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Melissa5


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COUNTY DOWN: FOUND MY IRISH NANNY'S SPIRIT IN BELFAST (Chapter 5 of Trip Report)
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COUNTY DOWN: FOUND MY IRISH NANNY'S SPIRIT IN BELFAST

COUNTY DOWN: BELFAST, HILLSBOROUGH;
AND ULSTER FOLK AND TRANSPORT MUSEUM


BELFAST BOTANIC GARDENS: A WALK WITH NANNY

It is with sadness and joy that I write the last chapter of our family journey to Ireland! Throughout our Irish travels I gained a sense of the rich heritage of Irish story-telling, love for music, love for the sea coast and green gardens, earthy sense of humor, feisty spirit, and love of Ireland that my Irish grandmother ("Nanny"), gave to me. It was a treasured experience to share this first visit to Ireland with my husband and young adult daughters. I can see my Nanny in her 2 great-grand-daughters, ages 19 and 20...they too love stories and share her feisty spirit.

My Irish grandmother emigrated to America from Belfast in 1914. She came alone at the tender age of 17. Her mother and 7 siblings emigrated one at a time. Growing up, I enjoyed listening to Nanny and her sister speak in their musical tones. In Northern Ireland, I heard that accent once again...it is distict from the accents of the Irish in the Republic of Ireland. My Nanny let go of most of her accent, but 2 of her sisters clung to theirs into their 80's, and their sisterly chats always made the accents more distinct.

Nanny always made me a forbidden cup of tea with loads of sugar and milk when my mother wasn't looking. Her stories wove reality with fantasy seamlessly. Fond memories of my childhood include many walks in gardens and nature to find what Nanny called "secret spots".

The Ireland which my Nanny loved was one big island in my imagination...divisions weren't important to her. She emigrated before the Republic of Ireland was created. Nanny was both Catholic and Portestant, depending on who she was mad at in her life! She explained to me that my father had a hairy chest because he used to be a bear.

My Nanny's youth came alive for me in Ireland. She emigrated in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I. Certainly there was a lot of strife in her youth..violence in Belfast; the war coming; struggles for Catholics to make a living; rumors that her father may have struggled with alcoholism; a total of 9 siblings in the family.

I walked the street in Belfast where she grew up, Carmel St., and the surrounding neighborhood, where there are still some old row houses. This is in the "Holy Land' section of Belfast, with street names like "Jerusalem St." We walked back and forth from her old Carmel St. neighborhood to the lovely Belfast Botanic Gardens, established in 1828, where she walked with her family. She enjoyed gardens and nature walks all her life.

I imagined Nanny and her 9 siblings all squashed cozily into a little row house on Carmel St. (I don't know if some of the older siblings had moved out or if all 9 fit into one of these little row houses!)

ROW HOUSES ON CARMEL STREET:



We walked to the lovely old Palm House in the Botanic Gardens, with its unique design of curvilinear glass and cast iron. A description from their brochure:"In the Palm House dome, tall trees grow majestically towards the light, their branches entwined with flowering climbers. Colourful plants decorate the perimeter benches and spill out from hanging baskets."





My husband the biologist pointed out to me that a Chilean wine palm planted in a barrel over 100 years ago has long ago outgrown its barrel and is almost to the ceiling of the glass and iron palm house! You can see the barrel in the photo below. We couldn't get both the barrel and the treetop in the same photo. Nanny probably stood by this same palm when it was just a wee plant in a barrel. Now it has grown to the ceiling! What a metaphor for the stages of life.



CONTINUED STORY BELOW:

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PALM HOUSE, BELFAST BOTANIC GARDENS:






I searched all over Ireland for the spirit of my beloved Nanny, in song, in stories, on the seacoast, in the gardens, and in the tea leaves of Ireland. At last I found her in an unexpected way. Here are the pages of my journal, written while sitting alone outside the Palm House, observing my 2 young adult daughters while my biologist husband studied the plants. After these journal pages were written, we did walk to Carmel St. where Nanny grew up, and then returned to the gardens. In this journal entry I am feeling alone, but in the end my dear husband understood far more than Irealized. From my journal:

"Palm House with glass and cast iron...My grandmother and great-grandmother walked here. Nanny would have been a young teen, perhaps draming of love and marriage? Did she know she would leave Ireland so young?"

