A wonderful experience exploring my ancestral homelands in County Roscommon.

NOTE: This Success Story has been transcribed from Dianne's original Message Board post here.

Over the last few days of October 2025, I had the pleasure of visiting County Roscommon to explore my ancestral homelands on the Townland of Runnaruag, near the little town of Elphin. This post is to say ‘thank you’ to Ireland Reaching Out for the role their members played in making that visit the most amazing family history experience!

THANK YOU KENNY AND LAURA

I particularly want to acknowledge and sincerely thank the efforts of volunteer Kenny Clements and his historian friend Laura, who went above and beyond the call of duty to make my visit to County Roscommon, the most memorable, enlightening and entertaining experience I could have ever hoped for. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart!

[L-R: Laura, Dianne and Kenny Clements in front of St. Patrick’s Church, Elphin]

MY VISIT TO COUNTY ROSCOMMON

Following is the story about my visit to County Roscommon from 28th to 30th October 2025.

For years I have been trying to find the missing links in my Power and Cotton family ancestry between the early 1700’s and the late 1700’s. In recent years I have posted several articles on the message boards of Ireland Reaching Out Website in the hope of connecting to others who may know or are researching the Power and Cotton families in County Roscommon. Whilst I’ve certainly had a lot of help from administrators, volunteers and members in the past (and certainly appreciate the help), I have not been successful in breaking down my brick walls!

Before I left Australia to travel to Ireland, I had researched and planned several appointments for people to meet and places to visit.

My cousin Shirley and I arrived in County Roscommon on the afternoon of 28th October, 2025. We had finished a Backroads Tour of “The Emerald Isle” that afternoon ending in Dublin, hired a car and driven to Gleesons Townhouse in Roscommon town. That evening I had my first appointment with a genealogist at the townhouse.

[L-R: Shirley and Dianne (cousins) in St. Patrick’s Parish Church, Elphin, Roscommon]

MEETING WITH VOLUNTEER KENNY CLEMENTS

Despite having spent the past 5 weeks touring UK and Ireland and enjoying every minute of the adventures, the highlight of my trip to UK and Ireland was my meeting with Kenny Clements on the 29th October. I had arranged to meet him at 10 am in Elphin and was pleasantly surprised to find I not only had the pleasure of Kenny’s company and his expertise, but also the skills and knowledge of an acquaintance of his, Laura – who is a history whiz!! What a treasure they both are! I had the best of both Worlds. Kenny with his factual knowledge and connections with Ireland Reaching Out, and Laura with her knowledge of history of the local area and Ireland in general. I felt very privileged and could not have had anyone better to introduce me to my homelands!

ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH - ELPHIN

Kenny had asked me to meet him at St. Patrick’s Church in Elphin.

[St. Patrick’s Parish Church and graveyard, Elphin]

This beautiful church was a fantastic way to introduce me to my Irish ancestry. Around the walls were plaques acknowledging families who had contributed to the building of the church. Some of these family names were familiar to me through my research – particularly the McDermott family, who were neighbours of my family on the townland of Runnaruag, and were often named as sponsors for baptisms of the Power children.

Although I didn’t realise on the day, this St. Patrick’s Church building was a relatively new one built about 1894. Most of my Power family migrated to Australia many years prior, so it somewhat explains why we couldn’t find any evidence of the Power name either within the Church or in the graveyard attached to the property. But it is a beautiful church and I felt an immediate connection to my family.

TOWNLAND OF RUNNARUAG

Next stop was a visit to my actual ancestral homeland on the townland of Runnaruag. Apparently Kenny and Laura had been researching my Power and Cotton families for the previous couple of days, and according to Laura, Kenny had her up all night going through records and discussing possibilities. Thank you both – that is dedication!!!

Kenny had visited Runnaruag the day before to contact the current owners of the property, and make sure it was okay for us to visit the property the next day. He had located the remains of the family home and had discovered that a lady who lived on the adjoining property was actually a Power descendant. One of the first things Kenny said to me when we first met, was that he had a surprise for me and may have found a living relative. He was excited about the possibility, as was I at the thought of actually finding a living relative in the area!!!

