John Hegarty, only son of Peter Hegarty and Ellen Maloney, was married to
Abigail O'Keeffe in the Catholic chapel in Tallow (now Our Lady of the
Immaculate Conception Church) on Feb. 11, 1823. I am not sure where they
went to live following their marriage, or, for that matter, where they
lived before it.

As the wedding was in Tallow, I assume Abigail lived
there; there have always been O'Keeffes in Tallow and still are today, I
understand. As for John, I don't know where he lived. It might have been in
Waterford or in East Cork.However, I do know that by the early 1830s, John and Abigail were living in
Coolbaun Townland, north of Conna, on 26 acres now owned by Dennis Sheehan
and family. In the house that still stands on that farm, the Hegartys
raised eight children - six boys named Peter, John, Michael, Timothy,
Daniel and Cornelius (Con), and two girls, Ellen and Bridget.

At least one of the boys, Michael, was baptised 1834 in the new St. Catherine's Catholic
Church in Conna which had been put up the year before and still stands.
(Many of the others were probably baptized there too but no records have
been found.)Ellen Hegarty married William Uniacke and at least two of their children,
Peter and William, were baptized in the Conna church too. These two boys
died on the trip across the ocean to North America in 1852.By about 1846, the Hegartys were leaving Ireland, bound for North America.

Peter left that year and settled in the United States. Two years later,
John and Bridget landed in New York and made their way to Ontario in
Canada. Bridget eventually married, in Canada, Timothy Regan of Moydilliga
Townland, who had left with his parents Michael and Nora Regan from their
farm (now owned by Bernadette and Maurice Keane) in 1846.About 1852, the parents, John and Abigail, and the rest of their boys, left
Ireland for good, and settled in Ontario with John and Bridget.

Four of the children stayed around Stratford, in Ontario; one lived in Manitoba, and
three settled in the United States, in Virginia and New York.That was it for us and Ireland, and over the years, no one ever returned to
the country of their origin. Nor did they talk much about it, past the
first generation to arrive, that is.

By the 1960s, the descendants of John and Abigail had little idea of their origins, beyond the knowledge that
their ancestors had been farmers in County Cork.Also in the 1960s, the first of the descendants began to travel back to
Ireland, but no one knew where to look for the farm our ancestors had lived on.Finally, in 1994, with the help of local historians and residents, that farm was found, as was the house the Hegartys had lived in. Every year
after that, family members journeyed to the farm to see where it had allstarted.

In 1998, 150 years after John and Bridget left, 15 Hegarty
descendants and spouses held a reunion at the farm and in the house.At that time, it was resolved to hold a larger reunion in 2002, the 150th
anniversary of the year we believe the parents and remaining boys made the
journey out of Ireland. A book, detailing the history of the family, called
Home Again: An Emigrant Family Returns To Ireland, was published in 1999.

In it, an invitation to the family was extended to the decscendants of John
and Abigail.This August, about 100 of those descendants will gather in Conna. Among
them will be descendants of six of the eight children who were raised in
the house that still stands in Coolbaun. (There are no descendant of Con
left and descendants of Peter have not been found yet.) On Aug. 18, a
commemorative Mass for the Hegartys will take place at the church in Conna
at 11:30 a.m.

(In attendance will be descendants of Michael Hegarty who was
baptized in this building in 1834.) Tentative plans call for Fr. Timothy
Uniac, a descendant of Ellen and William Uniacke, to assist in the Mass. It
is also a possibility that some of the music for the Mass will be provided
by various other descendants of the Hegartys.Registration of the group will take place at the Conna community centre in
the afternoon, followed by a visit to the Sheehan farm. This will be the
first time most of those taking part in the reunion will have ever seen the
land and home of their ancestors.

That evening, the group may descend on
the Final Furlong pub in Coolagown, a pub going strong in the days when the
Hegartys still lived in the area, and one that no doubt enjoyed their
patronage from time to time.Monday, Aug. 19, will be taken up with tours of sites of significance to
the Hegartys both 150 years ago and now. Those sites will include the
Catholic Church in Tallow (the one John and Abigail were married in was
replaced by the current one three years after their marriage); the church
at Coolegown, where the Hegartys were probably regular parishoners, despite
belonging to the one in Conna; the old Knockmourne National School which
the younger Hegartys probably attended.

The old market town of Fermoy to which the family must have travelled often; the former Regan farm in
Moydilliga; the Hegartys' landlord's estate of Henry Braddell.On Monday night, the family will sit down to a catered meal at the community centre in Conna, followed by walks through the village and stops
at two old pubs operating in the Hegartys' era - Roche's pub and The
Fishermen's Rest.Tuesday morning, almost half the party, made up mostly of Uniacke
descendants, will leave for the rest of their 10-day tour of Ireland. The
remaining group will continue to meet, tour other sites of interest,
including the Sheehan farm, and say their goodbyes at the farmhouse and
community centre in Conna on Tuesday night, Aug. 20.

During the three days, the Hegarty descendants will also take every chance
to become acquainted with the many people of Conna and area who have helped
them learn about their past and who have, over the past eight years,
welcomed all their visits and enquiries with such open arms and enthusiasm.One hundred and fifty years, it seems, can dim the details and the memories of the past but not the kindred bond the Conna people feel for their fellow
Irish and former neighbours, whether near or far away.

(Written by Jim Hagarty of Stratford, Ontario, Canada, great-great-grandson
of John and Abigail Hegarty)

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