Offaly emigrant from Edenderry who helped shape America to be remembered

A talk on an all but forgotten Edenderry family, the Bennetts of Monasteroris, will be given by Rhode native and New York resident Danny Leavy on Friday, May 19 next.

Some eighteen months ago an extensive archive collection was discovered in the American Irish Historical Society Building in New York .This collection centered on Cornelius  Heeney and the Brooklyn Benevolent Society which he founded .Heeney spent most of his youth in Edenderry  before emigrating in 1784.

 Last year Ciaran Reilly  and Danny Leavy gave a fascinating talk on Heeney and his charitable  exploits for the Catholic Church , Schools and public buildings. 

 The archive collection contains many important documents including some signed by Robert Emmett Jnr ,and  the  famous Irish American lawyer Charles O Connor .

It also contains letters from Tullamore and Edenderry to Heeney and his family members in NY .from the 1830s to the 1870s.

 Many other local connections have come out of these archives Including the story of the Bennett Family from Monasteroris and their Involvement  in the American Civil War and the Catholic Church .

During his research Danny Leavy made contact with a descendant of the Bennett family in New York and she provided valuable information on the Bennett family. The most notable of the family was Colonel Michael Bennett born in Edenderry in 1824.

In America he organized the Seventy-second Regiment of militia, composed of men of Irish birth in Brooklyn and was its first colonel. In 1860 he united his command with some military companies and, as the Twenty-eighth Regiment of volunteers.  In 1861 at the outbreak of the American Civil War they responded to the first call for troops. Today, Fort Bennett is named in  is honour. 

Speaking ahead of the talk, organised by Edenderry Historical Society, Dr Ciaran Reilly noted how Danny Leavy has made already made an impressive contribution to Offaly local history by what he has uncovered in the USA in a number of archives.

According to Reilly , 'Leavy is piecing together very important local history which reveals information about emigrant networks and how emigrants stayed in touch with their home communities in the 19th century. This is vital in understanding how communities in Edenderry, Rhode and the wider area operated. It also reveals the impact the emigrants made on America, none more so than the Bennetts'. 

The talk takes place in Edenderry Parish Centre on 19 May at 8pm. All are welcome. Admission is £5 (students free).