It was amazing to walk where my ancestors lived and see where they farmed and processed flax. Although hardly recognisable now as a ‘home’, the ruins of the house still stand, and I am grateful to the current owners of the property, for not demolishing what still stands.

[L-R: Kenny Clements and Dianne Power family homelands - Townland of Runnaruag, County Roscommon. Remains on family home in background]

The brick wall still stands that formed the boundary of the property along the roadway up the hill. A fragile looking old gate still forms part of that boundary fence, which no doubt would have been an access road into the townland. At the time my Power family lived on Runnaguag, the property was divided into 5 main blocks, plus several multi-use small plots where landholders shared services, facilities etc.

[L-R: Kenny, Dianne and Laura – townland of Runnaruag. Ruins of home centre of photo, looking down the roadway adjacent to property.]

Three resident cows peered through trees growing on their paddock and were very interested in what we were doing! Seemed like they wanted to be a part of the story and the experience!🤭

[The resident cows on the townland of Runnaruag.]

Despite the fact it had been drizzling rain whilst we were inspecting the area, the rain got heavier and we eventually had to retreat back to the car. But, there was a bright moment that seemed like an omen!! A beautiful rainbow appeared over the property!

POTENTIAL RELATIVE LIVING NEARBY

Next stop was to visit the neighbour named Power, who lived around the corner on the adjacent property. Kenny had visited the home the day before, but no-one answered the door when he knocked. When we pulled up out the front of the house on the 29th October, I knocked on the door a couple of times before someone actually came to the window to see who we were. The lady is an elderly widow who lives on her own and was reluctant to open the door to strangers. Because she lives on a main road, she apparently often gets strangers stopping at her home, and she feels threatened. That’s understandable! She talked to us through the window and claimed she wasn’t a relative of mine, that her Power family were from Waterford and I was from a different Power line. We didn’t want to distress her any more than we needed to, so we thanked her for her time and left.

My DNA clearly shows I have connections to County Waterford which is of course the county were the majority of Power families lived. It seems a bit of a strange coincidence that she lived next door to the family property and felt there was no connection between the two Power families. That remains a mystery that may never be solved!

SMALL LOCAL GRAVEYARDS

Back on the move again, we drove to visit a couple of old graveyards in the area that may have had graves of members of the Power family . Some of those graveyards now have signage on the gates listing the names of all the deceased. There were no Power names listed unfortunately. However, there certainly were names listed familiar to me with connections to my Power family.

ELPHIN CATHEDRAL AND HERITAGE TRAIL

It was about this time when Laura commented that she believed there were ruins of the old Elphin Cathedral that could be interesting to visit. Elphin Cathedral was the place of worship that existed before the new St. Patrick’s Church was built in 1894. At that stage, neither Laura nor Kenny had ever visited the site, so we were all basically ‘flying blind’. In fact, I think Kenny commented he wasn’t aware of the existence of the ruins – and when you see where they are, you can understand why! There’s absolutely no visible sign of any ruins from the street, so as we discovered, unless you go searching, the only thing you see towards the back of the block are brick walls, camouflaged by lots of green foliage and weeds!

[L-R: Kenny and Dianne within the ruins of Elphin Cathedral]

ST. PATRICK’S WELL

We pulled up at a little park area in the Main Street of Elphin. Laura being the historian was able to fill me in on the significance of the park area as it a very historical site. The first thing you see when you arrive at the site, is the little spring that’s running down the sloped block of land.

[The natural spring at Patrick’s Well, Elphin]

The spring runs from what is known as St. Patrick’s Well, which is an historic holy well linked to St. Patrick’s missionary journey through Connacht around 434 AD. Stories are told of St. Patrick’s horse thirsting, the well providing, and the saint leaving his footprint on the stone.

The Elphin Well marks the place where Patrick established a church and monastery. The name Elphin (“Rock of the Clear Spring”) comes from a large stone St. Patrick miraculously raised from the well, with water flowing from it.

