Arranmore Pipe Band to make special journey to Beaver Island
Generations ago, Arranmore people crossed the Atlantic carrying their culture with them and helped build another island community thousands of miles from home
Arranmore Pipe Band are preparing to make a journey to Beaver Island, in Michigan.
Generations ago, families left Arranmore, crossed the Atlantic and eventually made new lives on Beaver Island, Michigan, a small island in Lake Michigan where descendants of those Arranmore emigrants still live today
On Thursday, September 10, the Arranmore Pipe Band will make that journey in the opposite direction. After travelling from Donegal to Michigan, the band will board the Emerald Isle ferry in Charlevoix at 10:30am for the crossing to Beaver Island.
At approximately 12:45pm as the ferry reaches the island, members of the band will step onto the dock playing their pipes and drums for the Beaver Island community gathered to welcome them.
For many families on Beaver Island, Arranmore is where their American story began. The relationship between the two communities stretches back generations. Beaver Island and Arranmore were officially twinned in 2000, and today memorials on both islands commemorate that connection.
On Arranmore, the Irish and American flags fly together at the memorial recognising the relationship with Beaver Island. On Beaver Island, the Arranmore Grotto at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery commemorates the Donegal island from which so many of its Irish families came.
The Pipe Band's arrival will bring that history to life in a particularly powerful way.
The people waiting on the Beaver Island dock will include descendants of people who once left Arranmore behind. Coming down the gangway will be musicians from the island their ancestors called home.
The visit is part of the Emerald Isle Irish Féile, taking place September 11–12 on Beaver Island and organised by the Beaver Island Irish Heritage Group.