss of a meal, and cold shower.
d. Running away from the warehouse: No milk for 14 days.
e. Stealing food: No milk for 2 days.
The estimated numbers of the destitute from the Strabane and District parishes were recorded in 1846-47 as follows: Camus: 2047, Urney: 1533, Leckpatrick: 1134 and Donagheady: 2025.
The town was slow to recover from the famine and the workhouse played a big part in times of desperation.
Strabane death records suggest that Typhus fever (a group of diseases caused by bacteria that are spread to humans by fleas, lice, and chiggers) patients were brought to Strabane workhouse to facilitate isolation and receive any possible treatment. The population of the town dropped from 7,000 pre Famine (1845), to 4,000 in 1889 a period of 44 years.
During the Great Famine in 1845, a 70 bed fever hospital was erected at the south-east of the workhouse, on the hill behind, which in 1922 became the Strabane District Hospital and later became Strabane Hospital. Also a house was hired to accommodate 36 inmates.
A million people in Ireland are estimated to have died of starvation and epidemic disease between 1846 and 1851, and some two million emigrated in a period of a little more than a decade.
Strabane Poor Law Union Returns for the week ending 18 November 1848
Remaining in the house last week: 520, Admitted during the week: 62, Born: 0, Total: 584, Died: 4, Discharged: 30, Remaining in house: 551, In the house in the corresponding week last year: 623.
Extract from the Tyrone Constitution - Omagh Friday 19 March 1847
An inquest was held in Strabane, on the same day on the bodies of two sisters, named Mary Jane and Anna HARKIN, one 12 years old and the other six. Their father had brought them from Castlefin to Strabane, when he was forced from destitution to leave them and go to the harvest in Scotland. They were taken into Strabane workhouse, where they remained until the return of their father, who took them out, finding them in a sickly and declining state of health. They were exposed to cold by being carried about, and, strange to say, both died on the 12th instant, at the same hour. Verdict - died from exposure to cold, being ins a ?diseased? state when leaving the workhouse.
In Feburary 1922 there was a failed attempt by the IRA to burn down the Strabane Workhouse. The intention, as was with the burning of many Workhouses further south, was to prevent the buildings from being used by the British military.
Extract from the Tyrone Constitution Titled: Nurse’s Terrifying Ordeal.
Much excitement was created in Strabane and district when it was learned early on Thursday morning that an attempt had been made to burn the Strabane workhouse, either late on Wednesday night or on Thursday morning.
The building had been guarded by a force of the constabularly: but at the back, which is in rural distruct, it appears that five or six men entered through a gate and made their way to the quarters of the matron (Miss O’Keefe). They were armed, and five of them were masked. They ordered the matron to leave the room, and marched her down one of the corridors in charge of a guard who was armed with a revolver, afterwards, placing her in a room. The sixth man was neither masked nor disguised, but was able to be identified.
The entire building, which, they suspected the military would occupy, was saturated with petrol and the place was strewn with empty tins. Those using the petrol would appear to have been inexperienced, as the heads of the tins were knocked off instead of the screw being used. Four empty tins were found afterwards. The petrol was carefully placed in all quarters especially about the stairs. The police were alarmed by the nurse, and on arrival they were unable to light even a match so great were the petrol fumes. Luckily, those who perperated the outrage forgot that in ever corner of the building were fire extinguishers, and it was the expert use of these by the police that saved the premises.
The woodwork on the stairs of all the rooms was covered with petrol and blankets hanging around the building were also saturated, as were the nurses’ rooms, after the occupants had been evicted, particular attention being given to the various quarters which would have been occupied by the military.
On thursday evening the military arrived and took over the building, They were a detachment of the Dorsets, and this is their first arrival in Strabane, They were fully equipped, including machine guns. Immediately before their arrival the patients in the District Hospital were removed in ambulances to Castlederg and Londonderry.
In the 1930s, part of the dinning hall block was used as for Mass by Catholics from the north side of Strabane. During the Second World War the workhouse was also used by service personnel as a Navy, Army, and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) and for staff billets.
The Poor Law Commission was replaced by the Poor Law Board in 1847, with the intention of improving accountability to Parliament. Workhouses and Boards of Guardians were abolished in 1930 by the Local Government Act 1929, and their powers and responsibilities were passed to local and national government bodies.
The entrance block of the building can now be seen as the Derry City & Strabane District Council Offices located at 41, Derry Road, Strabane, BT82 8DY
Tragic Deaths from Starvation at Strabane Thomas Gilroy
The Londonderry Journal, Saturday, 11 December 1847.
A most melancholy case of the death of a father and son from starvation occurred in Strabane during last week. From the evidence adduced at the inquest held on the bodies on Saturday last, it appeared that a man named THOMAS GILROY, with his wife and six children from Manor Hamilton, County Leitrim, went to Scotland sometime in August last, with the hope of bettering their condition by procuring employment. They lived in Glasgow until about November, when the wife and three of the children were seized by fever, and removed to the infirmary. On her recovery, she learned that her husband and the three other children had also been attacked with the same fatal disease – two of the children had died, and that the husband, though partially recovered and pronounced out of danger, was still very weak and unable to work.
