To Sit Beside a Turf Fire...

In spite of my varied genealogical background, I was raised Irish. Didn't matter that my father's mother's parents came off the boat from Italy, in my father's mind, we were Irish. St. Patrick's Day was celebrated year-round, and on March 17th, watch out!

L-R Shawn, Mike, Ed, Pete and Edd; yours truly front & center

This would have been before 1971, the year Edd passed away. 

Edd's parents were Irish immigrants. 

Ed, St. Pat's 1969

Early 1970s?

So it should come as no surprise that I know a lot of Irish songs, especially Irish American songs. One in particular was especially poignant: "Galway Bay" in which an Irish emigrant to America speaks of returning to Ireland to "sit beside a turf fire in a cabin."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9NM3SMRtaQ

When Ed was alive, he would always tell Howard and myself what he was going to leave us in his will, and I would always tell him that I would go to Ireland in his memory and he seemed to like that idea. 

As we planned our trip to England this past Christmas, I thought about the logistics of getting to Ireland, but it seemed a little overwhelming. But as in all great genealogical endeavors, it worked out perfectly in the end!

We landed in Dublin airport and were welcomed by that "soft Irish weather." All signs in Ireland are in Irish (Gaelic) and English. 

My first glimpse of Ireland

We rented a little VW Golf, which had a sticker taped to the steering wheel that said "Stay Left!"

(note the cow escaping backwards from his pasture)

You've likely heard of Ireland referred to as "The Emerald Isle." No photographs can do it justice; even on a rainy January day, it's green-ness was amazing:

We drove first to Clones, Co. Monaghan, where my great-grandmother, Kate Beggan Smith was born. We had a lovely walk around the town, enjoying the sunshine, although it was chilly.

This photo was taken from the Sacred Heart Church, the Catholic Church in Clones. The current building was built after my great-grandmother left Clones for America, but it was built on the same site as the previous building, and I suppose all her relatives who remained in Ireland would have attended this building. 

Clones is an ancient town, featuring a 9th century round tower and the ruins of a 12th century abbey:

The next morning we drove to Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, the ancestral hometown of the Smiths. If you know anything about Ireland's history, you know that it is one island, two nations; the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the latter being part of the United Kingdom. Both Clones and Ballinamore are very close to the border between the two countries, but are part of the Republic. Yet in that 50-minute drive, we crossed the border between the two several times! 

Previous to our trip, I had contacted the Genealogy Centre of Leitrim (pronounced LEE-trim) and got some great help from Patricia, so we made that our first stop so I could thank her in person for the help. We picked up a few other bits of info, including the fact that John's father Patrick likely went to England for work and died there. So, a new avenue for research!

After we walked around the town for a bit, I returned to the center to ask about which church might have been in Ballinamore when my ancestors' family lived there. Patricia explained that the church that was there then was sold to become a furniture store, which has since gone out of business. She pointed out it's location just up the hill from the new, modern Catholic church. Just as I was turning to leave, an older gentleman popped out from behind a bookshelf to remind her that at the time of the sale of the old church, the altar was removed and placed in the new church.

The defunct hardware store.

The altar from the old church in the new church building.

From Ballinamore we drove back to Clones. Refer back to my post of 22 July 2010 to learn how I found my living Irish cousins. I contacted John again and he did a fantastic job of lining up a visit with Kathleen and Benny, whose grandmother was a sister to my great-grandmother. 

We were supposed to have also met with Rosaleen, whose father Peter was my great-grandmother's brother. She is in her 90s, but had caught a cold and couldn't meet with us. Otherwise, we could have taken a 4-generation photograph! Benny brought his daughter and granddaughter with him to Kathleen's house. 

As we walked into Kathleen's, she had a turf fire warmly glowing. As the words to "Galway Bay" went through my head, it seemed that a conduit opened up and I felt connected to a thousand years of Irish history. We had a delightful visit and found that although we were from different cultures we had so much in common!

"To sit beside a turf fire..."

After Kathleen served us tea, Benny drove us out to the cemetery, where I saw for myself a headstone that I had seen in photographs for many years: That of my 2nd great-grandparents, Bernard and Catherine "Kitty" (Learo) Beggan. 

On our way to the airport the next morning, we met with John again, this time at the Library of Trinity College in Dublin. Heaven! We enjoyed an all-to-brief visit with John as he walked us through the National Gallery of Ireland. I sincerely hope we can return soon and spend more time with family and in a remarkable country.