Steps retraced

On the 7th April 2026, Sue Lawrence visited Milltown with her two sisters Janet Welch Ekis and Jacqueline Welch to reconnect with their family’s roots in Clashaganny. Their journey began with a rare collection of 19th-century correspondence known as the Welch Letters, which brought them back to the places their ancestors once called home.

Preserved within Sue’s family and shared with the Milltown Heritage Group, the letters date from the decades surrounding the Great Famine. They offer a rare glimpse into rural Irish life, recording family news, hardship, and the growing reality of emigration to America.

Welcomed by the Milltown Heritage Group, the sisters first visited Milltown Community Museum before travelling on to Clashaganny. They also visited Kilclooney Graveyard, believed to be the burial place of their ancestors.

The visit marked a powerful reconnection between family history and place, linking Milltown, Clashaganny, Kilclooney, and a family story that spans nearly two centuries and two continents.

View the Welch Letters collection