Thursday, November 05, 2015

SOJOURN TO THE PAST

October 30/31 marks the 134th Anniversary of the death 
of Jerome Collins. 
Click on this link below to read my story, which was just published locally in the Hometown Focus paper. 
It gives an in-depth look on the life of Collins, and the work we've accomplished researching his incredible life.

How it all began: My Sojourn to The Past 



4 comments:

Mark Rickards said...

Dear Amy
I have read with interest your posts about Jerome Collins and I wanted to let you know that I am a descendant of his brother, Bernard Collins. My grandmother was Winifred Collins, the daughter of Bernard, from his second marriage.

Bernard worked as a mining engineer on the Gold Coast in Africa after returning from the USA. We still have some artefacts from his time in Africa. My grandmother Winifred lived in London and died on the south coast after retiring to Dorset. As a child I visited her many times and she often talked about her uncle, Jerome Collins, and the Jeannette expedition. Over the years I have heard many stories both of the expedition and the funeral in New York, along with the details of how Bernard travelled back to Cork and Jerome's final resting place. She also talked about Bernard's first marriage and her half-sister and half-brothers - they were called Jerome and John and the half-sister was Helen. Helen lived in the south of London in a suburb called Croydon. John had a son, we think he was also called Jerome, and he lived in Bridport in south-west England.

So my relation to Jerome Collins must be similar to yours - my great-grandfather was Bernard Collins, the brother of Jerome.
I have always known the stories of the Collins family and Jerome, but I have yet to visit Cork.
I myself was born and brought up in London and I now live in Scotland, married to a Canadian. I have one brother and one sister also resident in the UK.

I hope you may find the family connections of interest!
Wishing you all the best
Mark

Markrickards@hotmail.com

Aimee said...

HI Mark!
I am amazed you found the blog and found me! Thanks for the post! I will be sending you an email soon, can't say enough how excited I am to hear more!

All the best,
~Amy

Mike said...

Dear Amy

My name is Michael and I am Cork born and bred.

I recently learned of Jerome's incredible story and quickly regarded him as one of THE great Irishmen, albeit not recognised as such.

I recently visited his grave in Curraghkippane and took the liberty of removing some weeds as well as laying a chrysanthemum blossom in memory of Jerome and his family. I hope this meets your approval. The Grave is now pristine.

Ultimately, I want you to know that this titan of an Irishman will never be forgotten and I plan regular trips to his resting place. Already, I have several nephews who are taking an interest in the story and endeavor.

I hope this mail finds you well and brings you some degree of comfort that a local Corkman is invested in the saga of the late, great Mr. Jerome Collins. We celebrate Michael Collins...but there is room in that celebration for his namesake Jermome.

Here is a link to a facebook post I made about the trip:
https://www.facebook.com/loudquietloud/posts/3222567651146430

Sláint!
Michael O'sullivan

Aimee said...

Greetings from Minnesota, Michael!

It’s heartwarming to see your post on FB. I’ve been there twice, once in 2015, and again in 2018. I can’t express my gratitude enough for pulling weeds and cleaning it up, and the mums are beautiful. Thank you! I hope it’s ok that I shared your post with my Collins’ Clan family over here in the US.

Feel free to message me directly on FB messenger, I’m interested to hear how you heard about Jerome’s story.

This blog is made by Catryn Power, who was Cork County Archaeologist, and a published author..... she was extremely instrumental along with my dear friend and co-author Ronnie Herlihy (Cork), who helped restore the gravesite. Unfortunately, Ronnie suddenly passed just in March of this year. He had been a huge supporter of telling Jerome’s story and we became good friends with our families.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
~Amy Nossum

johnson.amy88@mac.com