Stories for 'Gathering' wanted

While much of the attention to The Gathering Ireland 2013 has been related to the possibility of attracting 'wild geese' back home during the coming year, another area of the concept is to actually establish who and where are those out there with links back to Kilcullen, writes Brian Byrne.

Even if they have no interest in coming home soon or ever, it will always do a community good to know how far it has 'travelled' over the years, decades and even centuries.

So, while work progresses on a number of events for 2013, such as the St Patrick's Day Parade being undertaken by the Venture Scouts, and an extended River Festival in August, now might be an appropriate time to try and gather together an historical geneaology of Kilcullen's diaspora.

To kick it off, this is an invitation to everyone connected to Kilcullen, whether home or away, to provide some details of family travels and settlements down those years, decades and centuries. For instance, if you have a story about a grandfather's brother who emigrated to America in the 30s, do you have information about where they went from there? Or more recently, sons or daughters living abroad in the last decade or so also have their own current stories to tell.

I'd like to hear those stories, and perhaps we can start to map out just how large and widespread is the community of Kilcullen. It's not something that can be done in a few weeks, or even months, but over 2013 we could probably get a better picture than we have now.

Anyone who wants to help by providing information about their families, no matter how small, can email me. Maybe we can start a wider Kilcullen conversation.