Ireland Canada Homecoming 2025
Remembering the Peter Robinson Settlers of the Ballyhoura Region - 200th Anniversary
Join us for a week-long commemoration marking 200 years since the Peter Robinson Settler Emigration Scheme to Canada. This special event honours the hundreds of resilient families from the Ballyhoura Region and wider Munster area who embarked on a brave journey to build new lives across the Atlantic.
In 1823 and 1825, these settler families set sail from Cobh to Ontario, where they established a new life in what we know today as Peterborough. Moving from one complex economic and political crisis to another, their remarkable stories of resilience and determination live on through their diaspora worldwide.
We invite you to join us for the commemorative events scheduled for September 2025 as we celebrate this significant chapter in Irish-Canadian history.
Gala Lunch & Tour of Lough Gur
Monday September 15th, 2025
12 PM - 3 PM
Kick off a week of commemoration with a complimentary Gala Lunch at Deebert House Hotel, Kilmallock. Enjoy local produce while connecting with fellow descendants and the local community.
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
After lunch, delve into the rich history of Lough Gur, the earliest known site of Neolithic settlement in Ireland, and explore the beliefs, traditions, and folklore of your ancestors.
Galtee Origins Experience Tour
Tuesday, September 16th 2025, 9 AM - 4:30 PM
This full-day, immersive tour will take in the key settler communities of Mitchelstown, Doneraile, Kilbehenny, Kilfinane and Ballyporeen (Templetenny).
Walk in the footsteps of your ancestors, taking in the lands of the Kingston Estate and St Leger Estate Doneraile. Reconnect with your communities of origin – meet with local people, experience local history and historic graveyards and visit some of the sites pertinent to you and your ancestors.
Tickets available on Eventbrite
Golden Vale Origins Experience Tour
Tuesday, September 16th 2025, 9 AM - 4:30 PM
Walk in the footsteps of your ancestors, in this full-day, immersive experience taking in the lands of Charleville, Doneraile, Churchtown, Liscarroll, Milford, Newtownshandrum and Colmanswell.
Reconnect with your communities or origin – meet with local people, experience local history and visit some of the sites pertinent to you and your ancestors.
Tickets available on Eventbrite
Avondhu – Blackwater Origins Experience Tour (County Cork)
Wednesday, 17th September 2025, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Enjoy this full day, immersive tour taking in the key settler communities of Mallow, Fermoy, Kilworth, Rathcormac and Ballyhooly.
Walk in the footsteps of your ancestors while reconnecting with your communities of origin. Meet with local people, experience local history and visit some of the sites pertinent to you and your ancestors.
Journey to the "Port of Cove" Experience Tour (County Cork)
Thursday, 18th September 2025, 8 AM- 5 PM
This very special tour is designed to follow the journey of the settlers to their final departure point at the "Port of Cove".
In collaboration with the Cobh Heritage Centre and Cobh Titanic Trails, this tour focuses on Ireland's emigration story, as well as the emigrant stories of your ancestors.
Note: There will be free time to grab lunch and explore Cove before returning.
Treaty – Kingdom Experience Tour (Counties Limerick and Kerry)
Friday, 19th September 2025, 8 AM - 5 PM
This full day immersive and scenic tour will take you across East Limerick, West Limerick and Kerry and incorporating parts of the beautiful Kerry coastline.
Walk in the footsteps of your ancestors, while reconnecting with your communities of origin taking in the key settler communities of Dingle, Listowel, and communities in East and West Limerick. Meet with local people, experience local history and visit some of the sites pertinent to you and your ancestors.
Peter Robinson Settlers Commemoration Concert
Friday, 19th Sep 2025 8 PM - 10 PM
Promising a memorable and evocative evening, this concert will take place in Saint George’s Arts & Heritage Centre in Mitchelstown, featuring beautiful performances of traditional Irish music, song, dance, and heritage.
The Commemoration Concert is free, ticket cost is a contribution to the associated overheads costs.
Peter Robinson Settlers Emigration Scheme Conference
Saturday, 20th September 2025, 10 AM - 5 PM
Saint George’s Arts and Heritage Centre, Mitchelstown will host this full-day conference, where you will hear from guest speakers and lecturers as well as a panel discussion.
Join with international and national speakers in addressing some of the key themes and factors surrounding this emigration scheme. The conference will be held in the beautifully restored Saint George’s Church, which is associated with 38 Settler families.
This is a wonderful opportunity to find out more about one of the most successful emigration programmes.
Commemoration of the Peter Robinson Settlers at Griston Bog & Woodland
Sunday, 21st September 2025, 10 AM - 4 PM
The Commemoration Ceremony at Griston Bog and Woodland is the final event of this weeklong commemoration.
Music will greet you upon arrival in Ballylanders, with smaller groups transported by bus to Griston Bog and Woodland. Here, the ‘Woodland Dedication’ will take place to remember and commemorate the Peter Robinson Settler families of 1823 and 1825.
This is an immersive, creative experience that will be managed in small groups across the bogland finalising with a commemoration ceremony and tree planting on site. In collaboration with Ballyhoura Heritage and Environment, Síolta Glasa and Ballylanders Community.
Lunch (included), closing remarks and a Taste of Ballyhoura Experience will be held at Ballylanders GAA Hall.
Please note for independent travellers that parking is both limited at the venue and limited at the woodland location. On street parking is available in the village of Ballylanders.
Tickets available on Eventbrite
“The Robinson Experiment” - An Epic North Cork tale of hope, fear and resilience, with CallBack theatre, showing across the week.
Schoolyard Theatre, Old Limerick Road Charleville
One Week Only! 7 shows – 15th to 21st September 2025 at 8 PM.
Step back in time and experience the newly commissioned “The Robinson Experiment” - An Epic North Cork tale of hope, fear and resilience, with CallBack theatre, premiering for this week-long event and showing nightly at 8.00pm across the week.
It’s 1825. You’re offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to leave everything you know behind and cross the Atlantic to Upper Canada. A new beginning awaits – if you have the courage, resilience, and strength to take it.
Would you go?
"The Robinson Experiment" is a compelling new play written by John Sheehy, commissioned by Ballyhoura Development CLG and produced by CallBack theatre. It brings to life the real story of the Peter Robinson Emigration Scheme – an assisted migration programme funded by the British Government. Under the guidance of Peter Robinson, eleven ships carried emigrants from the Port of Cove, Co. Cork to Upper Canada in 1823 and 1825.
The play follows a fictionalised North Cork family as they weigh up the risks of leaving everything behind. Peter Robinson offers to change their lives forever – for those bold enough to take the chance, the decision to go will echo for generations to come.
Set against a backdrop of domestic hardship and political unrest, "The Robinson Experiment" is a vivid, immersive theatrical experience that brings the past roaring into the present.
Presented by CallBack theatre – the acclaimed company behind Fred & Alice and Set in Stone – this premiere forms part of the Ireland–Canada Homecoming 2025 Collection of events.
Wreath-Laying Ceremony Marks Historic Beginning
The "Ireland - Canada Homecoming 2025" began on 9th May 2025 with a moving wreath-laying ceremony in Cobh, Co. Cork. This location holds particular significance as the "Port of Cove" was the final departure point for 2,500 people who set sail for Upper Canada two centuries ago.
Initiated and organised by Ballyhoura Development in collaboration with key partners, the ceremony honoured the memory of over 500 families from the Ballyhoura region and surrounding areas who departed on 11 ships during those pivotal years of 1823 and 1825.