Illinois Cheryl
Registered User
Posts: 1
(2/22/04 9:35 am)

Is my itinerary reasonable?

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Your site is wonderful! I wish I had found it weeks ago. We arrive in Ireland for the trip of my dreams on March 6, and leave on March 21. I have planned the following general itineray ( towns listed are where we plan to stay). It is pretty unstructured, is that wise?:

March 6 & 7 - Dublin

March 8 somewhere around Smithfield in County Down, where my ancestors are from

March 9-10 - Donegal (home of the O'Donnell clan)

March 11-12 - Galway (to see the sights in that area)

March 13 - Adare Manor

March 14 - 15 - Killarney(

March 17-18 - Cork (After reading about how dirty the town is this may have been a bad decision. I was trying to find a fairly big town for St. Patricks Day in hopes of finding a parade, etc. to have a memorable March 17 in Ireland. So many people love the Dingle Peninsula, would that be a good choice for St. Patricks Day?)

March 19 - Cashel

March 20 - back to Dublin for the return flight in the afternoon of March 21st

I'm really open to any and all suggestions. We are renting a car, obviously, and I've made only a few lodging reservations so we can alter our plans as needed. Being it's the off season, I've been told it won't be a problem finding a place to stay. We will be staying at B&B's and farmhouses. We want to wander through the countryside and get the feel for rural Ireland. Would it be smarter to pick 4 or 5 places to use as centers, and stay more nights in one location? I've waited 36 years for this trip - I want it be a wonderful experience. Thanks for your help.

Anita
Unregistered User
(2/22/04 12:51 pm)
 
Driving times

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I'm sure Michele will have lots of suggestions for your itinerary, but my suggestion would be that you may want to allow another day in a couple of spots because it's going to take a good part of some days to drive to your next destination. For example, Galway, you are there for two nights, but you will obviously spend part of that first day just getting to Galway, that means you will only have one whold day to work with. I spent four nights in Galway and could have stayed longer. The same goes for Killarney, but I see you are having second thoughts about spending two nights in Cork. I would suggest you take those two nights and spend one more night in each of Galway and Killarney.

DarrenA
Registered User
Posts: 53
(2/22/04 7:24 pm)

?

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I've never heard of a Smithfield in County Down - are you sure about that?

Illinois Cheryl
Registered User
Posts: 2
(2/22/04 9:05 pm)
 
It's Saintfield not Smithfield

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I keep making that mistake, it's located in Leggygowan, and that is the birthplace of my great, great grandfather. Just want to be able to say I've been there. Thanks for pointing that out - I seem to have a mental block with the name Saintfield.

Illinois Cheryl
Registered User
Posts: 3
(2/22/04 9:22 pm)
 
Good advice!

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Thanks for the tip - I had a feeling I was wasting time in Cork. So we're adding the days on to Galway. The driving must be pretty slow, it's hard to keep that in mind, it seems like the country is small and you can just zip from one place to another. But that is evidently not the case. Thanks for the reply!

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2174
(2/23/04 2:06 am)
 
Re: Is my itinerary reasonable?

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Hi Cheryl,

You have already had some excellent advice from Anita. And Darren (who lives in Belfast) straightened out the Smithfield/Saintfield thing. I must agree with Anita about skipping Cork City. It really is not Ireland's most attractive city. You might add your extra two days on to Galway and Killarney. That would give you three days in each place.

Make firm reservations for Dublin and for wherever you will be on St. Patrick's Day (Killarney?).

And remember, in Ireland you don't zip anywhere!

Michele

DarrenA
Registered User
Posts: 54
(2/23/04 7:26 pm)

One last correction

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You'll probably find that Leggygowan is located in or near Saintfield, not the other way round. Actually you'll probably be lucky to even find Leggygowan, since it's only a townland.

Illinois Cheryl
Posts: 4
(2/23/04 8:01 pm)
 
Don't understand Leggygowan

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I appreciate your help - I thought I'd be able to locate Leggygowan. I was aware it is was actually an area, but was hoping at least for a sign. The significance is that is where my great-great grandfather Morrison was born, according to his obituary. The family was Presbyterian and I was hoping to check out some Presbyterian churches in that area. Is this a wild goose chase?