"I understand her better now. Why she loved the seashore and gardens and nature. She liked to take a walk outside and find a secret place. Ireland is full of outdoor green beauty and lovely seashores. Belfast now and then would have been busy and bustling. How did women dress in early 1900's? dresses? I am sad my husband doesn't understand what I am seeking and sees only more plants. He is locked into his own world. I want to see the Holy Land area of Belfast where Nanny grew up. I want to have her birth certificate.""

"I realize now, seeing my daughters sitting in front of the Palm House, I have found my Nanny at last. She is in me. She has been here all along! I am home. Great-grandmother Catherine's greatest gift to me was to send her daughters to America so I and my 2 daughters could be born!"

After this moment of self-realization, my husband did walk to Carmel St. with me and my 2 daughters and we took some photos there. My older daughter, 20, asked, Are you happy now, Mommy?" Indeed I was. It was like coming home to myself.

We enjoyed our day in Belfast, and Belfast today is as peaceful as any big city I have visited. I found folks a little more wary than they are in the countryside, but that is necessary in any big city. We felt completely safe, and also visited the beautiful old bulldings of tthe Queen's University, the Blefast City Hall, opened in 1906, and the elegant antique Crown Liquor Salloon, Built in 1885. If you are in Northern Ireland, I recommend you spend a day in Belfast!

Here is a photo of the elegant antique CROWN LIQUOR SALOON, built in 1885 in Belfast. It's gorgeous, and still has cozy "snugs", which is where the ladies used to sit because it wasn't proper for them to be in the pub.









And here is a photo of the beautiful Queen's University building, in Belfast. It is an impressive sight.










Here is a photo of the Belfast City Hall, opened in 1906. Inside and outside, it's a beautiful building. We saw lots of teens hanging out on the lawn out front...they were dressed in that Gothic style which is mostly out of fashion here in San Diego now (been there, done that!)













-- Edited by Melissa5 at 20:32, 2006-08-04

COMING UP NEXT: ULSTER FOLK AND TRANSPORT MUSEUM AND HILLSBOROUGH, COUNTY DOWN

-- Edited by Melissa5 at 20:35, 2006-08-04

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Mark D


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Wow ! What a wonderful chapter! I really enjoyed it, along with the photo's !


Before my grandfather past, I spent a year researching his birth mother, as he was adopted. Her emmigration from Denmark made for some wonderful stories. The hardiness it took to make the transition to becoming an American.  I wish I could travel to her hometown, and walk the streets like you did ! The chapter really warmed my soul.  So few folks are interested in their family history. It is great to meet people who really make an effort to learn about the generations that made them the wonderful people that they are today !! Thanks again for the really heart warming description of your Nanny!  You really must have your chapters published! 


You have inspired me to break down a few "Brick Walls" that I have encountered while doing my great grandmothers genealogy!


Cheers!
Mark D.



-- Edited by Mark D at 22:12, 2006-08-04

-- Edited by Mark D at 00:10, 2006-08-05

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Michele Erdvig


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RE: COUNTY DOWN: FOUND MY IRISH NANNY'S SPIRIT IN BELFAST (Chapter 5 of Trip Report)
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Melissa,


What a wonderful tribute to your grandmother. Your Nanny would be proud of you. I think that is why many Irish Americans feel the pull of mother Ireland. They must make the pilgrimage to the land of their ancestors to see where they came from and perhaps clarify where they are going. Brava!


Michele



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Melissa, Mark & Michele,


I too have felt the pull of ancestors in Ireland.  In 2004 my first trip was to the Republic.  I had to see the mother country of my ancestors.  Genealogy has been a passion of mine since 1993.  I knew the area, but not the exact towns.  This time we are planning a trip to Northern Ireland to search for my Hamilton ancestors.  I put a query on a genealogy board for Northern Ireland asking for help with the name of the parish.  The town bordered two parishes.  A very kind gentleman answered my query and has been helping my search for my ancestors.  I may not have a Hamilton cousin to meet when I go to NI, but I certainly have a new friend to meet!


