By Hamish MacPherson
Back in the Day
According to myth, a Scottish nobleman, Henry St Clair or Sinclair, the First Earl of Orkney, sailed to Greenland and then North America IT was in this week of the year 1398 that a Scotsman discovered the American continent. Now all you fans of Christopher Columbus need not panic because I am certainly not going to claim that the Americas were discovered by the Scots nearly a hundred years before the Italian-born explorer navigated his way across the Atlantic to claim he had found a route to the East Indies. There is little doubt, however, that other Asians and Europeans had discovered North America thousands of years before Columbus. For the people we now correctly call native Americans were descended from the Asiatic people who walked across the land bridge that existed between what is now Siberia and Alaska no later than 15,000 years ago.
From glorious countryside and history, to Athlone town and of course Mullingar (hometown of Niall Horan) this midland county has much to offer its visitors. Here are just five of the most popular attractions in County Westmeath.
Mystery of Patrick Sarsfield’s grave may finally be solved Independent.ie 16/02/2021 Allison Bray
Officials from France and Belgium believe they may have solved the mystery of the final resting place of Irish war hero Patrick Sarsfield after more than three centuries.
Sarsfield, the First Earl of Lucan, was killed during the August 29, 1693 Battle of Landen or Neerwinden in Belgium during the Nine Year’s War but his remains have never been found.
An estimated 12,000 Jacobite soldiers and their families fled to France from Ireland under Sarsfield’s command following the siege of Limerick in 1691 as part of the terms agreed under the Treaty of Limerick.
Breakthrough in search for Sarsfield s remains
Updated / Tuesday, 16 Feb 2021
16:29
Patrick Sarsfield is believed to have been buried on the grounds of Saint Martin s church in the Belgian town of Huy
Mid West Correspondent
A group seeking to locate the remains of Patrick Sarsfield, the famous historical figure who led the Jacobite army in the siege of Limerick in 1691, have had a breakthrough in their search and efforts to repatriate the remains to Limerick.
The Sarsfield Homecoming Project was launched last October by the organisers of the Limerick Bastille Day Wild Geese Festival with the aim of locating the remains of the First Earl of Lucan and bring them to Ireland.