Next year the clan will commemorate its twentieth anniversary as an organisation. We came together in 1991 to make our plans for the very successful 1992 Clan Rally, and continued in ’95, ’97, ’99, 2001, 2003, and 2005. These gatherings over the years enabled the Sweeney’s to travel and meet, to make friends and visit traditional ancestral sites linked to our forefathers.

In 2007 the Gallagher Clan decided to hold their gathering here in Donegal which proved a great success and we felt it prudent to postpone our gathering of that year as the numbers attending two clan gatherings might stretch the facilities available. The recession did not help matters in recent years but we have decided to carry on and get the show on the road again.

It is our intention to hold a full scale clan rally next year (2011) to mark the twentieth anniversary of our gatherings. Full details will shortly be available on the website. To this end we would be grateful to receive donations to help us establish a fund which would help with promotional material, pay off some outstanding bills and allow us to start afresh in 2011. If you decide to help a donation can be made by bank transfer, details as follows:

We have a Sweeney shop on our website where you can buy books, tartans, t-shirts, jackets, paintings etc. Just click on ‘Sweeney Shop’ for full details. The shop provides a valuable source of income to help us with the cost of running the organisation.

We will shortly be updating and revamping the website and intend to offer advertising space on this. It is a site which has a huge number of hits and a measure of this was the amount of email we received forcing us to close down the email address due to spam. In future contact will only be possible through the website thus filtering spam.

We thank you for your friendship over the years and appreciate any assistance you can offer.

It is our intention also to mark the passing of two great friends of the Sweeney Clan, Gideon Moore and Bill Gallagher, with a suitable plaque at Doe Castle. Their friendly welcome at Doe will never be forgotten and they are sadly missed.