Melissa, this is such a nice trip report.  I'm so glad you had a chance to walk in your grandmothers steps.  We are going to a lot of the same areas you did.


Merlene


 



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Melissa5


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Mark D: Thank you for the compliment. I think you should definitely travel to the home country of your grandfather's birth mother and learn about the people and the customs. They are part of your inheritance! So it's off to Denmark for you and your lovely wife, yes?

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Michele: Thanks for reminding me that my Nanny would be proud of me...I think you are right!

Yes, we must all make the pilgrimage to the land of our ancestors to see where we came from and clarify where we are going...that is very nicely put... So, remind me, where are we gong? Oh, yes, to Ireland of course! Over and Over!

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Merle, I see you have lots of experience in Irish geneology research. Any advice on web-sites and resources for us? I subscribed to www.ancestry.com for a year but found myself pretty overwhelmed and lost on it. Haven't even checked it in a few months!!! I have a copy of my grandmother's sister's birth certificate (but NOT one for my own grandmother; I have my great-grandmother's passport on loan to me... My grandmother changed her name a few times... I have very little information on my grandfather who was also Irish and who died when I was very tiny. All I know is I love Ireland!

Good luck on your trip and your search for your Hamilton ancestory. May they bestir themselves to lend you some aid! What is the geneology board for Northern Ireland which you mentioned?

Enjoy Northern Ireland! Thanks for the compliments.

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HILLSBOROUGH, COUNTY DOWN:

We based ourselves for 2 nights in the charming small town of Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland. Hillsborough is 12 miles south of Belfast in the quiet countryside. Yet it's less than a 30-minute drive into Belfast or to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra.

Here is a photo of the main street in Hillsborough:





Fortwilliam Country House, Hillsborough

It was a privilege to stay at Fortwiliam country house in Hillsborough with an extraordinarily welcoming family, Terry and Mavis Dunlop, and their daughter, home from college. Fortwilliam is a couple miles out of town in the quiet countryside.

Terry Dunlop raises horses on the farm, and his cows had 3 sets of twin calves this year. Mavis fills the house with antiques, the warm smell of fresh-baked bread and her friendly conversation.

Breakfast in Mavis kitchen with her antique stove is an experience you will savor if you like old-fashioned charm. We enjoyed home-made brown bread, eggs, good bacon, fresh fruit, and cereal. On our day of arrival Mavis treated us to tea and a home-made sweet bread.

Fortwilliam has 3 charming rooms for rent and Mavis keeps them very very clean and comfty. My husband and I found the Victorian room (Double Bedroom #2 on their web-site) very charming with a pleasant garden view. The queen bed was comfortable with a nice firm mattress, and we had our own private bathroom right across the hall, plus a bathrobe was provided for our use. The shower is small but there was plenty of hot water. Our room was very quiet and peaceful at night. Michele, I think you would love the county charm of fortwilliam. (Note: During our 2 night stay, never once did I run into anyone else in the hallway when I was walking between our bedroom and our bathroom...there are only 3 rooms for rent and we rented 2 of them for our family.)

Photo of our Victorian room:




Our 2 daughters were in the Primrose room with 2 twin carved Irish beds and ensuite bathroom. The twin beds with soft mattresses are best for young folks who don't need firm beds.

Bathrooms for both the Victorian room and the Primrose room had 2 steps down into the bathroom, therefore they wouldn't be suitable for handicapped folks. Mavis is good about reminding you about the 2 steps down. They weren't any problem for us.

Mavis has thoughtfully provided nice touches such as a complimentary bottle of sparkling water and tea service in the bedroom; a toothbrush and shower cap in the bathroom. Breakfast is included for the total room price of 65 pounds sterling per room per night (2 people sharing.) Price is lower for a single person in one room. Rooms are NON-SMOKING.

I was telling Terry at breakfast that I wanted to visit the Carmel Street area in Belfast where my grandmother grew up. He promptly called the police to get detailed directions for me!

We appreciate the thoughtfulness and hospitality of Terry and Mavis Dunlop and we highly recommend Fortwilliam Country House. You'll find their web-site here: www.fortwilliamcountryhouse.com It is at 210 Ballynahinch Road, Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland.

