'We are extremely proud to call you a Derry girl:' Mayor writes to Taylor Swift to invite her to 'beloved city'
Mayor of Derry and Strabane Councillor Lillian Seenoi-Barr has formally invited superstar Taylor Swift to visit Derry.
The mayor wrote the ‘Love Story’ singer a letter, in which she told the Grammy-award winning artist how her presence in Derry would not only ‘honour’ her ancestors, but also ‘inspire a new generation of Derry’s youth to pursue their dreams with the same passion and determination that you have shown throughout your life’.
The Irish Emigration Museum this week revealed that new research - by their geneology partners the Irish Family History Centre - unveiled the singer/songwriter’s Derry connections.
They outlined on their website https://epicchq.com/ how Swift’s great-great-grandparents left Derry, aboard the ship AMY, for the United States in the 1830s. Susan Davis was a 21-year-old dressmaker and Francis Gwynn a 21-year-old weaver.
Their two-month-long voyage culminated in the ship docking in Philadelphia on August 20 of 1836. The pair married three years later and had six children – Ann, John, William, Francis, Joseph, and Mary. Sadly, five of those children predeceased Susan and Francis. They were survived by daughter Mary Gwynn, who is Taylor Swift’s great-great-grandmother.
The ‘Journal’ also had a dig around in the old censuses and believes she might be one of the Gwynns from the top of Fahan Street.
The ‘Journal’ checked the 1831 Census and discovered a Francis Gwynn living at 1 Fahan Street, the famous street below the Derry Walls that connects the Bogside to the city centre.
In her letter to Swift, Mayor Seenoi-Barr said the ‘exciting’ discovery of her ancestral ties to Derry has ‘stirred a wave of joy and curiosity among our residents and I would therefore like to extend a heartfelt invitation to you to visit our beloved city’.
She added: “The people of this city and district have followed your own remarkable journey and are supportive of your strong values around community and how you have become a beacon for inclusivity, creativity and progressive spirit.”
Swift will bring her ‘The Eras Tour’ to Ireland from next weekend and the Mayor said the people of Derry would be ‘thrilled’ if she ‘took time’ out of her ‘busy schedule’ to ‘come see for yourself our vibrant city.’
You can read the full letter on Facebook at Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District.