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The trip home was looooong!!!

We drove to Dublin to return the car and then check in at the airport.  All went smoothly.  The luggage was checked through to Sydney, no collecting at London and transferring, thank heaven.

The flight to London went smoothly and then we had a long wait for the Sydney flight.

The next flight also went smoothly but was about twelve hours plus long.  I had an empty seat next to me on this leg and also an empty seat in front, quite a luxury.

Finally, after a short stop in Singapore, we took off for Sydney. The flight went according to schedule and we landed shortly after 5am.  As we were the first plane in, it was quick trough customs and the luggage did not take too long to arrive.

Bec and Stew were waiting for us so we were home in no time.

Our trip in search of family history was now over. A most enjoyable time.

WESTMEATH and ROSCOMMON

The next day dawned bright and sunny, if a little cool.  We had breakfast and went shopping in Athlone for a short time.  We got back just in time for Michael and Dianne's arrival.

We enjoyed a pleasant chat sitting out in the sunshine about places we had all been.

Brothers:

We went for a drive in the afternoon to Roscommon, the place I had heard about from my mother as the ancestral home.   We have discovered that the Beirne family came from County Roscommon, not the town but it was still a good feeling to visit.

The parking is free in Roscommon, a pleasant surprise.

We had dinner in the Wineport Lodge Restaurant.  A most enjoyable evening.

This morning, we had breakfast in our room, a free service here.  It was very relaxing for our last full day in Ireland.

After breakfast we went ancestor hunting.  Our visit to the Roscommon Heritage Centre in the morning was premature; they only open in the afternoon.  A pleasant lady helped us however so we headed for Boyle to begin.  Not much success though.  We had a brief look at the Abbey later in the day.

We initially drove through Boyle, picking up a district map to show us Ardcarne and Cootehall, two towns from my ancestry.

We found the church in Ardcarne, high on a hill and it had a map of the graveyard, indicating which graves had headstones.

We found some with my family names but they were too late.  Who knows?  Long, lost cousins?

We left and drove to Carrick-on-Shannon for lunch.   Sandwich, sausage rolls an rhubarb pie with cream.  Yum!

Time to visit Cootehall.

There were houses, a couple of pubs, a corner shop and a church, not much else.

The lady here suggested a nearby graveyard as a possible place to visit so off we went in the rain.

Family name but too late.  More distant relations?

We drove back to Cootehall for a final visit and I found my black face sheep.

We then drove to Tibohine which barely exists now.

Time to have dinner at Roscommon in a pleasant little restaurant and then home to pack up in preparation for the long flight home.

KINSALE

Two nights in the pretty town of Kinsale, County Cork.

We set out in pouring rain which continued for much of the day.

We drove to Cork.  What a nightmare!  Friday afternoon in Cork in the rain is not a good idea.

We eventually found a place to park and then found a place for lunch.

Terry's pancake lunch

After lunch we tried to see some of Cork but it was miserable.  We found the Archive but they had nothing relevant.  It was culture night in Ireland and several places were open lat but we had to continue our journey.

After more terrible traffic, we were on Kinsale Road.  Much better.

We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast, The Old Presbytery, and discovered that we had the highest room in the place.  Our bedroom looked out over the rooftops to the harbour.

There were two bathrooms, one of which had a roll top bath.  Luxury!

We settled in with afternoon tea and then prepared to walk downtown.

It was music night in Kinsale with lots of performances but many did not start till 10.30pm.

We settled for fish and chips down near the wharf and then walked back.

The next morning we enjoyed Phillip's cooking-I had yummy porridge.

The day was cloudy but later the sun came out when we were on our way to Cobh (pronounced Cove).

This was the last place that the Titanic stopped before the iceberg struck.

We have now completed the circle, Belfast where it was built, Cobh (Queenstown at that time) where it left Europe and Halifax where the graves are.

The heritage centre dealt with that but also with convicts and immigrants who left from there.

One of my ancestors left from Cork as a convict so I assume she left from Cobh.

Statue of a mother and children who were the first processed on Ellis Island New York. Apparently there is a similar statue there.

We drove up to the cathedral which dominates the hight point of the town.  It a very steep hill so we drove down again to find lunch, a late lunch.

Terry listened to the blues being played at the bandstand while I had a look around but most shops were closed.

The White Star Line office still exists 

 But the wharf is mostly gone.

We drove back to Kinsale in the late afternoon, to Charles Fort on a headland with view to the open water near where the Luisitania was sunk during World War 1.

We also drove a bit further on to the waterfront.

The memorial to the ship from the Spanish Armada which was wrecked near here.

We had some afternoon tea at our b n b and then relaxed before dinner.

After dinner at The Shack, we walked home to relax for the next and last journey to Glasson where our next accommodation waited.

We got up this morning to a beautiful day

and had breakfast, crepe and fruit for me, and went to mass about 20 steps from the b n b.

We came back, packed and said farewell.

Our journey was long but easy, mostly on motorways.  We stopped for Sunday lunch at Portlaoise.  Roast again.

The journey ended at our last stop for this holiday, Wineport Lodge.

We have a two bedroom suite with a full wraparound balcony.  Just one glitch.  No wifi in the room.  I am in the lounge where there is wifi.

The views from our room.

Enjoying the paper.

Bed and lounge area looking through to second bedroom.

Tomorrow we begin more family research and meet Michael and Dianne for lunch.

Charleville, Kilteely, Borrisokane

On the hunt for ancestors today.

We left after breakfast for a short drive south to Charleville, a small town where some of my ancestors lived.  We had a small detour to the village of Adare which we had visited on a previous occasion.

The thatched houses look very attractive in the sunshine.

Charleville library had no resources for family history so I visited the current Catholic Church as the likely place my ancestors may have visited.

Then to Kilteely.  The roads were narrow country roads as this was farming country.  We stopped by an old cemetery but who knows if it was the right one?  Then we drove into the small village which had houses but not much else.  There was a more modern cemetery but the search was in vain.

Old cemetery

Kilteely Main Street 

Onto Borrisokane in Tipperary to look for Terry's ancestors.  We found the old church but not the old graveyard.  

We did find some family names in the new graveyard.  They may be related, who knows?

So the fruitless hunt continues.

On Friday, we travelled to Kinsale, in County Cork.

To LIMERICK

After leaving Bushmills, we went to Belfast.  We headed for the Titanic Quarter where we were able to experience the making of the Titanic.

The exhibition was interesting.

We then drove briefly into Belfast but did not stop.

The drive to Limerick was long.  When we arrived at our hotel, it was almost dark so we went to our room and then had dinner downstairs.  We are staying in another Georgian residence, 1Pery Square.  It is very comfortable and elegant.

Breakfast is delicious too.

Today we headed to County Clare, McMahon family heritage.  We found the Clare Heritage Office and  organised to have the McMahon family researched.

Then we drove to the Cliffs of Moher.  

The haze did not spoil the view.

O'Brien's tower.

We drove to Limerick for dinner.  Terry tried another beer.

More family history tomorrow.