At Fortwilliam country house you will find out why the Irish are known for their welcoming friendliness!

COMING UP NEXT: Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and Malahide






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Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, County Down

We travelled back into Northern Ireland's past at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, County Down, about 8 miles east of Belfast. We were all fascinated and spent about 6 hours here, including lunch, and didn't even see half of it! (It covers 180 acres.)

Here I caught a glimpse of the life of my own ancestors in Ulster. Your admission price includes the open-air Folk Museum with 34 historical reconstructed buildings from the 9 counties of Ulster, and also includes the Transport Museum with trains, cars, and a Titanic museum.

Many of the old cottages and row houses in the folk park have antiques inside and some have folks in period costumes performing activities of the day, and they are happy to chat with you about their knowledge of the history and culture of former times. Come to the folk museum and watch history come alive!

The folk museum has the town portion and the rural area. We started out together and ended up going at our own pace. I spent all of my time in the town area and had a lovely chat with "Nanny" at the Dressmaker's House (occupied by the dressmaker in 1911), who reminded me of my own beloved Nanny, and she even knew how to darn socks, a skill which nobody bothers with nowadays...my Nanny could darn a hole in my socks so that a smooth magical patch of neat sewing appeared over the hole like magic...it was even better than new socks!

I dawdled happily in the town and barely made a dent in the rural area. My favorite part of the rural area was the Ballydugan Weaver's House, a replica of a weaver's house from 2 miles south of Lurgan in County Down. (Many of the buildings are original but this one was a replica.) Now, this is as close as I can come to standing at my great-grandparents house where my Nanny was born, and where she lived before the family moved to Belfast! My Nanny's father was a weaver, and she was born in Lurgan! I believe her mother was also in the weaving profession. Here is a photo of me standing in front of "our" ancestral cottage:





My older daughter spent the last hour of her time in the folk park watching a mama pig in the rural area trying to give birth to her piglets. She was utterly fascinated, and unfortunately had to leave before the piglets were born. My daughter, 20, stood with some Irish folks who had knowledge of the process of pigs giving birth. My daughter is an animal lover and she was entranced. She is currently working as an assistant dog groomer and also making her way through college...maybe we have a future vet here??

Next we switched over to the Transport Museum portion, and you could spend another whole day there as well! A highlight was the Titanic museum portion. Here is a ticket admitting the bearer to the launching of the Titanic:





I observed 2 young Irish boys in the Titanic Museum. They were looking at a poignant exhibit that represents every passenger on the Titanic with a tiny person, like a toy soldier. The exhibit showed how many people of each class lived or died, including children and adults. The only children who died were all from the third class, which is sad indeed. Two of the "people" in the exhibit had fallen over, and one of the little Irish boys said solemnly, "Look, 2 wee little men have died." You wouldn't hear this particular expression from an American boy. In fact these particular Irish boys had an endearing innocence... I fear that 2 little American boys would be more likely to say, "Let's knock 'em all down!"

Because the Ulster Folk Park and Transport Museum is so spread out and uncrowded even on a weekend, I enjoyed it even more than the Bunratty folk park, which is more compact and crowded. Highly recommended for all ages! In our experience, there is enough to do here to fill up 2 whole days!

COMING UP NEXT: LAST NIGHT AT BEECHWOOD HOUSE IN MALAHIDE; FLYING HOME FROM DUBLIN.

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Melissa,


Thanks for the moving report.  I had a big experience in the hometown of my grandfather, Dungarvan, County Waterford; seeing the street where he and his parents and sisters and brothers lived, the wharf where I'm sure he played, the hills and shoreline he still had in his mind when I knew him so many years later growing up in Yonkers.


Your report had me value the experience even more--mine and yours.


Regards,


Kevin



-- Edited by fennellkevin at 15:57, 2006-08-08

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Melissa5


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Kevin, I think our grandparents left an imprint of their spirit upon the land and villages where they grew up...for us to find generations later. Thanks for sharing about your experience discovering County Waterford.

