Connacht Tribune
Biden Boom: surge in visitors tracing roots in West of Ireland
A Galway-based charity which offers free help to visitors tracing their Irish roots has pleaded for more volunteers in the wake of a tidal wave of interest among Americans following the US President’s trip here.
Ireland Reaching Out has become so successful at meeting the Irish diaspora that they cannot keep up with demand.
Programme Coordinator Denise O’Leary said typically volunteers would have several hundred ‘meet and greets’ organised for the summer.
“If interest keeps going at the rate we have seen since President Joe Biden’s visit, we could be dealing with as much as one thousand local connection requests by the end of the year. Our present volunteer base simply cannot handle that level of demand.”
The majority of volunteers only need spend four to five hours a year giving up their time.
“Most volunteers are there for their own parish or town. There may only be one visitor in the whole year – that’s why we need so many. We do have historians who would know a lot of about three and four places so they may be asked to do a bit more.”
Descendants reach out via the free genealogy message board, where volunteers will use their local knowledge to help anyone looking to track down relatives. If they arrive over, the volunteer shows the visitors the house their people were born in, the land they farmed before they went abroad, the graveyard where their people are buried, and if possible, introduce them to local living relatives.
“These reunions with long lost families are hugely emotional for the returning diaspora and often for the people at home,” said Ms O’Leary.
“I had one recently where we tracked down a second cousin. The family just couldn’t believe it. Families often stay one to two days in the village or town once they know they’re going to meet a volunteer. They may book into the B&B, eat a meal locally, so it has so many benefits.”
The organisation currently has 300 registered volunteers across 32 counties. A greater number of queries come from the West of Ireland from where the majority emigrated such as the counties of Galway, Mayo, Donegal, Kerry and Cork.
Volunteers can get training through the organisation to upskill their genealogical tracing skills. There are also short courses available to help track down people in Gaeltacht areas, which is often harder due to spelling variations.
“It’s as much for us as it is for them. Most volunteers would be family history enthusiasts, they like drawing up a family tree. Others enjoy the ‘meet and greets’. I think it’s unique to Ireland to offer a service like this that’s free.”
Founder Mike Feerick, who is based in Loughrea, explained that there are over 300 visits now registered with the nationwide service, which equates to around 1,500 people needing genealogical assistance.
“Our core group of volunteers are committed and constant – but we need to find more. All of our volunteers hugely enjoy meeting Irish diaspora coming to their local area – there are some parts of County Galway and South Mayo where we don’t have anyone – and we need to change that.”
“Essentially, we have a problem of success at Ireland Reaching Out. President Biden’s recent visit has created a new tidal wave of interest for Americans to visit Ireland to trace their roots – and we simply don’t have as many volunteers as we need.”
Also founder of the global e-learning company Alison, Mr Ferrick, an American born Harvard University graduate, set up Ireland Reaching Out in 2009 to strengthen ties between Irish communities and the 80 million-strong diaspora worldwide.
“What I witnessed growing up in a rural East Galway was Irish Americans returning to Ireland and finding their way to the very village where their people came from. Without a local contact however, it was hard to find the actual house, or meet long lost relatives.
“We show them where to go and introduce them as we can. It is about welcoming, something we Irish are very good at, and it’s a way of cherishing the descendants of those who had to leave in tougher times so long ago. It is a hugely satisfying hobby.
“Our volunteers do it for pride in their locality and to simply enjoy the joy we bring to our visitors.”
The charity has 160,000 members and has responded to over 150,000 Irish genealogical queries online.
Interested volunteers should email volunteering@irelandxo.com or call 087 365 3669.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
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Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
