6 Topic Newspapers • 29 August, 2013

BY LARRY COONEY

Along with their othercousin, Portumna-basedDolores O’Shea, both Liamand Larry were the co-ordi-nators of what proved to bea very successful and mem-orable event, which beganin Dundrum House Hotellast Friday evening andalso ended there followinglunch last Sunday after-noon.

Almost eighty of the visi-tors, from as far away asAuckland, New Zealandand California, USA andmore closer to home in theUK, who all stayed in Dun-drum were joined by asmany more relatives fromthe local area for an eventthat was billed as a once ina lifetime occasion and it issafe to say that many whoattended will have been leftwith nothing but positivememories of an unforget-table weekend.

FAMILY HISTORY

Many of those whoattended were interestedand even intrigued by Liam

Loughman’s work on thefamily history, dating backover 350 years. It ended intheir native Hollyfordwhen youngest of nine ofthe Loughman familyRogie sold the Foilmacduffhomestead in 2002. And avisit to that same home-stead was also one of thehighlights of the weekend.

There the two survivingmembers of the Loughmanfamily, sisters Mary (Babie)Noonan and Nonie Cooneywere reunited around thehob in the old kitchen –courtesy of the currentproprietor Johnny Ryan,who threw open the entirefarmyard for an organisedbarbecue that includedmusic from a young folkgroup - Na Broic and also adisplay from four youngIrish dancers. Although itwas wet and miserable onSaturday afternoon, theparty lasted over threehours.

FARMYARD BARBECUEAND SOCIAL EVENING

Later that evening just afew miles away in the

adjoining village ofAnnacarty – the PondaRosa was the venue for asocial evening to round offa memorable day to thesound of the music of SeanDoran and Sammy Smithfrom Mullingar.

Everyone visited the fam-ily plot in Kilpatrick ceme-tery on Sunday followed byMass in Hollyford at11.00am and the final Gath-ering photograph overlook-ing the Slieve FelimMountains.

Just before he departedfor home on Sunday after-noon Liam Loughman said:“I never quite knew howmy version of the familyhistory would be receivedbut after such a wonderfulweekend it has probablybeen one of the most satis-fying projects I have everundertaken in my life and Iwould be pleased to helpany other families whomight also like to knowmore about their own back-grounds.”

BY DWAYNE LEAVY

The report showed, thatin the last year, the cost ofrenting a home in West-meath has gone up in line

with most other countiesand cities. The average costof rent rose by 0.8 in thelast year, which is in linewith the average across Ire-land. The average price of

rent is now €568 in West-meath, the costliest in themidlands. It seems thatafter years of falling houseprices that the trend is nowstarting to reverse,

Westmeath homes beginning to bounce backThe cost of renting a home in Westmeath is beginning to improve after yearsof decline according to the latest report carried out by daft.ie

Kinnegad takes trip downmemory lane for Heritage Week KINNEGAD people took a trip down memory lane whilst celebrating HeritageWeek and the Kinnegad Gathering, which coincided with each other lastweek.

BY MICHELLE CRAWLEY

The festivities began onThursday, August 15 whenKinnegad welcomed Prideof Place judges to the townand the parish enjoyed 10days of celebrations. “Weenjoyed 10 days of wonder-ful events. It was fantastic.We are delighted with theturn out and the success ofthe events” expressed Cllr.Denis Leonard, a member ofthe organising committee.

HISTORICAL WALK & TALK

Kinnegad celebrated itshistorical heritage with awalking tour guided by localhistorian, Ruth Illingworth.The tour, which began at theold school, encompassed his-torical sites across the town,including the Church of Ire-land graveyard, the Churchof the Assumption, whereRuth provided informationabout two famous parish-ioners General Jackson andCardinal Glennon, beforestopping at the new Boreen

Bradach heritage board,which was launched earlierin the week, as part of theKinnegad Parish Commu-nity Tourism Project. Afterthe walk, Ruth gave an hourlong talk on the history ofKinnegad, where she gaveaccounts of the changes thathave taken place from celticto modern times. J.J Farrell,a local farmer, also spokeabout the changes that havetaken place in agriculturedown through the years andgave an account of farminglife, as well as the fairs intimes gone by.

MEMORIES OF SCHOOL

Another night of remnisc-ing followed on Thursday,August 22, when Rose Flynn,a former principal of St.Etchen’s N.S, spoke nostalgi-cally about school life. Onthe night, the group lookedback on how teaching andschool life has changed inrecent years, as well as tak-ing a look back on schoolmemorabilia and the roll

books. “There was a hugeinterest in the roll books.People were interested tofind themselves in the rollbooks or members of thefamily”, said Cllr. Leonard.

KINNEGAD LIVE

A live concert held in TheHilamar on Friday nightlast, August 23, showcased awealth of talent from acrossthe parish as young peopletook to the stage, providing awonderful evening of enter-tainment in aid of the Kin-negad Youth Club.

BALLAD & TRADITIONAL NIGHT

A thoroughly enjoyableand successful fundraiserwas held in The Hilamar onSaturday night last, August24, with all proceeds goingtowards the autism unitplanned for the new Rath-wire National School. On thenight, musicians fromacross Westmeath per-formed on stage, includingmembers of BallynacargyComhaltas, and the Nallyfamily from Ballymore. “Itwas a fantastic night and agreat initiative. It was a won-derful concert showcasingthe great talent within thecounty. Over €800 was raisedon the night for the Rath-wire N.S autism unit”, saidCllr. Denis Leonard.

Other events included; setdancing in the old school forthose light of feet or whojust wanted to give it a try,traditional nights in thelocal public houses, and avariety show held in TheDowns Hall in aid of seniorcitizens. The ten day cele-bration came to a close at thehugely enjoyable ClonardVintage Festival held onSunday last, August 25.

Mullingar men part ofvery successful TipperaryFamily GatheringGaybrook author, Liam Loughman and his fam-ily, along with Topic reporter Larry Cooney,were reunited with their relatives, many ofwhom they had never previously met, for a nos-talgic Gathering event in Dundrum, Co. Tipper-ary last weekend.

The iconic moment of the Tipperary Gatheringweekend: Sisters Nonie Cooney (85) from Birminghamand Mary (Babie) Noonan (95) from Kilross werereunited last Saturday in the kitchen of the house inHollyford Co. Tipperary where they were reared backin the late 1920s.

After-Mass chat in Hollyford: Members of theLoughman family from Gaybrook chat with Liam’s aunt95 year old Mary (Babie) Noonan last Sunday morning.Pictured from left Siobhan Loughman, Mary Noonan,Mairead Loughman and family history author, LiamLoughman.

Cousins reunited: At the social evening in the PondaRosa in Annacarty Larry Cooney, extreme right, wasjoined by his cousins, Athlone native CamillaLoughman, Portumna native Oliver O’Shea, and MarieHealy from Delgany Co. Wicklow.

Relatives reunited in Tipperary: The Loughman Gathering in Co. Tipperary attended by the Loughmans fromGaybrook and Larry Cooney from Mullingar.

Cllr Ruth Illingworth at the monument to GeneralRichard Henry Jackson in Kinnegad.

Side view of Old School house in Kinnegadwhich walkers were able to have a lookaround on their tour of historical sites.

JJ Farrell, Rosaleen Ronan, Rose Flynn, Cllr Ruth Illingworth, Cllr Denis Leonard and MichelleBray pictured before taking part in a walk around historical sites in Kinnegad on 19 August.

Patricia Lynch (nee Murrayhill) andChris Nolan (nee Kenny) whoreturned home to Kinnegad for TheGathering festival there.