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The Name is Harrington and the Heritage of the Graveyard

by Gerard Harrington

 At the recent launch of his fourth book ‘The Name is Harrington and the Heritage of the Graveyard’ well known local Historian and writer Gerard (Gerdie) Harrington spoke of the particular importance of a community knowing its history and that every family in Beara should research their family history and write it down so it can be published and those families be remembered by future generations.

    Continuing in the same vein, Gerdie said, ‘History is about the real lives and work of the people who lived in our hills and fields. It’s very important for people to know that they didn’t just fall from the sky, because at present there’s a real danger that with modern education we may well be educating people away from their roots.’

    Hoping that this publication is only the beginning of local family history; Gerdie ended with the following poignant statement:

‘A community that forgets its history is like a man who loses his memory – he has no past and he has no future.’

    Gerdie's latest book has been heralded by Beara Historical Society and other local Associations as an invaluable new contribution to the social history of Beara.

    The main themes in this publication are stories of several local Harrington families and a history of the old Beara Graveyards including inscriptions from many of the older tombstones which were compiled In 1975 by the Project Group
of the FULL LIFE for YOUTH (F.L.Y.) for the Irish Genealogical Research Society by Local school children and others.

    This 122-page Limited Edition Publication which includes many photographs is now on sale in local shops or by Post.

    Several of Gerdie’s past articles from his occasional series ‘Down Memory Lane’ published in the 'Southern Star' can be read on his website www.gerdie.bhs.ie