June 7th-22nd The Great Ancestry Search

   We couldn't complete a trip like this without including a stop in "The Old Sod." In  a reality check, back to earth, we boarded a Virgin Train from London's Euston Station west to Holyhead, Wales where we caught an Irish Ferry to Dublin.

Welsh Town in Gaelic (on the way to Holyhead)

      In immediate support of the percept of Irish good nature, we met a fun-loving couple on the Ferry. Pat & Mike shared their bottle of wine and chips and stories of their life in Ireland and where to go and what to see...all this at 9:00am in the morning!

   Though the ancestry search was stymied by a fire which destroyed records during the revolution, the story-telling heritage lives on and will fill in those missing gaps with tales of William the Conqueror and the Norman Conquest! (George's Mother must have been right, they MUST be related to The Plantagenets!!!)
   There is everything lyrical about the land. The tales of Faerie knolls and leprachans become plausible here.  The Celtic history is palpable too, giving an indominable body to the spirit that weaves these amazing tales.
Here is some of what we loved about the place.....

Blarney Castle    

George's Sister Ann  joined us in "The Search"

Celtic Cross at The Rock of Cashel, an 11th Century Church

Altar Detail at "The Rock of Cashel"

The MacDonald's ruined Castle "Dun Lare"  on the Northern coast near Belfast

   There was an interesting contrast between Dublin and Belfast....Dublin more free-wheeling. The over-lay of the British influence brings a formality and decorum.

The State House in Belfast with Queen Victoria presiding

The Crown Pub in Belfast

Temple Bar in Dublin

The "Hay-Penny" Bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin

Street Scenes from Grafton Street in Dublin....

The Famous statue of fish-monger Molly Malone in Dublin

   Of course, Dublin is not without its decorum......

Trinity College where the Book of Kells libraried

Christ Church

   From Folk lore in the Brazen Pub to Joe Sweeny's fish and chips in Greystones at the tip of Dublin Bay, I'm glad there's some Irish in the heritage we leave.