The Father of the Brontës for peace

Leeds Today has a great article on how Patrick Brontë, the Brontës and their relatives might get to play an important role in the peace process in Northern Ireland (and this is not the first time that this topic is discussed here on BrontëBlog).

The legacy of Yorkshire's greatest literary family – the Brontës – is to be used to help foster the new era of peace in Northern Ireland. Firebrand preacher Patrick Bronte (1777-1861) came to England from Ireland and had links both north and south of the border. Now his descendants are pushing for Protestant and Catholic communities to reconcile their differences by celebrating this aspect of their common heritage. Irish-born Margaret Thompson, whose mother married James Bronte, the great nephew of Patrick, said she hoped their efforts could eventually result in the creation of a Brontë Day.

Ooh - a Brontë Day!

Indeed, their idea has already drawn interest from the North South Ministerial Council, the body set up under the Good Friday Agreement in 1999 to foster better cross-border relations.
Mrs Thompson, who was in Yorkshire to help promote the re-publication of The Father of the Brontës, a book which has been out of print for over 100 years, is also chief executive of Altnaveigh House, a voluntary organisation promoting peace in Ireland.
She said: "There's an old family story about Patrick Brontë's father, Hugh. He came from Northern Ireland and was a protestant, but he married Alice McClory, who was a Catholic. He once had to jump in the River Boyne and swim to safety away from his father-in-law."
She added: "There has been nothing but violence in Northern Ireland in the last 30 years. There has been nothing to bring both north and south together. We think this is something that will work very much in our favour in terms of uniting people."
Patrick Clarke, joint secretary of the North South Ministerial Council, said: "We were talking to Margaret and the subject of the Brontë family history came up. It's something which is unknown to the wider public in this area.
"From that initial discussion, it's at the exploratory stage to see what options are there and what could be done to raise awareness of the Brontë family history."
The Father of the Brontës was relaunched last week at Healds Hall Hotel, Liversedge, a building which was described in the novel Shirley.
Brontë enthusiast Immelda Marsden, from Mirfield, who tracked down the book and organised the reprint, was joined by Mrs Thompson and Carol Brontë, both of Emdale, Northern Ireland.
Copies of the book (£14.99) are available from Oakwell Hall, Red House Museum and the Brontë Parsonage, Haworth, with proceeds going to Holly Bank School, formerly Roe Head School, Mirfield, which all three Brontë sisters attended as children and where Charlotte also taught.
On May 19, actors playing Charlotte and her childhood friend Ellen Nussey will arrive at Birstall's Oakwell Hall in a horsedrawn carriage. Charlotte visited Oakwell Hall, depicted as Fieldhead in Shirley, in the 1840s when it was a girls' boarding school.
Some 20,0000 guidebooks have been produced with a map of 14 public sites with Brontë connections in and around the Spen Valley, including churches, pubs, hotels and mill sites.
There will also be a second event to mark the launch of the Shirley Country guide at Red House, Gomersal on May 21.

Remember we already mentioned those two events a few weeks ago :)

Whatever helps move this complicated process forward is a good thing, and we are positive the Brontës would only be glad to help however they can. If they finally do - even a teeny tiny bit - it will be a good, clear sign for all to see that sometimes - if not all the time - the pen is mightier than the sword.

Categories: In_the_News, Patrick_Brontë, Shirley