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A Trespassing
Chronology
The Clann Mhór research group consists of
three members: Mary E. Lyons, who holds dual citizenship in Ireland and the
U.S.; Dan Burke, also of Irish ancestry; and Robert England (aka Kevin
Donleavy), who has no Irish ancestry.
Monday,
March 22, 2010: While Mary waits in the woods, Dan and Robert crash through
brush and overgrowth in western Albemarle County, Virginia. They are looking for an abandoned cemetery and discover a gravestone for Eugene and Mary Quinn, children of John and Hannah Quinn. John was a stone mason for the Blue Ridge Railroad; the Quinn stone and twenty-four other graves marked with plain field stones in the cemetery are significant. They are the only concrete evidence of the hundreds of Irish railroad laborers who lived in Albemarle County during the 1850-1860 construction decade.
Robert England says that the cemetery is on the "Rossan/Brooksville property." Trespassing does not seem to be an issue because the owner of the Brooksville property kindly allowed him some months earlier to explore a different cemetery located behind her house.
Robert England says that the cemetery is on the "Rossan/Brooksville property." Trespassing does not seem to be an issue because the owner of the Brooksville property kindly allowed him some months earlier to explore a different cemetery located behind her house.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010: Dan Burke, Dan’s son, and
Robert England attempt to find an easier route to the Quinn Cemetery.
They discover they can access it through adjoining land that comprises the
Pollak Vineyards.
Jake Busching, the head winemaker at the time, graciously allows
them access through a gate in a fence that separates the two properties. There
is now some doubt about exactly who owns the cemetery land. The group thinks it
might belong to a woman from India.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010: Dan Burke, Dan’s son, and
Robert England visit the cemetery again, accessing it through the fence gate as
before.
Friday, March 26, 2010: On behalf of Clann Mhór, Mary composes, types, and mails a letter to archaeologist Stephen Brighton. She points out that no archaeologist has ever conducted a dig at an Irish site in the South. They groups invites Stephen Brighton to Charlottesville, Virginia, dividing the cost of
his lodging at a local hotel and all meals and transportation during his stay.
They take him to the Quinn Cemetery, accessing it through the vineyard fence gate. Brighton seems to think the vineyard work buildings with stone foundations might have once been an Irish worker settlement that included the cemetery.
Summary: Thirteen separate incidents of
trespassing at the Quinn Cemetery took place in the last week of March 2010,
including that of Stephen Brighton.
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April - July 2010: Clann Mhór members attempt to find
out who owns the Quinn Cemetery land. They discover that it belongs to Michael
and Cindy Erkel. The group repeatedly tries to meet with the couple to explain
the historical importance of the cemetery. They finally succeed in seeing Cindy
Erkel in July. At no time during this meeting does she say that the group
cannot visit the cemetery again.
July 2010: Mary transcribes and researches sample entries from a Blue Ridge Tunnel ledger book and shares her results with Stephen Brighton. She reasons that her efforts might be helpful should he conduct a dig.
July 2010: Mary transcribes and researches sample entries from a Blue Ridge Tunnel ledger book and shares her results with Stephen Brighton. She reasons that her efforts might be helpful should he conduct a dig.
Summer - Fall 2010: Friendly emails ensue
between Mary E. Lyons and Cindy Erkel, and the group keeps the Erkels informed
of a possible archaeological dig at the vineyard.
November 12, 2010: Mary E. Lyons drops by
Pollak Vineyard. Again, Jake Busching graciously allows her access to the Quinn
Cemetery through the fence gate. She is on the property no more than thirty
minutes, but this is long enough to notice that someone has bulldozed a road
around the wall. The northwest corner has been damaged. She pays her respects
to the deceased Quinn children and leaves.
Late November 2010: Mary calls Cindy Erkel to
tell her of the visit and ask if she thinks it’s safe for the Clann Mhór
group to visit the cemetery now that hunting season is in full swing.