And now I must add the final bit of our trip to Ireland. I think I am even sadder now than when we flew home from Dublin. At least when we were on the plane I was already planning my trip report on Ireland! Well, it must be time to start planning our second trip to Ireland. Below is the final segment of this trip report.

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Beechwood Country House, Malahide, County Dublin

Thank you, Michele, for recommending the very comfortable and convenient Beechwood country house near the Dublin airport. A perfect ending to a magnificent trip. We got a quiet night's rest at Beechwood house, only 15 minutes from the Dublin airport. Beechwood is also only 20 minutes from Dublin city centre. www.beechwood.ie It's on Blackwood Lane in Malahide, County Dublin.

Beechwood house is just 5 minutes outside of the cute village of Malahide, but we arrived in the dark with insufficient directions and got quite lost. We stopped to ask 2 wandering local young men for directions. The first was incoherent and the second said, "I am verrry drrrrunk...What are you looking forrrrrr?"

Take my advice and don't wait til dark to find a b&b! When we arrived Joe O'Reilly was wonderful. He welcomed us cheerfully despite the late hour (10:30 pm) and had a friendly chat with us. We had called ahead to let him know we were running behind.

Joe even bent the rules for us and allowed us to order a hot breakfast for the morning, despite the fact that we were leaving a bit early for the airport. (Normally you get a cold breakfast here if it's before 8:00 am.)

Beechwood house is a nice big house built 6 years ago on the foundations of the original building. There are breakfast choices...I enjoyed scrambled eggs, tomatoes, brown bread. Good sized bedrooms and gorgeous hallways. From our
room #3, light traffic could be heard, but I slept easily all night with my earplugs in a comfty queen bed. It is certainly quieter here than it would be in the bustling city of Dublin, from what I hear.

I wanted to stay longer in this house...here you have country-style elegance. Joe is friendly and good-natured, with an Irish sense of humor.

Malahide is a cute village, fun and lively on a Saturday night. I recommend you sleep here and get public transportation into Dublin!

Aer Lingus: Dublin to LAX

On the flight (both ways) we had individual video screens with video, audio, games, movies. Enjoyed the Celtic music station.

The neck pillow I bought in Dublin airport made a great deal of diffrerence in comfort for this return trip...Aer Lingus seats are worn, cramped, and lacking sufficient back and neck support.

Food on flight: too many carbs and sugar and not enough protein. I wish I had packed a sandwich for the flight. I had 2 bites of chicken in my lunch!

IRELAND INSPIRES POETRY

It has been a wonderful experience sharing this trip report with you. Looking over the last of my notes, I realized that they could be typed up as a poem. Here is my original poem, inspired by my Ireland:

My Ireland

Saying goodbye to Ireland is impossible.
Ireland is a friendly hello in a pub or at a b&b,
A green hillside, sheep-dotted,
A fire in the hearth with the earthy smell of smoky peat,
Sheep or milk cows dawdling down the narrow road,
Home-made brown bread still warm, with real Irish butter,
The bite of Guiness in a dark pub
and an earful of lively Irish traditional music...
Toe-tappin' knee-slappin' music
Fiddle - dee - dee
Fiddle - dee - rah

The wild Atlantic flings herself against the rocky shores of Ireland,
and green rolling hills lie covered in fields and bog.
Here and there an ancient bit of forest survives,
where fairies work their magic.

Here is a country that is rooted in my soul,
where folks once survived on humor and spirit
when the last potato rotted in the soil.
Here is a country which my ancestors loved and fled,
and never forgot.

The Irish personality is a soulful blend of feistiness, humor, and humility.
I was in Ireland...
And now Ireland is in me.

The misty rocky coast of Ireland is poetry,
and there is a famine village in Ireland
on Achill Island
where I stand on a green hill, hungry, gazing out to sea,
with nothing to fill my belly but the poetry of the land and the sea.

Ireland is a country where humor and imagination are cherished and nurtured.

My great-grandmother had 9 children, and a proud fondness for Ireland has been passed on to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. A visit to Ireland is like coming home.