Anita
Unregistered User
(2/24/04 12:47 pm)

researching ancestors

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Do you have any other information on your great-great grandfather? If not, I would say it's a wild goose chase considering the number of 'greats'. You would need to know the exact parish he was born in as if his birth was registered at all it would be in the church records, but his birth was probably not registered unless he was from a fairly important family. A lot of the church records were also centralized at some point as well so even if his birth was registered the local church may not have the record any more. I spent a day at the records office in Belfast trying to track my great-grandfather and had no luck at all. I know his exact birth date, and that he was from Belfast, I know when he came to Canada, I even know both his parents names and his mother's maiden name, but I don't know what parish he was from and his birth wasn't registered so I found out nothing at all. Disappointing, and I could have spent the day doing something else.

Illinois Cheryl
Posts: 5
(2/24/04 11:23 pm)

Researching ancestors

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I know when my great-grandfather came to Canada, eventually going to US. But I know he served in the army in England before leaving, so he may have left from England not Ireland. I know the exact date of birth, and the obituary said he was born in Leggygowan, which is a townland or a parish. I imagine this is looking for a needle in a haystack, I guess I'll just drive to the region and tip my hat to Great-great Grandpa Morrison. I know where to write in Belfast for birth records but don't have time before the trip. I am also researching a woman from Ireland who came to America and disguised as a man, enlisted in the army and fought 3 years in the Civil War and then lived in the little town in central Illinois where I am from for over 40 years before the secret came out. She is the only woman to have served a full tour of duty in the Civil War, received an honorable discharge and a pension. So I'm doing some research on her while in the Dublin area. I love history and I have several Irish connections, not counting my husband being an O'Donnell. This trip is going to be so memorable!

Anita
Unregistered User
(2/25/04 3:30 am)

Interesting

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What an interesting story about the woman disguised as a man! There's a movie in there somewhere. The most frustrating thing I found about trying to trace Irish roots is the propensity for the Irish to fight each other and blow things up. You may find that the records you are looking for were burnt or blown to smithereens in some dispute. You might also discover that the birthdate you have is incorrect as it was not unusual for births not to be registered until after they were sure the baby was going to survive, or a child's christening date may have been recorded as the birth date in error etc. Sometimes you can't even be sure your ancestors were actually related to the people they called their family as it wasn't uncommon for orphans to be 'adopted' by friends or neighbours. Is it the church you are planning to write to for birth records? If so, let me know if you have any luck as I have been meaning to do that myself, but don't know where to write. You might have more luck with the military records, particularly if they're British as the Brits keep meticulous records. For me the neat thing was being in Belfast and seeing all the red brick mansions,like the one in the old photo I have, and wondering if one of them is the home of my ancestors.

Illinois Cheryl
Posts: 6
(2/25/04 7:07 am)

Irish family history

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I have a form to send to Ulster Historical Foundation in Northern Ireland and I will pursue it when I get back. It costs $31 but that was about the most reasonable I found. I don't think we're going to spend any time in Belfast or I would look up the place while I'm there. My husband is interested but not AS interested as I am in the geneology, so I don't want to spend this trip doing research. If I find out some really cool stuff later on, sounds like a good excuse to plan trip #2! Go to www.irishroots.net and the form is somewhere on that website. I'm also going to pursue records of the Presbyterian church, because my ancestors were Prebyterian, not Catholic. But you are right about the records so often being destroyed. And I've also learned that the Irish were big on "pet names". They christened a baby with one name and immediately called them something else. Which doesn't help in the accuracy department. Just curious, where do you live and how many times have you been to Ireland? And that is a good idea to check English records because of the military service there. I have a picture of my great-great grandfather in a Civil War uniform, so he must have liked to fight, considering two military services. The story of Jennie Hodgers/Albert D.J. Cashier is quite interesting - do a search for Albert, there's quite a bit out there about her/him. I've found a descendant of the family in Dundalk, a professor at a convent, and we are getting together when we get to Dublin. It's going to be such a fun trip!

