Overseas visitors trace family history in Drumquin

A GROUP of ten descendants from the Acheson family in Drumquin have been following in the footsteps of their ancestors.

Accompanied by seven spouses and friends, they are from Canada (Ontario, Alberta and BC) and the United States (California, Texas and Oregon).

Joseph and Isabella lived in townland Collow, Lower Langfield, Drumquin, and left shortly after their marriage in 1845 to go to New York where one child was born.

A couple of years later, they returned to Collow and had five more children, in total three girls and three boys. They left again in about 1860, and headed to Canada where they settled outside Stratford, Ontario near a village called Donegal.

The ten Acheson family members on the tour descend from the three sons. Some of the cousins on the tour found each other through DNA matches.

The tour, which was originally planned for 2020 but had to be postponed due to Covid, has included a number of tourist sites as well as travelling through Ballyshannon, Co Donegal (where Isabella McKennit grew up) and visits to family farms.

The North American group has been joined by their cousin from Drumquin, Allan Acheson, who has helped arrange visits to family sites.

The group was also joined by some of Allan’s cousins from Scotland whom he had never met, which was a moving experience for the family.

Speaking with the Ulster Herald, Allan explained that the historical journey began in 1992 as ‘he made his way to Belfast to check death and marriage records.

“Following a DNA test, I discovered I had quite a few links with complete strangers living across Canada and America,” he said. “Since 1991, there had been Acheson family reunions in Canada every few years that I was unaware of, so it was a wonderful experience to meet all of these people, and it tied up a lot of loose ends on my own family tree.

“My father had also informed me that two of his aunts had left for Australia in 1912, and I have since discovered a second cousin in Australia, whose grandmother would have been a sister of my grandfather.

“We have been in contact but are yet to meet, so I’m hoping she can make it to the next reunion.

“Ancestry was the key to finding all of these people, and I would like to thank everyone for their help and support on this journey to discovering cousins and family I never knew I had.”

The whole group visited the farm in Collow that the Joseph Acheson family left behind when they headed to Canada, as well as the farm next door in Lackagh where Allan’s Achesons had lived.

They were also hosted by a couple of Acheson cousins for tea, scones, poetry reading and some Irish songs.

The group’s plans have included visiting the Ulster American Folk Park to deepen their experience of what their ancestors’ lives would have been like while living here, and also what they would have experienced on their trip to North America.

The group return home this week, having met new cousins and fulfilled a dream of standing on the same land as their ancestors did.