September 2016 - Irish Clans to visit Athenry

Representatives of numerous Irish clans will visit Athenry on October 1st for a special event organised by Clans of Ireland. Entitled ‘Gathering of the Clans, Athenry 2016’, the day has been arranged to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the 1316 battle of Athenry. The event will take place in the Athenry Community Centre in Clarke Street.

One of the highlights of the day will be a talk by renowned lecturer and author Dr Nollaig Ó Muraíle, appropriately titled ‘The Gaelic nobility in the battle of Athenry, 1316 – those who fought, and those who fell’. This free lecture will be delivered at 2.30 pm and is open to all to attend.

A native of Mayo, Nollaig is a former Senior Lecturer in Irish at NUI Galway, having previously been Reader in Irish and Celtic Studies at Queen’s University, Belfast.  Prior to that, he spent over twenty years as a Placenames Officer with the Ordnance Survey in Dublin. His most notable publication is an edition in five volumes of Dubhaltach Mac Fhir Bhisigh’s Great Book of Irish Genealogies (2003-4).  In 2009 he was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy. Until recently, Nollaig served as an Executive Committee Member of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society and Assistant Editor of the Society’s Journal.

Earlier in the day, a workshop on ‘The Organising of a Clan Event’ will be held at 12.30. Clan representatives will share their experience of what works for them and what they could do differently. This will be followed by a ‘Question & Answer’ session.

The Board of Clans of Ireland extends a warm invitation to all interested parties to attend this important commemorative event.