I have three grandparents who were Irish and a grandmother born in the Czech Republic. (I can never spell that right!) One of 11 or 13 kids and half were sent as kids over to America. She hid in a haystack but they fished her out and my family was born. She married my grandfather McLaughlin from KY.
My father's dad, related to Mayor Curley in Boston, was all Irish and married my Grandma O'Donnell. We lived in the house where many Irish immigrants were brought over from my family to Cleveland, OH. Interesting!
If you've never been, you should go. My sister Colleen, who lives in Washington state, and I went in 1997 to scatter my dad's ashes. Poor thing-all he ever wanted to be was Irish. He was really into his heritage (especially the drinking part) but never got there in life. He was honored when I told him I would take his ashes over after he was cremated. He had terminal cancer and died at 67.
My sister and I rented a car in Dublin and arrived on Easter day. We stayed there for a day or two sightseeing and then took off the find the relations in Achill Sound. The Gallaghers. (Pronounced Gallaher). A cousin Moira was postmistress. She and her mother lived next to their Aunt (the spitting image of my Grandma Curley). The Gallaghers were sheepherders. The man of the house had to excuse himself during our visit and go round up the herd. They were not expecting us but treated us like royalty. Went into the meager kitchens and prepared finger sandwiches and tea. It was Grand! The Joyce household (Moira) had peat fuel for the fire so there was an earthy Irish scent to their quaint home. We later went to the local pub with her where she drank soda and tried to drive our Automatic rental car (what a Hoot! She had never driven one before and got a real kick out of it.) We told her we'd write and she said she wouldn't answer. She didn't write letters, (Postmistress?). we asked her if she'd read them and she said yes she would.
We continued on our journey around the Island (didn't get up north) driving, shopping, site seeing and found the perfect place to scatter him in Galway Bay.
It was very emotional. Tipped a Guinesss to him and left it beside the pile of him left on the rock. It was a very windy day and amazingly, before digital cameras, I took 1 picture of it and boy does God works in mysterious ways. It was perfect! There was a little chapel across the street. The churches are all open like ours used to be in the old days. We went in and prayed.
We stayed for 10 days and had an amazing journey. Singing and dancing in the pubs. The Irish people are so hospitable. When they learned we were 'Yanks', they'd come over and buy us rounds and hug us and sing with us. They'd look out for us on the streets, warning my sister to be careful of her valuables like her Passpost. We corresponded with a college gal we met in a pub. Drove the Ring of Kerry. Ferried over to the Aran Islands and hiked to Fort Dun Aengus, quite a trek but amazing! Bought some lovely handmade Irish sweaters for the guys in our lives.
Met a woman in Galway that was sent over as a young teen to marry an old man in the Aran Islands. Her life was hard. Bridget. She looked older than her years, (she was younger than me) and she said she was the first Irish woman to get a divorce. We shared our alcohol bounty with her in a pub in Galway and walked later out to buy her a lamb pita at an all night double decker restaurant. Amazing tasting lamb! She said I was a "Hoot!"
We met another girl and asked her about all the different colored red hair we were seeing. She said to buy it in the 'dollar store' and we'd be grand! My hair is naturally red but my sister's is more blond and curley. They mistook her for a German and this made her mad. We worked on perfecting our Irish brogues but hers sounded more Pakistani, ha ha.
An amazing day spent at Bunratty Castle in Shannon (next to Durty Nelly's). We had to keep pinching ourselves to say it was real and not Disney. We toured the castle and walked the Village shopping, taking pictures and meeting new folks.
Colleen took close up pictures everywhere for her Flower cards she creates. And she was always digging in her bag. She was my co-pilot and her task in the car (since she was scared to drive on the left side of the road), was to tell me where we were any time I asked her. We were quite the team! We stopped at the local gas pumps and they sold a fantastic soft serve ice cream which tasted just like what we'd eaten as kids at Euclid Beach Park. We bough wonderful Irish cheeses and ate cheese and crackers in the car as we traveled. Reminiscent of evening TV watching at our house where Dad would have one of the 'big kids' divvy up cheese and crackers or Kipper snacks as we all watched.
Went to the Waterford factory and the men stopped their work and cheered us! What a lift! Especially considering they lose money when they stop working (paid by the piece). We felt like queens for a day!
I still have the blue mug my sister bought me at a little pub where we enjoyed a pub lunch including three (3) different potatoes and Irish stew. Wonderful food at those pubs. We stayed in a hotel in Galway, Victoria, with a broken 'lift', ha ha, and had a wonderful breakfast there. The stays were not prearranged; we stayed at B&B's and met lovely, gracious people. The Irish Breakfast was the best. Those wonderful, pretty little teapots to go with all meals. I only drank tea over there and I just loved it.
It was quite a trip and a memory I truly cherish! As I told my dad, I would be honored to take him home!
Bunratty Castle Virtual Tour. view link
