Clare Island, A Brief Treasury of Memories
€25.00
Clare Island Coming To Chicago
Clare Island Coming To Chicago
Throughout the years many visitors to Clare Island have come from Chicago with similar stories of their heritage, but to the surprise of the local islanders, many of these visitors did not know each other. How curious that people crossed the Atlantic Ocean to find their relatives and did not know others living close to home. Now is the time to find your relations or fellow island connections, living nearby, or throughout the US. We hope and expect participation from near and far connecting back to Clare Island and Clew Bay in celebration of their ancestors of emigration.
Come and learn about your ancestral home! Meet friends and relatives who share your common heritage. Learn more about Clare Island and its rich history and exciting future!
We have two exciting events planned for November 8 and 9 in the greater Chicago area.
Friday, November 8
Industry Ales Brew Pub Chicago
- Pre-event get together for drinks, music and a whiskey tasting
- 230 S. WABASH, CHICAGO, IL 60604
- Tel: (312) 496-3624
- Proprietor: Dan Rook – dan@industryales.com
- Dan is the 4th Great Grandson of Austin O’Grady (1841-1916) and Winifred O’Malley(1828-1909) who emigrated from Clare Island to Chicago in 1892 (Visitation Parish) and James Murray (1833-?) and Margaret Coghill (1828-1908).
No charge / registration only for numbers – This gathering will be very informal and a chance to mingle and meet others with ancestral ties to Clare Island. Carl O’Grady will make a short presentation on the process of maturation and of the Dolphin, the old ferry boat from 1968, which now acts as our maturation warehouse. We will enjoy a tasting of Clare Island Single Malt Spirit Drink against Connacht Distillery, Single Malt Whiskey, the source spirits for the Clare Island Whiskey brand until we begin our own production.
This is an adult-only venue (21+ years of age) and dinner, and drinks will be available from the Industrial Ales menu. Please join us for a fun, relaxed gathering of Irish music, storytelling and good old-fashioned Irish “craic”.
Saturday November 9th
- A Celebration of Clare Islands heritage and diaspora
- 6119 W. 147th Street, Oak Forest, IL 60452 (708) 687-9823
- Chicago Gaelic Park is an indoor venue we have reserved to explore and celebrate our ancestral heritage, meet other clans and families with ancestral connections to Clare Island and learn about the island history and plans.
- – Plans are for a primarily adult gathering with whiskey tasting, music, presentation and good conversation.
- – Cover charge and afternoon Tea: €45 per person. Participants will receive a special Event Clare Island booklet with stories, poems and songs
- A Celebration of Clare Islands heritage and diaspora
- 6119 W. 147th Street, Oak Forest, IL 60452 (708) 687-9823
- Chicago Gaelic Park is an indoor venue we have reserved to explore and celebrate our ancestral heritage, meet other clans and families with ancestral connections to Clare Island and learn about the island history and plans.
- – Plans are for a primarily adult gathering with whiskey tasting, music, presentation and good conversation.
- – Cover charge and afternoon Tea: €45 per person. Participants will receive a special Event Clare Island booklet with stories, poems and songs
Itinerary
We have attached a draft schedule of events for our 4-hour gathering. On booking, please be prepared to answer as many of the questions on the registration form as you can along with giving an estimate of the number of attendees from your family or Clan. For purposes of this event, we are asking that multiple family units who are descendants of an emigrant from Clare Island select a “Chieftain” who can represent the “Clan” and register as a Clan. By grouping families together in Clans this way, we can be much more efficient in presenting a few facts about each Clan. We noted above that Dan Rook of Industrial Ales is the 4th generation from Austin O’Grady. By grouping all of Austin’s descendants into a Clan we will have time to cover some highlights of their history, rather than trying to say something about the 100+ individual families who are descendants of Austin. Obviously, if a single family wishes to represent their Clan’s history we will welcome that as well. Finally, we welcome anyone that would like to join us even if you do not have an ancestral connection to Clare Island. Join us and learn about our fascinating island!
The Clare Island Gathering: Celebrate your Clan… costumes, flags banners, posters and signage! Decorate your table and let us know who you are!