Anita
Unregistered User
(2/25/04 1:12 pm)

Presbyterian

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My great-grandfather was also Presbyterian and I have been meaning to pursue the church angle as well, but haven't found an address. I'm on the west coast of Canada, near Vancouver. I've only been to Ireland once, but hope to go back, maybe next time I will make it a trip to just the north and spend a lot more time searching for ancestors. I regret not asking my grandmother more questions about the two photos I have because I now know that nobody else in the family knows anything. One photo is of a girl, about ten, dressed in her Sunday finest, standing in front of a large brick mansion. My grandmother always referred to it as the 'ancestral home'. The other photo is of three men standing out in front of a shop dressed in white aprons. It looks like a butcher shop because of the way the men are dressed, and I think one of them is my great-grandfather because he was quite tall. Unfortunately there is no visible address or name on the building. The photos are professionally done as the name of the photographer is on the matts of the photos. Another place you might want to try is the Mormon Church. They are the best for genealogy records, but they do charge for every service. If you have a family history place near you you can order the records (on microfilm) from Salt Lake and do the research yourself. I tried ordering the ship records of when my great-grandfather immigrated in the hopes I might find more information on him there, but had no luck. Sounds like you are going to have a marvelous trip!

Illinois Cheryl
Posts: 7
(2/26/04 10:43 pm)
 
Geneology is addictive

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Old pictures are so interesting and I also have pictures that can't be identified. I've tried searching the Mormon site for information but hadn't had much luck with the Morrison's until recently. Someone had gotten information from an old county plat book in Illinois and posted the name of my great-great grandfather's wife. I had never known the name and was amused to find out it was Puella. Won't be naming the grandkids after her. Just for fun I did a search on her name and got one hit on a q & a geneology site from a town about 80 miles from me. I had to go through many years worth of questions to find the right one, but I was SHOCKED to find someone looking for information on the family of James & Puella Morrison, My GG grandfather! He was trying to identify people in a picture, one of which was his father and grandfather. We talked on the phone and got together a few weeks later to compare pictures. I had the SAME PICTURE and mine had the names written on the back. We turned out to be 3rd cousins once removed. Now I am hooked, and jumped into the geology thing with both feet. Family history is such fun! I have boxes and boxes of old pictures - nobody wanted them but me, so I have lots. Good luck on your search - if I learn anything in Ireland about the Presbyterians I'll get back in touch. It would be easier if I had your email address, if you don't mind giving it out.

Anita
Unregistered User
(2/27/04 1:30 pm)

email

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You can send me an email at my hotmail address: chuchua_63@hotmail.com

It sounds like we have been trying a lot of the same things to get information, but you have actually had some luck. I haven't yet. If only I could post the pictures somewhere and somebody would see them and know everything about them.

TxDevil
Posts: 10
(2/27/04 5:35 pm)

photos..

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You can go to Fotki.com and get free picture hosting up to 8mb I think.

My mother and I have hit a brick wall with our research. Her maiden name is Harmon, but we are not even sure that's the right last name. There are land records with the name Harmille and Harmon. My gg-grandfather was born in 1799 in/around Belfast and in 1814 was shang-haied by the British Army to fight with them in Canada. Once they landed in Canada, he jumped ship into Vermont and we assume he changed his name since he bought land under 2 different surnames. They said he could not read or write and he had such a thick Irish brogue it was hard to understand him. That is where we hit the brick wall, no knowledge of what his parents names were, no knowledge if Harmon or even Harmil (or Harmille, dont remember the spelling) was his true surname. Would love to do any research, but it is just entirely impossible. Somewhere in this equation also is mention of him living in Co. Louth at some point. We looked up "Harmon" in Co. Louth and there are quite a few, but I don't think we will be knocking on anyone's door. haha. All we know is that he was protestant (Presb. I think) and that back in the late 1700's/early 1800's the record keeping was awful.

But at least we are now about to venture out and be in Ireland where we come from. That is just satisfying enough for me at this moment.

Good luck to both of you on your searches. And if you do post your picture somewhere, link us here.

-Shawn