The Connells, from Donoughmore to the Carolinas: A Colonial Experience

Mr. John O’Connell, Historian & Genealogist

Mr. O’Connell’s lecture will discuss the history of the Connell/O’Connell family from their home in the parish of Donoughmore, Co Cork, Ireland, to the Carolinas. Their story, like that of so many Irish emigrants, was shaped by Ireland’s experience as England’s oldest colony. As a result of long-term impoverishment and the immediate effects of famine, Ireland’s poor left the country in droves during the nineteenth century. Some of those who left Ireland, including several members of the O’Connell family, ended up in the Carolinas, where they made important contributions to the local community, particularly to the development here of the Catholic Church. Not the least among this group was Fr. Jeremiah O’Connell, who made a gift of lands in Belmont, NC, to the Benedictine monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania. From there, in 1876, came the first members of the community that is now Belmont Abbey.

• Monday, September 15, 2014
• Grace Auditorium at Belmont Abbey College
• 7:30 p.m.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

For further information, please contact Dr. Patrick Wadden (patrickwadden@bac.edu).

Mr. O’Connell is a local historian and genealogist currently serving as chairperson of the Donoughmore Historical Society in County Cork, Ireland. He has a number of publications, is a contributor to the best-selling Atlas of the Great Irish Famine and is currently doing research for a forthcoming publication on the Irish War of Independence and Civil War (1916–1922). He has lived all his life in Donoughmore.

Founded in 1876 by Benedictine monks, Belmont Abbey College focuses on the development of the whole person in mind, body and spirit. Located just 10 miles west of Charlotte, N.C., the College is currently home to more than 1600 students.  For more information, visit zarchive.bac.edu.