In this helpless and enfeebled state, the Glasgow authorities provided a free ticket for their passage to Derry, as the nearest Irish port, and giving them two shillings and sixpence, the husband, wife and four children, were conveyed by the steamer to that city, where they arrived on Thursday, the 25th of November. On arriving in Derry, they applied at the workhouse for relief which they were told could not be granted without a line from a relieving officer, for whom they proceeded to make enquiry, but not being immediately successful, and being exhausted with cold and fatigue, they took a lodging and procured some food with the money which had been given them. They proceeded to Strabane on the following morning, hoping to get relief in the workhouse in that town, but being half starved and enfeebled from their relentless illness, they were merely able to crawl along, endeavouring to support nature on raw turnips and cabbages, which formed their sole food for the three or four days during which they were on the road.
They did not arrive at the Workhouse until Thursday evening, and applying at the gate, they were spoken to by a boy who told them, as at Derry, that they must get a line from a relieving officer before they could be admitted. They remained at the gate in a state of utter exhaustion and despair for a considerable time, still hoping that the workhouse functionaries would take pity on their wretched condition, and at length the porter made his appearance, and without deigning to speak to them, or to listen to their solicitations, beckoned them to leave the place! The husband then told the wife that he was unable to proceed, from weakness, she had better to go on to Strabane with the children, try and procure some place of shelter and if he got stronger he would follow them.
The wife complied, but failing in procuring either lodging or food, she returned and found that her husband had left the place. After a long search and many fruitless enquiries she found him at length in a cabin near Melmount on the Urney side of the river. Some warm milk was given to the husband by the people, but still they were refused lodgings. They at length obtained shelter in the house of a poor woman who was herself without fire, and having procured a coal or two from one of the neighbouring houses, and cooked their last grain of meal, they lay down on the damp wet floor of the fireless cabin. Before morning the man was dead, and one of the boys died on the same day. A verdict was returned in both cases, of “death from starvation”, and a strong feeling was expressed regarding the conduct of the porter of the Strabane workhouse. The remaining son died in the workhouse on Monday.
Owing to the disclosures at the inquest, and the remarks of the coroner’s jury, the case was investigated by the board of guardians of the Strabane union, at their meeting on Tuesday, when the case was fully stated by Mr Robert McCrea. The porter was severely censured for his inhumanity and neglect of duty, in not having personally attended to the application of the starving family, and not taking them to the relieving officer. The following resolutions were also adopted: “That the master shall, in future, exercise his own discretion in admitting casual paupers, not of the union, in cases of extreme distress.”
“From the statement made by the foreman of the coroner’s jury, it is of the opinion of this board, however deeply they regret the neglect of the duty of the porter, whereby the application of the poor family for admission was not brought under consideration, that it is to be equally deplored that the Gilroy’s were sent from Glasgow in a state when they lives were endangered by travelling”.
On the suggestion of Mr. Robert McCrea, a subscription was got up for the poor woman who had shown humanity to the sufferers, by affording them shelter when it had been refused by all others, and who is herself in a state of extreme destitution. When no one could be found to touch the corpses, this poor woman washed them – Mr. McCrea put them in the coffin with his own hands, got them interred, and conducted the surviving portion of this bereaved family to the workhouse infirmary. Conduct such as this is deserving of the highest praise.
Deportation of Famine Orphans from Omagh, Gortin & Strabane, Co. Tyrone Workhouses to Melbourne, Australia, October 1848.
A little-known consequence of the devastation caused by the Great Famine (1845-50) was the large numbers of young orphans admitted to workhouses across Ireland and a scheme of emigration to the Australian colonies devised in Westminster to alleviate overcrowding: approximately 5,000 female pauper orphans emigrated 1848-50. Passages were paid by the colonials who were in great need of house servants, farm servants and dairy maids and potential brides for the many emancipated transported convicts desperate to marry. The girls disembarked in the ports of Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Moreton Bay (Brisbane).
Many of the girls had a living parent, but being unable to provide food and shelter, had no other recourse than to seek admittance to a workhouse.
29 Omagh & Gortin workhouse girls arrived in Melbourne on board the Diadem, disembarking 10, January 1850.
A fortnight later, the Strabane, Co. Tyrone, workhouse was cleared of 11 girls who arrived in Melbourne, 25 February 1850 on the Derwent.
The ship barque: Derwent
Departed: Plymouth, England, 9 Nov 1849
Arrived: Port Phillip, Victoria, 25 Feb 1850
Master: David Lyndsey
Surgeon: Thomas Henry Payne, Esq.
Tonnage: 362 tons (328 tonnes)
Duration: 108 days
Passengers include 136 female orphans from the Irish Workhouses - part of "Earl Grey's Famine Orphan Scheme (1848-1850)".
