In 1764 the Rev. Thomas Clark gathered his congregation at the Cahans meeting house, near Ballybay Co. Monaghan. Answering "the call" from America, Clark then led some 300 men, women and children on foot to the port of Newry, and boarded ship for New York. From New York they travelled up the Hudson; first to Albany, then Stillwater before finally settling in today's Salem, Washington County NY. Their journey has become known as the "Cahans Exodus" Anthony Anderton first became aware of the "Cahans Exodus" during a 2015 visit to Ballybay - his mother's hometown. He researched the history of the Exodus, and contacted the Cahans Heritage Committee. In 2023 and 2024 he visited Ballybay and retraced the overland "Exodus" route, making photographs of sites and locations in Monaghan, Down and Louth. In early February 2026 he will visit Salem NY to continue his project research and he will include this material in the presentation to the AIHS.

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