Devenish Island in County Fermanagh is special to the Cassidy Clan. The Cassidys served as “erenaghs,” hereditary land managers for the Church’s property in parts Devenish parish and undoubtedly studied and worshiped at Devenish Island.
The most famous early Irish Cassidy ancestor, the poet Giolla Mochuda More Ó Caiside, composed Banshenchas, The Lore of Woman, on Devenish Island in 1147. The poem tells the history of the women of the world starting with Eve. At the conclusion of the poem, Devenish is described as “of gracious words and pure holy song.”
We welcome you back to Ireland in 2025. The Cassidy Clan Rally is held in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, close to the ancestral lands of the Cassidys.
Our next rally will take place in 2025 from Friday 4 July through Sunday 6 July. The weekend event celebrates Irish culture and history, including local history and the Cassidy role within it, through stories, musical performances, and genealogy and cultural presentations.
We thank Kerry Cassidy of Switzerland and Australia for his report and contribution to our website:
After two years delay and quite a few hiccups, the 2022 Cassidy Clan Rally was eventually held on the weekend of the 22nd to the 24th July. The organisation was rather difficult as all possible dates were taken by couples who had delayed their weddings due to Covid and the hotels were all fully booked. There was also a misunderstanding with one booking and the confusion of dates threw quite a few people’s plans out. We were eventually almost 30 people and I believe all enjoyed themselves.
The official meeting was planned for the Friday evening, but as a few members arrived late, it was put off till Saturday morning. The main business discussed was regarding support for the executives, as Nuala has not been well and Noel has been very busy with his sick wife. We decided to make Stephen, who has so far been responsible for the Website, an assistant executive officer. As such he can make minor decisions on his own and post the info on the website without having to wait for a reply from Nuala or Noel. We hope that this system works out and relieves Nuala of some of her responsibilities.
Stephen intends to update the website and if anyone has contributions or ideas for that, they would be very welcome. We are also looking at possibilities to strengthen the financial situation of the club with possibility of a worthwhile project which we could support.
Following the meeting on Saturday, we boarded a bus for a tour of Enniskillen and then to the Castle which is also an interesting museum and always worth a visit. Frank Roofe was our guide and as a local historian, he is a very interesting one. We unfortunately had a breakdown with the bus and had to wait for a replacement before we could depart the museum.
The weather played tricks on us, but a lot of the rain fell during the bus trip to the Ancient Cassidy Rath. We were there for maybe a quarter of an hour before it started raining again. There are a few umbrellas evident in the group photo taken at the Rath. We can thank Noel Cassidy for his great efforts to clear the Rath and the access path through Cassidy Wood. He spent considerable time working on that and was eventually assisted by the forestry department, who own the Cassidy Wood and part of the Rath. We had a few discussion groups at the hotel after dinner on Saturday evening.
On Sunday we enjoyed a few presentations. First we eventually got the computer connected to the projector and sound system to play one of the well prepared presentations on using DNA in researching your ancestors. Veronica Williams is our specialist on DNA and made a very professional presentation. This as well as her second presentation are now available on the Clan web site for anyone who is interested. Check on the web site under https://cassidyclan.org/making-the-most-of-your-cassidy-dna/
Veronica’s presentation was followed by an interesting talk by Frank Roofe with tips on researching your Irish ancestors, then the story teller held us in suspense with his vivid descriptions.
After the talks the bus was waiting to take us to the ferry landing to cross Dead Man’s Pass to Devenish Island. There we had time to explore this special place before holding the ceremony to reinstate Nuala as An-Caisideach. The weather improved during the afternoon and we made a short stop on the way home to view the old Bally Cassidy Post Office and the Cloughbally Mill at Bally Cassidy. This has now been rebuilt as a B&B and looks really nice.
Sunday evening was very pleasant and I believe all enjoyed the Gala Dinner at Killyhevlin Hotel.
As we parted, many promised to meet again at the next rally. From what I have heard we will aim at three years time, so we hope we will be able to give a lot more notice this time.
I’d like to thank all who helped to get the Rally off the ground and I especially thank Noel for all the effort he put into the preparations under rather trying conditions.
We look forward to seeing you next time! Kerry Cassidy
Editor’s Note: The next Cassidy Clan Rally will take place in 2025 from Friday 4 July through Sunday 6 July.
