July 2012 Dublin to Shannon

djv1015 · Newbie

July 2012 Dublin to Shannon

CowboyCraic · Guru

Cead Mile Failte,

Ambitious indeed, especially if you are wanting to do some genealogy work. If you are visiting the Dublin Genealogy Society to look up records. That can take up a good part of the day.

Am I to understand that you have started a thorough research ahead of time? If that be the case and you are just needing records pulled or information verified, you might get out of there in four hours.

If your family center is in Youghal and Athy, you might consider staying two nights there and giving up Cork. If you need to go to Cork for records verification, it is only 40 minutes from Youghal.

On the 28th, I would say Youghal to Killarney. July 28-29,Killarney, July 30 Killarney to Bunratty, with a long divert to the Cliffs.

You will need to determine for yourself and your daughter what is more important on this trip, sightseeing or family roots, as it is nearly impossible to work in both. If you are adding more people to the mix and they are not family, then it becomes even more difficult.

We rented our vehicle from Journey Through Ireland on our last trip over. It made a difficult piece of the jigsaw much easier to put in place.

Two of my favorite B&Bs in Youghal are Glen House & St Martin's. I would highly recommend Loch Lein. In Bunratty, you will get at least two thumbs up from both Michele and I on Bunratty Lodge.

If you would like any genealogy assistance before you leave, message me and we can discuss research. Myself and my sweetie doing genealogical research. We just started working with a new company based out of Dublin, Emerald Origins. We are very excited by what they are offering. We do a thorough basic research, which then gets sent to them. Their genealogists in Dublin do a deep, thorough research and will also organize a tour specific to your family roots.

Slan Beo (Take Care),

Bit

djv1015 · Newbie

Thank you Bit for all the information and recommendations for our trip in July.

I have been researching my family roots for the past 3-5 years off and on. I just recently discovered that my second Great grandmother, Mary Keogh married Hugh Blakeney in 1852 in Athy. Utilizing rootsireland.com I have found a number of records including a Hugh Blakeney born in 1799 in Athy. I will continue to research up until the time we leave. I think my objective for our visit would to just get a sense of the area, check out the cemetery and church in the areas. In Dublin, I will probably limit myself to finding one record, again just to get a sense of the place. I have Kennedy's, Ahearns & Fitzgeralds who lived in the Youghal & Clashmore areas. I did see a Ahearns B&B in Youghal that caught my eye.

I may look into getting some help with my research before our trip, so I may be getting back with you at some point in time.

Thank you for again for the suggestions on the itinerary.

Jean

Michele Erdvig · Host

Jean,

Wecome to my forum. You are in good hands with Bit. She is the genealogy expert around here. I'm too busy planning people's trips and writing, with hardly any time for that.

Your itinerary is rushed with very full days for the most part. But since you said that your goal is an overview of the area and you will be going back, this can be your "green blur" fact-finding trip. I guarantee that next time you will want to take it a little slower. However, it is doable. Lot's of windshield time though. The good news is long daylight hours in July.

As for doing Kilkenny Castle and Waterford Crystal on your drive from Dublin to Youghal, play it by ear. See how much time you have after your research. Look at their websites online and find out opening hours. The last tours usually are an hour before closing time. So keep that in mind. Aherne's is a hotel and I recommend it. Nice restaurant too.

Cork to ROK will be a very long day. Killarney is probably best for your overnight stay. I love Loch Lein House Hotel. Paul and Annette run a wonderful little hotel. You might arrange for dinner there because you will be tired after a long driving day.

Bunratty, only ten minutes from Shannon Airport, is ideal for your last night. Bunratty Lodge is where I always stay.

Michele

CowboyCraic · Guru

Jean,

You are quite welcome. Should you find that you need more assistance, we have avenues to which most people won't have access.

Again, if I may reiterate, if you enlarge the group traveling with you beyond the scope of yourself and your daughter, you may find them not as enamored with the roots search. Athy is definitely off the tourist path. There are still Blakeneys living in Athy.