Rush Tourism has been overwhelmed by the response to this year’s Heritage Week programme, Rush 1926–2026: A Walk Through Time, with large attendances at every event and an extraordinary reaction both locally and from much further afield.

Throughout the week, residents joined a series of walks and talks exploring the people, families and places that have shaped Rush. But perhaps the greatest surprise was the response on social media. Stories and photographs reached former Rush residents now living in far-flung parts of the world, as well as descendants of people whose grandparents and great-grandparents once lived and worked on the Kenure Estate.

And with those connections came some remarkable pieces of Rush history.

We met people who still hold rent books dating from the 1840s for land rented from the Palmer family, while another family has opera glasses purchased at the final auction of Kenure House. One particularly special connection came from the grandchild of Lady Palmer’s goddaughter, who still treasures Lady Palmer’s Bible as a precious family possession.

These are the personal connections that bring local history to life. They remind us that the story of Kenure and old Rush is not something confined to history books—it survives in families, photographs, documents, treasured possessions and memories passed from one generation to the next.

One of the highlights of the week was hearing John Walsh trace the story and connections of families who have lived in Rush for generations. John himself is a direct descendant of the Walsh family whose connection with Kenure stretches back to the 1700s. Hearing how these families developed, intermarried and remained part of the fabric of Rush—and how many of their descendants are still living and running businesses here today—was fascinating for everyone who attended.

The walks led by Niall Gossan and Declan “CJ” Costello also demonstrated the huge appetite that exists for Rush’s local history. Familiar streets, buildings and landmarks took on a completely different meaning when the stories of the people who once lived and worked there were brought back to life.

A very special part of the programme was Kenure Church, where Valerie and Anna proudly welcomed visitors and shared the story of this remarkable building, one of the great surviving legacies of the Palmer family and a very different era in Rush.

Rush Tourism would like to sincerely thank John Walsh, Niall Gossan and Declan Costello, who gave their time, knowledge and enthusiasm freely and made the week such a success. We are also hugely grateful to Christine Baker of Fingal Heritage, whose support from the very beginning helped make the programme possible, and to Valerie and Anna for their wonderful welcome at Kenure Church.

But our biggest thank you is to everyone who came along, contacted us from near and far, shared a memory, produced an old photograph or opened a box containing a treasured piece of their family history.

We were genuinely blown away by the response.

Heritage Week may be over, but the stories certainly aren’t. Every photograph, memory and family treasure shared with us adds another piece to the story of Rush—and shows just how strongly the Rush of today remains connected to the Rush of generations past.