Kerry and Elisabeth Cassidy with Noel Cassidy at site of ancient Cassidy rath in County Fermanagh during a tour as part of the 2017 Cassidy Clan Rally.
The 2020 Cassidy Clan Rally was postponed due to the Covid-19 situation. When the next rally can be held, is still in the clouds. 2021 could be possible if the virus can be stemmed worldwide, otherwise it may be 2022 before arrangements can be made.
The journey to Enniskillen to join the rally is quite long for most members, so one does not normally consider going to Ireland just for an extended weekend. My wife Elisabeth and I attended the 2017 Rally and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
We traveled from Switzerland by motor home, (RV for Americans), and we toured Ireland extensively for 27 days. If you are planning to look around while in Ireland, you have time beforehand to plan your trip. I have just posted our entire trip on my website as a virtual tour for all to experience. I have started with an introduction, which includes an index of where we travelled each day. I have divided the tour into 3 day sections, as there are a lot of photos and lots of information. Each day starts with a route map of where we travelled that day so you can orient yourself.
If you don’t have time to view the entire tour and wish to see for example, “The Cliffs of Moher” simply go to Day 11. Our photos of the 2017 Cassidy Clan Rallystart on Friday, June 30, 2017. I hope you enjoy the tour and can learn lot’s about our original homeland. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
August 2023 Update – Our 2020 rally was eventually held in 2022. The next Cassidy Clan rally will be hosted in 2025 at the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh from Friday 4 July through Sunday 6 July. Visit our Clan Rally pagefor details.
Due to COVID-19, the Cassidy Clan Rally scheduled for this Summer has been postponed until July 2021. As always, the Rally will occur in County Fermanagh, Ireland.
Please keep yourself and your families safe. We offer our deepest appreciation and prayers for the well-being to all persons on the frontlines of treating and caring for those taken ill by the virus, ensuring public safety and providing food and other essential products to our communities, including to our seniors and those most vulnerable.
April 2022 – The Cassidy Clan rally will be hosted at the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh from Friday July 22nd through Sunday July 24th. Visit our Clan Rally pagefor our program details and how to RSVP to attend the 2022 rally.
UPDATE – Due to COVID-19, we postponed the Cassidy Clan Rally until 2022. You can learn more about the 2022 rally, and our next rally in 2025 at our Clan Rally page.
————–
Again, the 2020 rally did not occur.
————–
The 2020 Cassidy Gathering of the Clan, will be held in the Manor House Hotel, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh on Friday July 3rd _ 5th incl. Cassidy’s from U.S.A., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and England have already booked their place at the table and are looking forward to meeting and being welcomed by local Cassidy’s to the land of our Ancestors. It is gratifying to note that a number of those booked for the 2020 Gathering have attended on previous years.
The weekend event, organized every 3 years, celebrates Irish Culture & history, including local history and the Cassidy role within it, through stories, musical performances, DNA, genealogy and cultural presentations. There is also a guided tour and, of course, the Sunday evening Gala Dinner, which is always one of the main events.
The 2017 Gathering was a huge success as the
Clan Members stood on Devenish Island to witness the Inauguration of Nuala Cassidy
of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, as “An Caisideach”.
All registered members can nominate a person
for the office of An Caisideach.
Please do not hesitate to ask questions or make suggestions should you feel so inclined as we want to insure your full enjoyment at this gathering. If you have your family history I would be grateful if you could send me a copy.
Looking forward to greeting you in Enniskillen,
Nuala Cassidy, An Chaisideach
Programme of Events and fees for the 2020 Cassidy Gathering of the Clan
6.30 pm: Glass of Prosecco or fruit punch on arrival
7 p.m. Clan Dinner
An evening of good company, food, drink, and entertainment
Reservations andRegistration
Please send your name(s) and address(es) by email to Nuala Cassidy at [email protected] to register for the 2020 Cassidy Clan Rally.
The cost of attending the Rally (including Clan Gala Dinner on Sunday night) is £190.00 per couple or £110.00 per person. There is a family rate (2 adults and 2 children (ages 12-16) of £320.00 .
Special discounts are provided upon request for large groups.
