McManus Heritage
Third McManus Clan Gathering — 1996
The 16–18 August gathering: Strokestown, Arigna, the Bush Hotel banquet, Kilronan Mass and Phil McManus’s genealogy seminar.
An Tríú Chruinniú Clainne, Bliain 1996
The third McManus Clan Gathering took place 16–18 August 1996, with events in Drumshanbo, Strokestown, Arigna, Carrick-on-Shannon and Kilronan. This account comes from the historical clan website material supplied for the archive.
Friday, 16 August — registration in Drumshanbo
The gathering began at 7.00 p.m., with registration and a reception at Paddy Mac’s Pub, Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. New clan members joined and met both new and existing members.
Saturday, 17 August — Strokestown and Arigna
A coach trip took members to Strokestown House and Museum, County Roscommon, where Roscommon County Council hosted a luncheon reception. Presentations covered the famine and other topics, followed by a tour of the Arigna area.
Members spent the afternoon’s free time in different ways. Janet G. of Massachusetts went with her mother and friends to look for ancestors in County Cavan. She searched records at Cavan County Library in Cavan town and visited cemeteries.
Her research led to a memorable discovery. Having located her ancestors’ home, she visited the ruins of their cottage in Moneynure, County Cavan, on Monday and found an old door key lying in the dirt.
Civic reception and Grand Banquet
Leitrim County Council hosted an evening civic reception shortly before the banquet at the Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim. The Grand Banquet followed in the hotel’s dining hall.
The menu included cream of Leitrim vegetable soup; a choice of Kilronan turkey and ham with cranberry sauce or poached darn of Fermanagh Isle salmon with hollandaise sauce; assorted vegetables, salad and potatoes; and desserts from the Keadue–Arigna region of County Roscommon.
Sean McManus, honorary chieftain, welcomed everyone and introduced the speakers. The account describes him as originally from Arigna, County Roscommon, and then a teacher in County Tipperary.
Eugene McManus of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, announced plans for a special gathering in 1998 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Cathal Oge McManus, compiler of the Annales Senatenses, also known as the Annals of Senad or Annals of Ulster.
Fr. Michael Mahon of Australia announced the gathering’s notable statistics. Mr. Rodda of Pennsylvania, USA, was the oldest attendee. The contest for the longest journey was between visitors from Oregon and Southern Australia; Fr. Mahon, travelling from Southern Australia, won.
The clan’s historians and genealogists
The honorary chieftain spoke about the tradition of a seannachie, a historian or genealogist who kept track of the clan’s heritage. He announced that the McManus clan had two: Michael McManus of Great Britain and Philip McManus of Oregon, USA.
Philip spoke about how he became interested in genealogy and announced a seminar for the following day in Drumshanbo.
Sunday, 18 August — Mass and genealogy seminar
A special Sunday Mass was held at Kilronan parish Catholic Church, County Roscommon, with Fr. Michael Mahon as principal celebrant. Local parishioners provided the music.
In the afternoon, Philip McManus presented “Irish Genealogy: Beyond the Census.” The seminar used an open question-and-answer format, covering records available from resources in Ireland and abroad, together with facts about the McManus family name.
The gathering ended after the talk. Members either returned home or continued their holidays with sightseeing and genealogical research.
Source and gathering series
Adapted from the supplied account of the third gathering on Phil McManus’s historical clan website. Paragraphs have been reorganised by day and minor typographical errors corrected.