OPINION (AN COLÚN): Fascinating Portumna lecture about quest for Sarsfield's body

THANKS to Lorrha man James Heenan we heard a fascinating history lecture in Portumna Castle a couple of weeks ago about one of Ireland's most colourful and important people.
James, like many of us, is very interested in the life of the 17th Century soldier Patrick Sarsfield, and he was also deeply intrigued by a story in the media earlier in the year which said a possible resting place for Sarsfield had been found.
James told me that the link between the midlands and Sarsfield's story is strong. He fought in the important Battle of Aughrim in east Galway, besieged Birr Castle (firing cannon upon it from the Burke's Hill area) and it's possible that he married his wife Honora Burke in the Friary beside Portumna Castle.
James recently invited the head of the team which is looking for Sarsfield's body to give a lecture in Portumna. This was Dr Loic Guyon and he was delighted to accept the offer. Loic is the Head of the Department of French Studies at MIC Limerick and is the Honorary Consul of France for the midwest region. His lecture was called, “The Sarsfield Homecoming Project - The search for the remains of the Earl of Lucan.”
The Consul told us that Honora Burke was born in Portumna Castle and she was the daughter of the Earl of Clanricarde. She and Sarsfield married in 1689. After their marriage Honora moved to the Chateau de Saint Germain en Laye, which is near Paris. On March 30 1693 she gave birth to their only son James. During 1693 Sarsfield was fighting in Louis XIV's army and he died in the battle of Landen in July of that year. There are many apocryphal stories attached to Honora and Patrick. One of them is that she went to the place where her husband died and lived there; this is pure fiction. She remarried in March 1695. Her second husband was the Duke of Berwick. Honora was described as “a beautiful woman whom everybody liked” and as being sociable and charming. She died in January 1698 at the age of 22, and was buried in a convent near Paris. Her possible burial place was rediscovered in 2019 and it's planned to carry out an archaeological excavation there to try and find her body.
Loic told us that he named a Sustainable Couture Show in the Limerick Wild Geese Festival after Honora.
“The Sarsfield Homecoming Project,” he pointed out, “started in 2019 when I moved to Limerick. You often come across Sarsfield's name in Limerick, and one day I asked where was he buried. No one knew. There were two versions. One said he died on the battlefield of Landen and we don't know what happened to his body afterwards; the other said he was brought to the city of Huy in Belgium and buried there.” The Consul wrote to the Mayor of Huy in November 2020 and got a very helpful and encouraging response from him. Huy is located 35km south of the battlefield and about 5,000 wounded soldiers were taken in wagons to the town.
Loic found anonymous letters from 1693 which stated that Sarsfield was badly wounded, fell into a fever, was taken to Huy, and died there. There were romanticised versions describing his death on the battlefield but these simply weren't true. Loic travelled to Huy and looked at the Huy Parish Register Records for July / August 1693. Here he found Sarsfields's name. One entry stated that Major General Sarsfield died in a hotel but was buried “in the middle degree towards the door” of a nearby church, The Church of St Martin. Loic said it was most probable that Sarsfield died between the 7th to the 11th of August.
Only one wall of the Church of St Martin survives today. Thankfully there is an 1890 picture showing the whole church, which has proved very helpful. Overall, archaeologists had enough information to reconstruct a plan of the church and the possible burial spot of Major-General Sarsfield.
Limerick County Council have taken a strong interest in the project and the Mayor and Chief Executive of the Council travelled to the Church of St Martin with Loic. There they met the Mayor of Huy who told them that the Huy Council had bought the St Martin's site. Loic examined the site and came to the conclusion that Sarsfield is buried in a garden beneath three metres / 200 tonnes of soil. The plan is to start digging in December and finish the archaeological excavation by the summer of 2024. 24 individuals are registered as being buried beneath the 200 tonnes of soil, and ten of these are about Sarsfield's age.
Meanwhile, Loic has also spent a considerable amount of time trying to find a descendant of the famous Irishman who would be willing to give a DNA sample. Timothy Sarsfield agreed. Timothy's DNA reading was Group E, which only 15% of the European population has. Loic is looking for all men with the surname of Sarsfield to come forward and do a DNA test. He is looking for the Y chromosome and therefore possible male descendants only.
The archaeological excavation will cost 95,000 Euros. Loic has set up a GoFundMe page which has raised 15,000 Euros so far. "Next month," he remarked, "I am travelling to the US to meet the Ancient Order of Hibernians with the aim of raising more funds.”
If you are male and your surname is Sarsfield, and you are willing to give a DNA sample please email the Honorary Consul at loic.guyon@mic.ul.ie
"If we find Sarsfield's body," Loic commented, “we have not decided yet if he will be reburied or where he will be reburied."
Members of the Battle of Aughrim group were present at the Portumna lecture. They call themselves “Cath Aughrim” and they warmly commended Loic on his work and his lecture which, they said, was "outstanding."