To secure your reservation for the 2020 Cassidy Clan Rally please use PayPal to make a deposit of £25 per person (plus any commission charged by PayPal) by clicking here.
Final payment is requested by June 1st 2020.
Accommodation
The rally cost does not include lodging. Attendees must make their own reservations for accommodation.
We have negotiated a discounted rate at the Manor House Country Hotel. Please ask for the Cassidy Clan Rally discount if you wish to stay at the hotel. As of January 2020, there are still a limited number of discounted rooms available.
It is a lovely hotel south of Enniskillen, the main city in the county. The Manor House Country Hotel hotel is north of Enniskillen, but it’s only about a 15 minute drive between the two hotels.
The Lough Erne Resort is also excellent, however, it is on the opposite shore of the lake from the Manor House Country Hotel. It is about a 20-25 minute drive between the two hotels.
A Cháirde Dhílis (Dear Loyal Friends) – The Cassidy Clan is pleased to announce the dates and venue for our next rally. The 2020 Cassidy Clan Rally will take place at the the Manor House Country Hotel, Killadeas, Enniskillen for the 3rd, 4th and 5th of July 2020.
August 2023 Update – Due to Covid-19, we did not host a rally in 2020. The rally was postponed to 2022. Visit our Clan Rally pagefor program details on our July 2025 rally.
The Manor House north of Enniskillen in County Fermanagh will be the site of the 2020 Cassidy Clan Rally.
We thank Kerry Cassidy of Switzerland and Australia for his report and contribution to our website:
The 2017 Cassidy Clan rally was a great success. It was attended by over 60 clan members from many parts of the globe and all seemed to enjoy the varied and interesting program.
The Rally commenced on Friday the 30th June with registration of participants from 12.00 to 2.00 pm, then continued with getting to know the other members. This was followed at 4.00 pm by the Clan General Meeting with the election of An Caisideach (or president) and office bearers. The meeting was rather short as there was only one nomination for An Caisideach.
Nuala Cassidy was elected in a unanimous vote and her brother Noel was elected as chairman, a position in which Nuala had been active for some time. Both Nuala and Noel are very devoted to the clan and I feel they will both be excellent in the positions. Oliver Cassidy was invited to accept the office of An Tánaiste (deputy chieftain) for the next three years.
The venue for the Clan Rally was the Killyhevlin Hotel at Enniskillen and the facilities were perfect for the event.
After dinner on Friday we had a Power Point Presentation, “Meet the Cousins”, then the rest of the evening was spent meeting new friends and enjoying the beautiful night.
Saturday started with an interesting talk by Veronica Williams from Australia, telling us of the research she has done tracing her Cassidy ancestors back to Ireland and also explaining her work with DNA to trace ancestral links.
Anyone interested in this subject, please contact Veronica as she has now volunteered to oversee the Clan’s DNA project.
Veronica’s talk was followed by an interesting presentation by Frank Roofe, who is a local historian and genealogist. Frank is also an honorary life member of the Cassidy Clan and has helped many people with their research. He has been an integral part of the Clan gatherings for the last 15 years. Frank gave us several good tips on research and afterwards was our guide on a bus tour visiting interesting historical sites in the area.
We started off with the Enniskillen Castle museum, previously the Maguire Castle until the English confiscated it and their lands. The museum contains some very interesting displays showing how the people of the area have lived over the last two thousand years.
We later continued on via Bally Cassidy to the Ardess Famine Graveyard and finally to the Ancient Cassidy Rath. It was a very special feeling to be at the Rath, knowing that over a thousand years ago our ancestors lived there.
Kerry and Elisabeth Cassidy with Noel Cassidy at site of Ancient Cassidy Rath during 2017 Cassidy Clan Rally.
After dinner on Saturday evening we were invited to an old fashioned Céili House, with three members of the Blackwater Céili Band. Eamonn Keeman and Jeff the Piper tod many tales of old and we were also entertained by singer Tina Cassidy and some talented clan members including Noel Cassidy.
The Sunday program started with a talk by Noel Cassidy about some of the renowned early Cassidy poets, including Gill Mo Duta Ua Caiside and Tómas Ban Úa Caiside.
