St. Declan's Ardmore Pattern Festival is over a 1000 years old. Mid-Summer festivals like this take place all over Ireland, and some even have their origins in prehistoric times. Such long-running festivals are rooted in the community and the continuity in observance of the importance to St. Declan goes hand in glove with other continuities. It is highly likely that a high proportion of the population of Ardmore and the surrounding Drum hills have been living in this part of west Waterford for a very, very long time.
By exploring the family names, where people lived, schooled, worked, died and are buried we can develop a rich understanding of who we are as a community. For example, who are the Quinns of Ballyquin? Where are the Martins of Ballynamertinagh? Who was the Aodh remembered in Crushea? John Tierney, local digital archaeologist, will present some answers to these and other questions but also looks to the community for help in recording the knowledge they have, aiming to pass it on to future generations.
As people lived within this coastal landscape what names did they give to their fields, farms, hills, streams and beaches? Have the old names survived and to what extent? What names do the farming families of Ardmore and surrounding area give to their places of work?
This talk is part of an ongoing exploration of the Ardmore landscape and its people. It builds on the work of a previous generation of local historians but also aims to collect new information today. We will attach the documentary evidence of placenames and family names to the landscape and augment this paper record with the rich knowledge of the local people.
During the Pattern festival week John Tierney aims to work with members of the community to record the names of places and the people of Ardmore, Grange and even deeper into the Drum Hills. The data will be collated in an offline archive but will also build a freely available public database on http://reyndr.com/group/2170. The broad range of evidence will be investigated at 6.00pm in the Ardmore Round Tower Hotel on Thursday 25th July.