More than 65 clan members and friends gathered at the St. Patrick’s Ancestral Cemetery on Saturday, Aug. 29, to dedicate a monument that displays the names and family history of John and Mary Murnaghan, who immigrated to the Fort Augustus area from County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1838.
John and Mary homesteaded on a farm on the Tarantum Road, which is still in the Murnaghan name today.
Rev. Daniel Wilson preformed the monument dedication ceremony with a talk about ancestors. He was assisted by committee co-chairman Vincent J. Murnaghan.
Mary Ellen Callaghan, president of the Irish Cultural Center and BIS, spoke to the importance of keeping Irish culture and history alive.
Irish songs filled the air, shared by singer/songwriters Nathalie Duguay and Wayne Murnaghan.
As the day was all about honouring ancestors and their history, it was a moving moment when family members from various branches shared names and stories of many of their deceased love ones.
Another highlight was Danny Murnaghan reciting a poem that was written by the late Ivan Murnaghan, which encapsulates the hopes and dreams of the Irish Immigrants.
This monument was made possible by the donations of clan members on P.E.I. and across the country. Pat Duffy, chairman for the St. Patrick’s Ancestral Cemetery Restoration Committee, was presented with a cheque in the amount of $1,000. This donation will be used to professionally clean the headstones and repair and straighten up those stones in need of such work.
There are more than 1,000 people buried in this cemetery, and 415 of them have their names recorded on a stone or a marker. However, the remaining people have no stone or marker to indicate their burial location. It is the intent of the restoration committee to work toward raising funds to install a monument that will contain all the names that records show are buried there.
There is a variety of cultures buried in this cemetery, and a monument would honour all. For more information, contact Duffy at 902-676-2213 or [email protected].