This was followed by a fascinating P P Presentation by Alf Monaghan where he looked at the history of early Irish Christianity from a very different perspective. Titled “Monastic Ireland – A Gift of the Nile” it showed evidence that the original Christians in Ireland were Coptic Christians escaping the persecution of the Romans. Alf showed many examples of evidence substantiating the links back to Egypt. This was a long time before Saint Patrick came to Romanize the Christians in Ireland.
Alf’s talk was followed by another bus trip, this time to the ferry landing near Devenish Island.
We then took the ferry across to the Island for the Inauguration Ceremony of our new An Caisideach.
This was also a special experience and included many old customs of previous generations. We had lots of time to explore the Island, the ruins of the old monastery and the interesting museum.
We then returned to the hotel for the Gala Dinner and evening entertainment with the Byrne Brothers and the dancing and fellowship continued into the wee hours of the morning.
Many of us met again on Monday morning to say our farewells and there were quite a few who promised to meet again at the next rally in three years. We hope to see lots of members there in 2020.
Nuala Cassidy with her brother Noel at the 2017 Clan Rally where she was installed as Chieftain.
If you would like to see more of the above events, I have a photographic reportage posted on my website, visit http://www.cassidys.ch/clan.htm
12.00 noon – Registration at the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
4.00pm – 5.30 pm; Official Opening Clan General Meeting including election of An Caisideach
8.00pm – 10.00 pm; Meet the Cousins…..PowerPoint and screen available to members
Saturday, July 1st
10.00am – 12.30 Genealogy……PowerPoint and Screen
Family and Local History.
Veronica Williams, a member since 2008 will present her Family History research
1.30pm – 5.30 pm Bus tour of scenic and historic places of interest including; Cassidy Ancient Rath
8.00pm Céilí House: An Evening of Traditional Tales from Ireland.
Sunday, July 2nd
10.00 am Devenish Summer School
A number of lectures + Q&A Including a PowerPoint presentation by Alf Monaghan on Monastic Ireland – A gift of the Nile
2.30 pm Inauguration of An Caisideach on Devenish Island an Ancient burial ground of our Cassidy Ancestors
7.30 pm Reception
8.00 pm Clan Gala Dinner
An evening of good company, food, drink and entertainment The Byrne Brothers,
Dress code ; Smart casual. We will have an area for dancing so bring your dancing shoes.
Fees for weekend events
£110.00 per person.
£190.00 per couple
£320.00 2 Adults + 2 children aged 12 – 16, price for younger children on request
We do ask for a £25 per person deposit with registration. Balance of fee to be paid by June 26th 2017.
Please make your payment by credit card via the Cassidy Clan PayPal account. Click the “Buy Now” button below:
Our next Cassidy Clan rally will take place in the Summer of 2017 near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, from Friday, June 30th to Sunday, July 2nd. The host hotel for the rally will be the Killyhevlin Hotel. We will publish the rally program and cost of the program in early 2017.
Attendees must make their own lodging reservations. You can book directly with the Killyhevlin Hotel or visit Fermanagh Lakelands website which has a comprehensive listing of hotels, B&Bs, and other accommodations.
February 2017 Update
The Cassidy Clan Rally is a weekend to promote friendship and camaraderie among Cassidys worldwide. The weekend will include Devenish Summer School, a trip to Devenish Island, the Ancient Cassidy Rath and other historic and scenic places in County Fermanagh, genealogy and family history discusscions, concluding with a gala dinner with traditional music, song and dance.
Programme of Events
Friday, 30th 2017
12 noon – Start of Registration
4 pm – Official Opening followed by Clan General Meeting including election of An Caisideach. As the office of An Caisideach (Chieftain of the Cassidy Clan) is vacant all registered members of the Clan may nominate a person for this position.
Saturday, July 1st
Morning – Genealogy
Family and Local History
Afternoon (depending weather)
Bus tour of scenic and places of historic interest including Cassidy Ancient Rath
Sunday, July 2nd
Morning – Devenish Summer School
Afternoon – Inauguration of An Caisideach on the Ancient burial ground of our Cassidy Ancestors on Devenish Island
Clan Gala Dinner
An evening of good company, food, drink and entertainment
Registration
Please contact Nuala Cassidy by email. Her address is nuala [at] caiside.org and inform her of your intention to attend and the number of persons in your party.