[The plaque at the Ail Fionn – ‘the stone of the clear stream’ found by St. Patrick]

ELPHIN HERITAGE TRAIL

Whilst we were taking in the well and its surroundings, Laura found a treasure! There was a sign attached to a memorial area acknowledging the history of the site as part of the “Elphin Heritage Trail”. Lo and behold, on that sign was a record of the sea voyage of many Elphin residents who travelled to Australia on the ship “Crusader” in 1839. My Power family were named as passengers. I was so excited! Another wonderful find! Thank you Kenny and Laura!

[The story of the Power family from Elphin who travelled on the ship “Crusader” arriving Australia 1840]

[Elphin Heritage Trail signage on the site of ruins of Elphin Cathedral]

[Signage within the ruins Elphin Heritage Trail and the story about St. Mary’s Cathedral, Elphin Cathedral]

ELPHIN CATHEDRAL

Next, we ventured to the back of the block and walked through a gap in a brick wall covered in vines and foliage. In behind that doorway lay the ruins of the old Elphin Cathedral – where my great great grandfather James Power would have been baptised along with his siblings. He was born about 1811 so I assume his baptism would have been some time in that year. Whilst I have been unable to find his baptism record, I have found many of the records for his siblings – all in the Elphin Parish church.

It was pretty surreal wandering through the ruins of Elphin Cathedral. You can still recognise the ruins are of a church, and there are some signs on a couple of walls that tell stories of the church.

[Signage within the ruins of Elphin Cathedral]

[Part of the ruins of Elphin Cathedral]

[Part of the ruins of Elphin Cathedral]

Unfortunately, it appears the ruins are now a popular party spot or perhaps even a refuge for homeless people, who have disrespectfully littered the area with rubbish – particularly the remains of the old pulpit area. I suspect the attitude of those who desecrate the site, is that the ruins are all hidden behind the walls and barely visible to the public from the road (thanks to all the green foliage and weeds covering everything) so who cares! It is listed as an historical site as part of the Elphin Heritage Trail, but it appears is certainly not treated as such by those who frequent the area, or for that matter the local government who don’t bother to clean the area. What a shame!

RATHCROGAN VISITOR CENTRE, TULSK

By this time it was well and truly afternoon so we decided we needed a coffee and something to eat. Kenny and Laura wanted to show us the Rathcrogan Visitor Centre in Tulsk where they host a lovely coffee shop. So that’s where we headed and subsequently enjoyed a delicious coffee and home cooked meal.

Over lunch Kenny and Laura continued to give me hints about places I could visit or people I could contact. We had not really touched on my Cotton family, and they both suggested I visit Castlereagh to see if I could find any gravestones for the family in that area.

Interestingly enough, Kenny had mentioned to me earlier in the day, that a Cox Cotton had been a tenant of his property. Cox Cotton is definitely a member of my Cotton family who lived at Castlereagh. It truly is a small World!

Before we left the Visitor Centre, we enjoyed a little shopping in the gift shop whilst Laura continued to relay some of the mythical tales of the area and the mythical characters who played an important role in Irish history – particularly those associated with Roscommon.

THE END OF AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

Unfortunately, by then it was mid afternoon, and the emotional ride I’d been on most of the day, was starting to catch up with me. My head was reeling from the wonderful experiences I’d had during the day and pondering over everything I’d taken in and seen. I had mixed emotions – happiness and excitement at the discoveries and places Kenny and Laura had shared with me; sadness at the thought of most of my family leaving their homelands and their parents behind to travel to Australia for a better life! Extreme sadness for my great great great grandparents Antonium Power and Eleanor Cotton having to bid farewell to the majority of their children, never to see them again! And somewhat disappointed I had not been able to find their final resting place, or for that matter what happened to them after the family left them behind.

SINCERE THANKS TO KENNY AND LAURA

I don’t have sufficient words to express the extent of my gratitude, for the time, effort and energy Kenny and Laura put into making my visit to County Roscommon one of the most memorable occasions of my life. Thank you so much! You were both amazing and extremely enlightening with your knowledge of facts and history. I truly enjoyed every minute of our time together and indeed felt like I had come home to my homelands.💕.

Dianne Schultz – North Queensland, Australia.