iCARA irish caribbean ancestry - reconnecting through dna |
Reconnecting with your Irish Ancestry Facebook, Blog, & social media
Reunion & Restoration Once the distant cousins have been reconnected, the next step is reunion. Initially this may occur virtually, by a simple exchange of emails and then perhaps over the phone. And iCARA will help, advise and guide the testee as needed when contacting distant cousins. Reuniting with the local community is a second important step and it is proposed that iCARA will introduce the testee to their local Ireland Reaching Out volunteer who will be best placed to help make these connections, which ultimately may result in a visit by the Caribbean cousin to meet his Irish cousin (or vice versa), and perhaps the local community, similar to the visit of President Obama to his Irish Ancestral Homeland in 2011. Restoration is an ongoing activity that uses the new found connections to build strong links between people and communities in Ireland and the Caribbean. For the individual, this may entail gaining a sense of belonging, a sense of self, of Family, Kinship, and Community; for the local communities, this may mean rediscovering local knowledge and local history, commemorating the past, and honoring the ancestors; and for the wider society, it may mean creating a legacy of restoration from what was a legacy of slavery. In the final paragraph of his book "To Hell or Barbados", Sean O'Callaghan says "It is my fervent hope that families in Ireland ... will band together and do something for their long-forgotten brethren". I believe that time has come. Maurice
Gleeson May 2013
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Last update: May 2013