US Special Envoy opens the Livingston Centre at Killinchy
Joe Kennedy III officially opened the Livingston Centre at Killinchy Parish Church on Thursday 3 October. The US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland cut the ribbon of the local Visitor Centre in the presence of Henry and Susan Livingston of Massachusetts, 11th great-grandchildren of Revd John Livingston who was Rector of Killinchy in 1630.
The Livingston family is one of the most influential families in American history and includes Presidents, a First Lady, Congressmen, Senators, Governors, businessmen, entrepreneurs and military heroes.
The new centre explores the transatlantic story of the Livingstons as well as providing a community hub for local use. During his visit to the centre, Joe Kennedy engaged with participants of Live Life Wellbeing, a group which provides much needed activities for young adults with special needs. He also met with carers and children from Killinchy Tots who use the centre every Thursday morning from 10.00am to 11.30am.
Revd Dr Stanley Gamble gave Mr Kennedy a guided tour of the Livingston Exhibition before asking him to unveil a model of the famous Eagle Wing ship. In 1636, the Eagle Wing set sail for America from Ulster with 140 passengers onboard including Revd John Livingston. It is the first recorded attempted sailing from Ulster to the new world. It sailed 1200 miles across the Atlantic, but never made it, having to return home after enduring a hurricane.
Inside the parish church, the US Special envoy was introduced to local organist Jack McCabe who has recently graduated from Queen’s College, Cambridge with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. As a teenager, Jack McCabe learnt to play the organ on the Livingston Memorial Organ, which was presented by Susan and Henry Livingston in 2018. The up-and-coming musician played a variation of ‘Be Thou my vision’ for the US statesman.
A local Killinchy family were also on hand to present Joe Kennedy with a copy of ‘Midnight Again’, a book telling the story of Helen Ramsey Turtle, a Colorado woman who met and married Lancelot Turtle of County Down. Mary Lee Jackson and Julie Mackie, her daughters, explained that it contained interesting correspondence from the Second World War when Joe Kennedy’s great grandfather, Joseph P. Kennedy, was US Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
With thanks to Revd Dr Stanley Gamble. Photographs courtesy of Neal Dorman.
