Registration is from 6:00-7:15 P.M.

9th Annual

Miceal O Coileain


"Race For Freedom"

August 13, 2009  7:30 P.M.

 American Legion Marsh Post
5 Greenough Boulevard-Eliot Bridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
 

5.2 Mile Run & 2.6 Mile Walk & Run
 A running & walking race along the Charles River for all - but a special one if you are Irish or of Irish heritage!

 

Your humble race director:>) has been very fortunate to have been able to travel to Ireland a number of times in the past few years to visit my great-grandmother's hometown of Clashmore, Parish of Glistename, Co. Waterford and to trace her actual footsteps from Ireland to the United States of America in the late 19th Century.


2004 - CollyerFoto


My great grandmother Bridget Frances (McCarthy) Walsh was 96 years old when she died in 1967,  I was 5 years old and I can still recall going over to my grandmothers house in Medford, MA, on Saturday afternoons to visit both my grandmother and great grandmother as a wee lad:>)


Bridget Frances (McCarthy) Walsh
Bridget was never to tell me about her journey to America that I can recall but through a journal her daughter, my grandmother kept of their occasional chats and some investigation on my part while in Ireland, I have been able to find out how she left home alone at 13 years old walking many miles along a dirt road to Youghal, Co. Cork, as so many other poor Irish immigrants had also done from Co. Waterford and then boarding a boat for the long sea voyage to the United States of America.... finally landing in Medford, Massachusetts where she met another young Irish immigrant from Co. Meath, Ireland named John Patrick Walsh whom she would eventually marry and have a family with.

 West Waterford

It has been a very humbling experience tracing a portion of my family roots akin to Alex Haley and his ROOTS in the 1970's....I was able to travel to St. Joseph's Hospital in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford to get Photostat copies of my great grandmother's own mother & father 's death certificates--my own grandmother (whom I was very close with)  --Theresa Walsh, had never met her grandparents - how strange!, as well as the birth certificates of Bridget's brothers and sisters some of whom also emigrated to the United States of America . My great grandmother's sister Ellen McCarthy who it is believed to have remained single all of her life , remained in Ireland to care for their mother, Katherine (Cashman) McCarthy who passed away in 1893 of influenza at about 53 years old and their father, Richard McCarthy who passed away in 1914 of old age at 83 years old. 

The whereabouts of my great aunt Ellen following the death of  Richard McCarthy, my great-great grandfather is a mystery....it is known that she worked for a period of time at the local church - Our Lady of Good Counsel where all the McCarthy children were baptized and is now called St. Cronin's in Clashmore, Co. Waterford. There was no death certificate at St. Joseph's  Hospital in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford so your guess is as good as mine..perhaps she went on to live a happy life with a man and had a family--who knows because the dead are not talking:>)


St. Cronin's - Clashmore, Co. Waterford, IRE - 2004
CollyerFoto
 

My great grandmother's brother Phillip served in the English Navy and he passed away at 17 years old. The English Armed Service was made up of many young Irish lads back in the 19th century and early 20th century.

I now find it sad that my great-grandmother spent little time chatting about Ireland with her own daughter (my grandmother) or grandchildren (my father, aunt and uncle), and that her own recollection of Ireland and her family life through my grandmothers journal was only "we were very poor, and my father worked as a painter in England, we would see him on weekends sometime", "Ireland was very green and it rained a lot", "I went to Catholic school and the teachers were very strict", "life was hard work, the children had to work on the farm and dig potatoes", "the only hope for a good life, was to leave home and come to America".....my great grandmother had promised her mother Katherine that she would return home someday to visit but she never would return to Ireland as was the case with many Irish of her generation!!!

"The Voyage to America was very stormy, long and the passengers were locked below much of the time.
The Passengers were sick and miserable the whole time!" - Bridget (McCarthy) Walsh 

It would have been interesting to have been able to chat with my great grandmother Bridget or my great grandfather Patrick Walsh of Co. Meath about Michael Collins and their thoughts on the Independence of Ireland that took place a number of years after they had arrived in the United States of America (both arrived in the USA in the 1880's ) and to find out what the pulse of the Boston Irish community was like as they read reports of it from home through letters, newspapers and others who had emigrated during that period...imagine NOT having the internet, television , radio and telephones back then:>)


P.J. Walsh Express - Medford, Massachusetts



Annie (Moran) Collyer daughter of James Moran of Co. Wexford, Ireland

Annie Moran my great grandmother and mother of my grandfather John Collyer emigrated to the
United States from Canada and married Albert Collyer who had emigrated from Alfredsford, England -
Annie also lived a long life living well into her 90's and died in the late 1960's


Michael Collins

During my many trips to Ireland I have taken the time to further read up on and visit important
locations that involved Michael Collins. I had been a student of Michael Collins way before it was popular and
it has been very exciting to be able to have visited many of the important locations within Ireland associated with him. I have made these visits along with friends who have traveled to Ireland with me the past few years.

This included staying over night at the Emmett Hotel, which over looks the recent life size statue dedicated
to Michael Collins in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, a village in West Cork that Michael Collins lived in as a young boy and also visited
 his birthplace and family homestead at Sam's Cross also in West  Cork.

Michael Collins statue in Emmet Square, Clonakilty, Co. Cork
Folks from Boston were part of the fundraising needed to get this statue erected


CollyerFoto

 I also have visited the monument that has been erected at the location of his assassination in Béal na mBláth, Co. Cork and
his final resting place at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, Ireland.


Dedication of monument to Michael Collins in Béal na mBláth, Co. Cork
 Michael Collins remembered
 

 Gravesite at Glasnevin Cemetery where many of
Ireland's famous have been laid to rest
 

In addition, I have also made many trips to Northern Ireland over the past 10 years and have found it to be a most beautiful place to visit. The people are intelligent, witty and exciting to spend time with and the scenery can not be beat. My favorite place being along the Antrim Coast  most particularly - Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, a great place to take a gal and I will some day!


View from Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland - 2003
CollyerFoto


My pal Brian Smith on a collapsed wall of the Dunluce Castle on the Antrim Coast - 2003
CollyerFoto



 a brutally cold Irish Sea outside Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland - 2003
SmithFoto
Lastly, I have taken the time to visit  South Armagh, Derry, & West Belfast - (best pasties in the whole wide world
can be found at the "Home Bakery" next to Cavendish Butchers  at the corner of Harrogate Street & Forfar Street-
West Belfast) to sit and chat while enjoying a pint of Guinness with those who have been directly involved in
 "The Troubles" , as well as with those who have been involved indirectly just because they live there like you and
I live in our own neighborhoods:>)



West Belfast, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland - 2003
SmithFoto

A Bobby Sands mural in West Belfast, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland - 2003
SmithFoto

If you are traveling to the Republic of Ireland consider a day trip or an overnight one to Belfast or Derry, Northern Ireland. The nightlife is a bit slower than say Cork City or Dublin however they are both rich in history as is the rest of Northern Ireland and you will afford yourself an opportunity to visit a place that few do even from the Republic of Ireland.


Derry, Co. Derry, Northern Ireland - 2003
CollyerFoto


Lower Shankill Road, West Belfast, Northern Ireland - 2003
CollyerFoto


Belfast City Hall - 2004 Christmas
CollyerFoto

 


Sinn Fein Headquarters on Falls Road West Belfast, Northern Ireland - 2004
Gerry Adams

I find Northern Ireland to be safe and a delightful place to visit and will be going back on October 2009

Parking & MBTA Information
(parking available at the Marsh Post and across the street)

Past Years Results