CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The annual celebration of the arrival of the Glasgow Irish in 1830 to Fort Augustus will be honoured this year with the presence of two Irish delegates from County Monaghan, Ireland. The Fort Augustus Irish Descendants will celebrate the 28th anniversary of Irish Settlers Day on May 26-27.
Mary Catherine Bennett, mayor of the town of Monaghan, and Eamonn O’Sullivan, chief executive of the County Monaghan council, will arrive on the Island May 24 and depart May 28.
They will be hosted and toured by the Fort Augustus Irish Descendants and will be visiting Island businesses, Irish monuments and other points of interest.
The public is invited to a meet and greet with the Irish delegates at Fort Augustus Recreation Center on May 26, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
A ceilidh will follow, featuring entertainment by Natalie and Wayne Murnaghan, Friends, Vince Keoughan, Postie Connolly, Charles Hughes, soloists Allan Keoughan, Carmen Halman and Roy Trainor, fiddlers Matt Reid and Rannie MacLellan and Irish dancers from the Benevolent Irish Society.
Admission is $5 and includes lunch.
A commemorative mass will be celebrated in St Patrick’s Church in Fort Augustus on May 27 at 9 a.m. to honour the Irish ancestors and deceased members of the Fort Augustus Irish Descendants.