Barque: a sailing ship, typically with three masts, in which the foremast and mainmast are square-rigged and the mizzenmast is rigged fore and aft, the 55 metre three-masted barque is known for adventurous voyages
Sarah (Arbuckle) Richardson (1833 - 1908) - Strabane
Sarah (Arbuckle) Richardson (1833-1908) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree
earlgreysfamineorphans.wordpress.com/tag/derwent/
Anne (Arbuckle) Rix (1832 - 1879) - Strabane
Ann (Arbuckle) Rix (1832-1879) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree
Mary Ann (Arbuckle) Carter (1827 - 1855) - Strabane
Mary Ann (Arbuckle) Carter (1827-1855) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree
George Wilkinson, FRIBA
was an English architect, who practised largely in Ireland. Architect to the Poor Law Commissioners in Ireland from 1839 until 1855. George Wilkinson was born in 1814, a son of W.A. Wilkinson, carpenter and builder of Witney, Oxfordshire. His younger brother William Wilkinson was also an architect. In 1835, following the Poor Law Amendment Act of August 1834, which provided for the construction of 350 workhouses in England and Wales, Wilkinson won the competition for designing the workhouse at Thame, Oxfordshire. During the next three years, while he was still in his early twenties, he designed many other workhouses in Oxfordshire and elsewhere in England and Wales.
In July 1838 with the passing of the Act for the More Effectual Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland the workhouse system was extended to Ireland. According to the provisions of the act, 130 workhouses were to be built. Whereas different architects had been able to compete for workhouse commissions in England and Wales, the Poor Law Commissioners proposed that in Ireland the Board of Works should be given sole responsibility for all the workhouses. When this proved impossible for legal reasons, they invited Wilkinson and two other architects to submit designs for a prototype Irish workhouse. On the strength of his experience in Wales under circumstances, and with materials not very dissimilar from what exist in Ireland', in January 1839 Wilkinson was appointed the Commissioners' architect in Ireland, responsible for the design and erection of all 130 Irish workhouses. He was to be paid a salary of £500 per annum and provided with a full-time assistant and a clerk, to be paid £150 and £100 per annum respectively.
George married Mary Clinch in Witney on 18 December 1850. Mary was a daughter of John Williams Clinch (1788–1871) the Witney brewer, banker and landowner. They had four daughters, Alice, Florence, Annie Elizabeth, and Edith.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1878.
McKenna Gravestone at Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery
11 Months, John McKenna, DOD 1859, Lung Fever
32 Years, Daniel Francis McKenna, DOD 1863, Apoplexy
4 Months, Mary Ann McKenna, 1863, Convulsions
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" mountauburn.org/catholic-mount-auburn-cemetery/
• 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 five founding members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Boston (American Society of Hibernians) on March 17, 1857 (Incorporated March 27, 1861). 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".McKenna Family: Thirty-four relatives, 12 of whom were 6, 8 were 1 year or younger.
American Society of Hibernians (Ancient Order of Hibernians) | Boston
Founded March 17, 1857; Incorporated March 27, 1861. Board Members: Daniel McKenna, Neil McKenna, Edward Riley, James Martin, James McGee and Edward Cassidy. Daniel and his brother Neil are both buried at Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery, Watertown, Massachusetts. Jim great great aunt, from County Cork, Bridget married Daniel Murphy in Boston Nov 5, 1876 at Holy Cross Cathedral, Boston.
• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
• 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 (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.
American Society of Hibernians (Ancient Order of Hibernians) | Boston
Boston Globe | May 7, 1900
Founded March 17, 1857; Incorporated March 27, 1861. Board Members: Daniel McKenna, Neil McKenna, Edward Riley, James Martin, James McGee and Edward Cassidy. Daniel and his brother Neil are both buried at Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery, Watertown, Massachusetts. Jim great great aunt, from County Cork, Bridget married Daniel Murphy in Boston Nov 5, 1876 at Holy Cross Cathedral, Boston.
• Jim McKenna is a multi-instrumentalist and composer.
• 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 (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.
Callahan and Sullivan Gravestone Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery
73 years, Peter Callahan, DOD 1891, Nephritis
20 years, Peter J. Callahan, DOD 1886, Consumption
70 (65 shown above), Jane (Ring) Sullivan, DOD 1863, Asthma
30 years, Ann Sullivan, DOD 1861, Phthisis
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" mountauburn.org/catholic-mount-auburn-cemetery/
• 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 five founding members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Boston (American Society of Hibernians) on March 17, 1857 (Incorporated March 27, 1861). 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".McKenna Family: Thirty-four relatives, 12 of whom were 6, 8 were 1 year or younger.
Callahan and Sullivan Gravestone Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery
73 years, Peter Callahan, DOD 1891, Nephritis
20 years, Peter J. Callahan, DOD 1886, Consumption
70 (65 shown above), Jane (Ring) Sullivan, DOD 1863, Asthma
30 years, Ann Sullivan, DOD 1861, Phthisis
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" mountauburn.org/catholic-mount-auburn-cemetery/
• 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 five founding members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Boston (American Society of Hibernians) on March 17, 1857 (Incorporated March 27, 1861). 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".McKenna Family: Thirty-four relatives, 12 of whom were 6, 8 were 1 year or younger.