Promoting the Ulster-American link
Ten thousand copies of the Ulster-Scots Agency leaflets on the historic and cultural Ulster-American link were widely distributed in the United States last month.
People from the various American states readily accepted the leaflets at events in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia and many warmly complimented the Agency on the initiative.
The series of eight leaflets were launched in Belfast and Dublin last summer and Agency vice-chairman Jim Devenney and deputy chief executive George Holmes were in East Tennessee on October 10-15 for the American launch.
They were joined on the trip by journalist-author Billy Kennedy, who compiled the leaflets for the Agency, and Maynard Hanna, the Ulster-Scots enthusiast from Kilkeel who takes a keen interest in historical re-enactments which are a popular pursuit in the United States.
The official launch was given a prominent slot during the annual musical and cultural homecoming at the Museum of Appalachia at Norris outside Knoxville in East Tennessee and Museum founder John Rice Irwin extended a very cordial welcome to the four representatives from Northern Ireland.
Mr Irwin said the leaflet exercise had been very worthwhile, providing detailed background on the Scots-Irish (Ulster-Scots) and their influence and tangible expression in the settlement and development of America during the 18th century.
“I find them most interesting in that they provide a perspective of how these great people shaped a nation. These pamphlets are valuable for the novice as well as for the scholars on the subject,” said John Rice Irwin.
More than 30,000 people from virtually every state in America attended the several days of the Museum of Appalachia homecoming and members of the Ulster-Scots Agency delegation were introduced to the large audience on the Saturday.
For Billy Kennedy it was his ninth successive homecoming at Norris, but for Donegal man Jim Devenney and George Holmes and Maynard Hanna from Co Down it was their first and they found the experience totally uplifting from a musical, cultural and historical perspective on the Ulster-American link.
Some of American’s leading country, bluegrass and folk performers were among several hundred singers and musicians who provided the entertainment at the Appalachian homecoming. They included celebrated singing stars such Dr Ralph Stanley, Rhonda Vincent, Mike Snider, Mac Wiseman and Doc Watson.
George Holmes, not to be outdone, gave a rendering of popular Belfast ballad Will Ye Go Lassie Go, with his own accompaniment on a guitar he borrowed form on of the Museum’s musicians. George also recited the W.F. Marshall poem Hi, Uncle Sam!, which eulogises the part played by Ulster-Scots in the American Revolutionary War. Both were well received by an appreciative audience!
A varied programme of cultural events provided a fascinating insight of the Ulster visitors on Appalachian life, with re-enactments on both the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War.
Many of the Americans present wanted to discuss the historic link at length, relation how their families came from different parts of Ulster and had settled in the various Appalachian states after crossing the Atlantic.
Jim Devenney met folk whose ancestors had left Donegal; in fact one particular family Jim spoke to had Devenneys as their Ulster forebears.
Present at the leaflet launch was former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander, who was a successful Republican candidate for a Senate seat in Tennessee in the mid-term American elections earlier this month.
Senator Alexander, a trustee board member at the Museum of Appalachia, is very proud of the fact that his people, the Alexanders and the Rankins, were of 18th century Londonderry stock and were early settlers in the Great Smoky Mountain region of East Tennessee.
A total of 1,250 sets of the eight Ulster-Scots leaflets were shipped out especially for the launch and most were handed out at the East Tennessee homecoming.
The remaining sets were later distributed at lectures given by Billy Kennedy in towns and cities in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and to spectators at the two-day Stone Mountain highland Games in Atlanta, which attracted an estimated 35,000 people.
During their stay, the Ulster-Scots Agency delegation visited the premises of the East Tennessee Historical Society in downtown Knoxville and viewed the extensive facilities on the settlements in the region.
The Ulster-Scots Agency has ordered a second print of the leaflets for distribution through the schools of Northern Ireland over the coming months, and to meet demand from American visitors.