Schedule - Saturday November 9th
12.00 – 1.00: Mingle / Afternoon Tea
- Check in at reception table and fill in your name tag
- Gather your clan and take a table
- Lunch – Finger Sandwich Selection: Cucumber & Tomato on Cocktail Rye Seafood Salad on a Brioche Bun Egg Salad on White Bread / Open-Faced Chicken Salad on a Croissant / Chef’s Choice of Seasonal Pastries / English Scones & Mini Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins Accompanied by Preserves / Served with an Assortment of Teas
- Mingle with your own clan and others
1:00 – 2:00: Event formally opens
- Welcome
- Review of the Clare Island clans pre famine / population
- Our shared history / community building
- Current life and times / population trends / farming & fishing trends
- Clare Island Whiskey – part of a sustainable future for Clare Island
- Review of Clans in Attendance
2.00 – 3:00: Clan gathering and mingling
- Event opens to all guests meeting each other
- On each table there will be pre famine clan names and village maps, blank paper for sharing information and family tree templates
- On the projector there will be videos and images from the island
- Guests are reminded to bring along copies of photographs, family trees, memorabilia, poems, etc to pass onto others that may be connected to you.
- This part of the event is about community building
3:00 – 4:00: Niall McCabe singer/songwriter, songs and story
- Niall McCabe is a Clare Island man with an extraordinary talent who has travelled from Ireland especially for this event. We hope that you will enjoy his story and his music and most importantly, help share this talent to the greater USA.
4.00: Gathering ends…drive home safely
- Please share you contact details with whomever you would like. We will not automatically share your contact details with anyone.
- We will have a photographer at the event. All images will be shared after the event with all participants
Option to purchase on the day
- Clare Island single Malt Barell Aged at Sea, 3rd release – We will bring a limited number of bottles with us to the US for sale (no additional shipping cost) €320
- Clare Island Single Malt, Barrel Aged at Sea, 3rd Release – Tasting Packs €50
- Clare Island Single Malt, Barrel Aged at Sea, 3rd Release – Glasses €12
- Clare Island, A Treasure of Memories, book by Chris O’Grady €20
12.00 – 1.00: Mingle / Afternoon Tea
- Check in at reception table and fill in your name tag
- Gather your clan and take a table
- Lunch – Finger Sandwich Selection: Cucumber & Tomato on Cocktail Rye Seafood Salad on a Brioche Bun Egg Salad on White Bread / Open-Faced Chicken Salad on a Croissant / Chef’s Choice of Seasonal Pastries / English Scones & Mini Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins Accompanied by Preserves / Served with an Assortment of Teas
- Mingle with your own clan and others
1:00 – 2:00: Event formally opens
- Welcome
- Review of the Clare Island clans pre famine / population
- Our shared history / community building
- Current life and times / population trends / farming & fishing trends
- Clare Island Whiskey – part of a sustainable future for Clare Island
- Review of Clans in Attendance
2.00 – 3:00: Clan gathering and mingling
- Event opens to all guests meeting each other
- On each table there will be pre famine clan names and village maps, blank paper for sharing information and family tree templates
- On the projector there will be videos and images from the island
- Guests are reminded to bring along copies of photographs, family trees, memorabilia, poems, etc to pass onto others that may be connected to you.
- This part of the event is about community building
3:00 – 4:00: Niall McCabe singer/songwriter, songs and story
- Niall McCabe is a Clare Island man with an extraordinary talent who has travelled from Ireland especially for this event. We hope that you will enjoy his story and his music and most importantly, help share this talent to the greater USA.
4.00: Gathering ends…drive home safely
- Please share you contact details with whomever you would like. We will not automatically share your contact details with anyone.
- We will have a photographer at the event. All images will be shared after the event with all participants
Option to purchase on the day
- Clare Island single Malt Barell Aged at Sea, 3rd release – We will bring a limited number of bottles with us to the US for sale (no additional shipping cost) €320
- Clare Island Single Malt, Barrel Aged at Sea, 3rd Release – Tasting Packs €50
- Clare Island Single Malt, Barrel Aged at Sea, 3rd Release – Glasses €12
- Clare Island, A Treasure of Memories, book by Chris O’Grady €20
Available To Purchase Following Event
- Clare Island Single Malt, Barrel Aged at Sea, 3rd Release
- Clare Island Single Malt, Barrel Aged at Sea, 3rd Release – Tasting Packs
- Clare Island Single Malt, Barrel Aged at Sea, 3rd Release – Glasses
- Clare Island Whiskey special Chicago event Jumpers / t-shirts
- Clare Island, A Treasure of Memories, book by Chris O’Grady
Shop Clare Island Whiskey
Our sea bourne single malts and more…
