On Thursday, 2 May, the society will host a lecture by David Leahy on ‘County Longford Applicants and Emigrants under the 1820 Settlers Scheme to South Africa’. The lecture will take place in St John’s Church, Battery Road, at 8pm, and all are welcome. The emigration scheme to South Africa is largely forgotten, but it involved several local people, some of whom lived in Templemichael parish and worshipped in St John’s. There are numerous descendants of the settlers now researching their Longford roots.
David Leahy is a Longford native living in Limerick. He is a chartered civil engineer and an accomplished local historian. He has an MA in Local History from the University of Limerick and has published two books and numerous articles.