-- Edited by Melissa5 at 20:27, 2006-08-08

-- Edited by Melissa5 at 20:30, 2006-08-08

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Merle


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Melissa,


Wonderful trip report.  Makes me homesick for Ireland.  Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner regarding the genealogy sites.  Had a family reunion at my house last weekend.  A couple of Irish websites I have used:


www.rootsweb.com/~nirwgw/  - Northern Ireland GenWeb Project with lots of links to other sites.  There is a link here to the records office.  If you know the details, you could send for your grandmother's birth certificate.  I have not done this yet, because I don't have all the information yet.


www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/NIR/


Hope this helps.


Merlene



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Melissa,


The specific forum board where I posted my genealogy query was http://genforum.genealogy.com/northernireland/


 


Merlene



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Melissa5


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Merlene, thanks very much for the geneology links. That's one of my on-going projects. It tends to generate piles of papers... Good luck with your geneology research. Hope the family reunion was fun.

Did you say you are also researching family geneology for Northern Ireland? When I was at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, a man working there told me he is the librarian for some type of Ulster geneology club...he gave me some paperwork about it, but I haven't had time to even open it yet. If it looks interesting would you like to know about it too? I think you have to pay to belong to the club and they are all doing geneology research on Ulster ancestors.

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Melissa,


What a great ending to a great trip report. Now you know why people go back to Ireland again and again. Though it is a small country it really packs a lot into that small package. Where in the world would you find such diverse landscapes in such a small area? Then there is the layer upon layer of history, poetry, song and magic. Truly a mystical land. Thank you for sharing your trip with all of us. We enjoyed it thoroughly.


Michele



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Melissa,
I enjoyed your final chapter so much! Would that be YOU in the picture w/ the house or a random tourist??

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Hi Melissa,


I would be very much interested in the information about the Ulster Genealogy club.  You can email me at mblack@battlecreek.net


Thanks,


Merlene



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Michele, it is only fitting to have a great ending to a great report on a GREAT web-site! Thanks for the compliment. You inspired me.

Ireland truly is a mystical land, you're right. And the people are amazingly grounded, considering they live with magic from moment to moment... We had grown men telling us the stories they believed with perfectly straight faces. And these were farmers, and everyday folks, not mystics or storytellers!

I sure enjoy your web-site. Thanks for everything.

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Irisheyes, yep, that's me, standing in front of the cottage I adopted as my "ancestral home"! I have some photos where my 2 daughters are standing with me looking really cute, but I"m not gonna post them on the internet for all the world to see... (Even though the world looks at them walking by every day!!!) I am too old for anybody to bother looking at so I can be invisible.

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Merlene, I"d be glad to share the info on the Ulster geneology club with you...give me a couple days to comb through the stuff from my trip and find it and I'll e-mail you. I hope it turns out to be a fun and productive lead...

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Merlene and anybody interested in Northern Ireland ancestors: There is an organization called North of Ireland Family History Society. Their web-site is www.nifhs.org "The objective of the society is to foster interest in family history with special reference to families who have roots in the North of Ireland and their descendants, wherever they may be." This is info from their pamphlet. I was given the pamphlet by a man at the Ulster Folk Park and Transport Museum. I don't know anything about this society yet, as I am not yet a member, I am just passing this info on to Merlene and anybody who is interested.

Merlene, I'll e-mail you with more details soon. They put out a twice-yearly journal for members. I believe there is a member fee to join, not sure what it is, though it is basically a "non-profit making organiation" .

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Thanks Melissa.  I'll check out the website.


 


Merlene



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Melissa,


I found this site, http://www.ancestryireland.com/index.php, to be most helpful. I actually was able to find marriage certificates for both sides of my Father's family. I wasn't able to make it up to Cullybackey on this last trip, as our performance schedule was too tight. However, I am supposed to be taking a tour group over in June of next year. I may take a few days for myself and travel home. It was quite a shock to find out some of the details of my family tree. However, it wasn't anything too horrible, children out of wedlock, Presbyterians marrying Catholics, that sort of thing.


As to your post on another's topic, while it is difficult sometimes to take pictures where there are ghosts, There are ghosts who enjoy photos being taken and will show themselves in energy spots. I have a grand one somewhere of one of us in a cemetery and next to them is what looks like little fireflies in the shape of a woman. That energy is always around you. It just seems more palatable in Ireland.


