REVEALED: Why are foreign visitors flocking to this grave in rural Kilkenny?
An emotional pilgrimage to a historic Kilkenny graveyard brought descendants from across the world together to honour Clementina Dundas Bartolucci and rediscover a fascinating family history...
A group of 25 people from the United States, Germany and England came to Kilmacow last Saturday to visit the grave of their ancestor Clementina Dundas Bartolucci, who is interred in Ballinamorahan Graveyard.
The group were welcomed by Kilmacow Heritage who have undertaken a programme of work on the restoration and maintenance of the five old graveyards in Kilmacow for the past 33 years.
Tomás Breathnach (Chairman, Kilmacow Heritage) outlined for the visitors the Kilmacow into which Giovanni Battista, Fillipo Vincenzo Bartolucci and his wife Clementina came in the early 1860s.
There were 11 mills on the River Blackwater which meandered through the parish from Dangan to Grannagh. There were three other mills on the tributary from Holly Lake to the River Blackwater before it flowed into the River Suir.
Construction on the church at Ballinamorahan began in 1792 and it was consecrated in 1807. It closed in 1893 due to the small number of the congregation.
David Harper, speaking on behalf of the Dundas Bartolucci family, explained how the family had begun to trace their roots and had previously visited Cantiano in Italy, the birthplace of Vincenzo.
He was an opera singer and a singing teacher who had to leave his homeland, possibly due to the support his father gave to Giuseppe Garibaldi who played a prominent role in the unification of Italy.
He met and married Clementina Dundas from Scotland. Her father, from a military and political background, did not approve of the marriage and gave the couple £50,000 to leave England for good. They bought Greenville House (later Kilcronagh House) from the money received.
They had seven children, Ida, Charlotte, Candida, Evelyn, Louisa, Thomas and Luigi. They all used the name Dundas Bartolucci. Sadly, Luigi was only fifteen months old when his mother died on June 13, 1867.
Kilkenny County Council, through Heritage Officer Regina Fitzpatrick, has been hugely supportive of the work of Kilmacow Heritage.
She lauded the work of the volunteers who come to the five local graveyards of the parish to make sure that they are always looked after and well presented.
The work of Richard Walsh, whose sensitive and careful work ensured that Clementina’s grave was faithfully restored for the visit, was particularly worthy of mention. Future generations from the Dundas Bartolucci family will be able to visit Ballinamorahan and be assured of the condition of the grave.
The visitors and group members went to Kilcronagh House where Thomas and Denise Quinlan and family hosted tea and refreshments for the guests. Emma Bates (Secretary, Kilmacow Heritage) spoke about the construction of the house, designed by Francis Bindon for John Greene, whose name is greatly associated with the development of the mills in Kilmacow.
It was later leased to Major Arthur Fleming before being bought by Vincenzo and Clementina, and later again by the De La Poers, who lived there for 40 years before it was bought by Thomas Quinlan, grandfather of the current owner.
Luigi Vincenzo Dundas Bartolucci, who was born at Kilcronagh House, emigrated to the United States. He settled in Montana with his wife, Mary Theresa O'Loughlin, where he bred Percheron horses.