Discover your Leitrim roots

LEITRIM roots? Then here’s an event you just can’t miss.

The 2007 Leitrim Roots Festival gets under way later this year with a host of attractions.

And it will be a must for anyone born in the county or whose ancestors hailed from there.

This year’s festival aims to build on the success of the first Leitrim Roots Festival staged 12 months ago.

The 2006 event was organised by the Leitrim Genealogy Centre and surpassed all expectations for the people who attended.

Many hailed it as an unforgettable experience with visitors coming from America, Canada, England, Australia, Scotland, New Zealand and Iceland.

They spent the week visiting places of historical interest in Leitrim, attending lectures on Leitrim topics and being entertained by Leitrim singers, musicians and dancers.

So enthralled were the participants that the local paper carried a series of letters from visitors after they had returned to their home countries complimenting the organisers on the wonderful week they had experienced.

Buoyed by that success the Leitrim Genealogy Centre has now decided to run a further Roots Festival in April 2007.

The event will be along similar lines to last year’s Festival but with some new visitor attractions and lectures included.

The 2007 festival will be of great interest to people whose ancestors came from Co. Leitrim or people who were born there.

It promises to be a wonderful week-long event with organised activities including guided tours to different historic and beautiful areas in the county.

There will also be lectures on roots-related topics and evenings of traditional entertainment with Irish music, song and dance.

Highlight of the event will be an appearance by famous Irish showband musician Larry Cunningham who will close the festival with the famous song Lovely Leitrim:

Well I’ve travelled far through these great lands from the east onto the west;

But of all the islands I have seen I love my own the best;

And if ever I return again there is one place I will go;

It will be to Lovely Leitrim where the Shannon Waters flow.

The programme for the festival is broken up into various packages including full week, midweek and weekend package — or people can come and attend any of the nightly entertainment events if they wish.

For people with Leitrim ancestry this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with a great opportunity to see the best of Leitrim in a week with everything organised.

Participants in the festival will be accommodated in Leitrim hotels and guesthouses of their choice.

People can also make their own accommodation arrangements.

Many people have already booked for the 2007

festival and all bookings should be made soon to avoid disappointment.

n Further details can be obtained from Leitrim Roots Festival Office by telephoning 00353 71 9645088 or logging on to www.leitrimroots.com.

Alternatively e-mail info@leitrimroots.com.