I enjoyed your poem and would like to share mine with you in return for the favor of being able to read it: 


Fragments of Time 


From

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CowboyCraic, that's great about you finding the marriage certificates for your ancestry! Maybe it was restless ancestral ghosts who prompted you to do some geneology searching, as they were tired of their secrets!

I don't think I could be shocked by whatever I might find, as, being a very obedient child, I enjoyed my Irish grandmother's rascally spirit. She could stir up trouble when she wanted, and she didn't get in trouble for it! When she was older she checked herself into a nursing home (even though her children had a place for her in their homes.) From the nursing home, she decided to write letters to authorities which launched an investigation of the nursing home, as she claimed the food was bad (among other complaints.)

The Irish women on my Dad's side of the family seem very spirited. My Nanny changed her name several times, I'm pretty sure she is looking on, watching how she has muddled the ancestral trail and made it hard to follow by doing that... And she is chuckling and sticking out her "store teeth", which is what she would do to amuse us children. (Naturally "store teeth" would be false teeth. She called them "store teeth".) I am certain she would have insisted on bringing those store teeth along with her to the heavenly mansion she always told me about.

What happened to your Fragments of Time? I think they are invisible threads.

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CowboyCraic


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Melissa,


Your Gran & mine sound they are cut from the same cloth! They called us all together, said my Gran was on her deathbed, we all gathered around the hospital bed, several relatives arguing over who was to get what when she died. At three that morning, just the Priest & myself by her bed, Gran sat up and said "I'm not dead yet! You can quit dividing up my stuff!" I think Fiesty & Irish women go hand in hand.


I am not sure what happened to Fragments of Time. I shall try it again:


Fragments of Time


From Armagh to Arizona and trails in between


Riding down rocky arroyos or across fields of emerald green


There is an urgent, primal longing that sometimes I can't ignore


It is then I close my eyes and slip gently down to rest


Dreaming of a gallant laddie, a white lily on his chest


Born & Raised way out west among the cactus and the sage


At home in the saddle, I have earned a cowboy's wage


I share a kinship with the earth, my father taught me well


My Gran she taught me the celtic waves and wrapped me in their spell


I learned to sort the calves in spring and to keep the irons hot


And I learned to sing and dance a jig, when I was just a tot


From Craggy shores to moonscaped Burren & in the ruins standing there


I have heard my name from long ago, whispered, hanging in the air


Who can explaing the longing I have, for places I've not been?


Or the ghostly embrace in the crofter's cottage, as if from a long lost friend


I have felt these same embraces & heard the whispers on the breeze


When I stood in silent reverie, alone, at wounded knee


This lifetime born to tell the tales of life from long ago


Of life along the trail and the glory days of Rodeo


From Armagh to Arizona, many trails to explore


Giving voice to many echoes, both here & on distant shore


I here a bodhran beating time, a banjo calling me to dance


As the mists of Ireland transport, I give not a second glance


From Armagh to Arizona, & trails in between


All the friends made along the way & all the wonders I have seen


I feel the Isle pulling me, singing my soul home


I find a peace & comfort there, as her varied lands I roam


As I journey through her towns & fields, I slip into an easy pace


There is an ancient yearning many lifetimes can't erase


In Armagh or Arizona, the voices sing out from deep within


They tell me though I've been too long gone, I can come home again


I have felt  this same sweet welcome in the adobe walls of Santa Fe


In Tallequah & Tubac and other storied cities along the way


As the lyric wisps of memory take flight on wings of Rhyme


My soul feeds upon the remembering of a Fragment of Time.


Catherine Lilbit Devine (c) 2005



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Melissa5


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Catherine, I think those Fragments of Time stir up a yearning in a lot of us on this board. Thanks for sharing your poem! I am off to see the hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque this week, and who knows what fragments of time might be tugging me there...

I know I will return to Ireland someday. I am already plotting how and when I will get there. My husband is considering attending a conference in England next June...I have already pointed out that Ireland is just across the water from there and wouldn't it be exciting if I come along with him to his conference?!

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