Gathering has prompted many to explore their family trees

The diaspora returning to Ireland has proved a perfect opportunity for people to unearth the stories behind their family trees, writes Arlene Harris.

THE Gathering has proved to be a huge success, with more than 1.7m visitors to Ireland between March and May — an 8.1% increase on the same period last year, and trips by North Americans were up almost 13%, at 282,300.

And perhaps it’s because there’s no nation better than the Irish to come up with ways and means to celebrate, when given any excuse to do it.