The Gathering of the Dermody family

The tiny church of St Fechin’s in Fore was filled with laughter and warm greetings on Saturday week last.

It was the scene of a Gathering of the descendants of the Dermody family of Fore, cousins who had never met before, introducing their children and even grandchildren to each other.

They called their gathering Fore by Four, remembering their parents, who were born and reared in a small stone cottage whose roofless walls still stand in a now unused pathway behind Fore Abbey.

“I am meeting cousins over from England that I have never met before. It is just wonderful,” said Seamus McDermott.

There were four Dermodys – James, Brian, Frank and Mary.

There has been another sister, Kathleen but she had passed away at just eight years old. The children, grandchildren and great grandchildren gathered in Fore for a prayer in St Fechin’s Church, a walk around the abbey and then up to Frank McDermott’s home for tea and sandwiches, where they planted a commemorative oak sapling to mark their Gathering.

“We also sent a candle to any family members who were unable to travel to our Gathering. When we lit our candles in St Fechin’s Church, they lit their candles at the same time, so we were all thinking about each other at the same time,” explained Tessa Kennedy, who helped organise the event.