Cindy cautions against it because hunters have roamed the property for
generations. She says she will speak to her husband about a group visit.
December 2011: Cindy Erkel informs Mary
Lyons that no one can visit the cemetery without Michael Erkel’s permission.
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January 2011: Stephen Brighton visits
Charlottesville again, and again Clann Mhór pays for his lodging and meals. He mentions that his tenure at the University of
Maryland depends on an archaeological dig at Pollak Vineyard, which is adjacent
to the cemetery.
Michael and Cindy Erkel permit Clann Mhór and Stephen
Brighton to visit the cemetery. Erkel takes the group there in his
four-wheel-drive vehicle on a bulldozed road.
Soon after arriving at the cemetery, Erkel verbally attacks Mary
for visiting the cemetery in November. Repeatedly jabbing a finger at her, he
accuses her of taking advantage of his neighbors who own the vineyard.
Though the Clann Mhór men and Stephen Brighton have also
trespassed, only one intervenes. From a safe distance, Robert England attempts
to calm Erkel verbally, while Stephen Brighton turns his back and crosses his
arms to show symbolically that the “argument,” as he later put it, is not
his business.
Michael Erkel angrily tells Mary that his wife told Clann
Mhór they could not visit the cemetery without a family member present.
Though this is true, her statement was in December 2011, after Mary visited in
November.
Nonetheless, Mary apologizes to Erkel to diffuse his anger. The
group leaves the cemetery an hour later. With his back to Mary, Michael Erkel
apologizes to the men, but not to her, for the “little misunderstanding.”
July 2011: Michael Erkel has agreed by email to allow
Stephen Brighton and a colleague access to the cemetery. He states that one of
his sons will accompany them. Yet when time comes to set the exact date of the
visit, Erkel ignores all emails and phone calls.
August - December 2011: Stephen Brighton negotiates
permission to hold an archaeological dig on the vineyard property with owners
Margo and David Pollak. It is a lengthy process that often seems in jeopardy.
December 2011: Apparently Michael Erkel
has complained about the trespassing to the owners of Pollak Vineyard. Michael
Brittingham, who has been a member of Clann Mhór for only a few months,
lives within sight of the vineyard.
Eager to have a dig conducted in his front yard, so to speak,
Brittingham appoints himself liaison for Clann Mhór and speaks with
Margo Pollak. Though he was not present at any of the trespassing events, his
discussion with her focuses on trespassing by Mary E. Lyons.
When Mary asks for the content of Brittingham's conversation
with Mrs. Pollak, members of Clann Mhór cut off communication with
her. She offers to meet with them and Stephen Brighton to discuss the issue but
receives only this reply from Brighton: "I am not interested nor have the
time . . . nor do I think it productive as far as I am concerned. "
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January 2012: Michael Brittingham, who has been a member of Clann Mhór for only nine months, posts the following online notice: “Mary E. Lyons will be continuing her research on her own, and has created her own blogsite called 'Clann Mhór Rising.' However, she is no longer a part of the Clann Mhór organization, she no longer speaks for our group, and she is no longer a part of our research activities including this summer's Field School and other upcoming archaeological events.”
℠January 2012: Michael Brittingham, who has been a member of Clann Mhór for only nine months, posts the following online notice: “Mary E. Lyons will be continuing her research on her own, and has created her own blogsite called 'Clann Mhór Rising.' However, she is no longer a part of the Clann Mhór organization, she no longer speaks for our group, and she is no longer a part of our research activities including this summer's Field School and other upcoming archaeological events.”
April 2012: Stephen Brighton secures a tenured position at
the University of Maryland.
May 2012: Brighton writes to Mary that the Pollaks have
denied her and her husband access to the archaeological dig, stating that the
“family is very serious about their private property.” Other Clann Mhór members
who trespassed in 2010 participate in the dig.
June 2012: The dig is held. The field school students
find nothing that connects the site to Irish railroad workers.
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©2012 Mary E. Lyons. All rights reserved.
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