The Emerald Isle - Part 1
About 3 days before we left for Ireland Dan's cousin gave him the email address of a relative who still lives in Ireland. This relative had not heard from anyone in Dan's family for years and Dan didn't know if she even used that email address anymore. Not really sure what kind of response he would get, if any, Dan emailed his relative in hopes that she would have information on the location of his great grandfather's home in Co. Clare. Not more than 24 hours after emailing her he got a response in which she provided the names and phone numbers of several relatives who still live in Co. Clare. One of those relatives was Breda Frawley, Dan's 3rd cousin. It turned out they were just as eager to meet old relatives from the States as we were to meet them!
We arrived in Cork, Ireland on a Tuesday morning. While waiting for our train from Cork to Ennis Dan called his cousin, Breda, who lives in Ennis, to see if she would like to meet us at some point during our stay in Co. Clare. Breda was excited to meet us and offered to pick us up from the Ennis train stop and bring us back to her house for tea. We weren't expecting such open hospitality from someone who had never even heard of us until 2 days earlier!
After a 2 hour train ride we arrived in Ennis and Breda was at the station waiting to greet us. She drove us back to her house where we talked, ate, sipped tea, and learned about each other and the Hillary family. We also met her husband Pat, a retired mason, who is helping one of their sons cover a cement wall in traditional Irish stone. (A 'Juicy Tid Bit' for ya: Government laws state that exterior cement walls must be covered in traditional stone so as to preserve the historic look/feel of Ireland...at least in the area where Breda and Pat live this is the law). Before we left Breda and Pat, one of their sons, David, stopped by. He heard that a cousin of his was in town and he wanted to meet us. After a few hours spent with distant family who made us feel like long lost siblings, Breda drove us to the Bus station and we got on a bus towards Lisdoonvarna.
We spoke with the bus driver a little bit on the way, making sure that we knew which stop would be Lisdoonvarna so that we didn't miss it. He asked where in Lisdoonvarna we were headed and we told him Lisdoon Lodge Guesthouse, a small B&B just outside town. It was a bit rainy and he offered to drive a little bit out of his way in order to bring us closer to the B&B so that we wouldn't have to walk as far in the rain. We thanked him for his kindness and after a short walk from where he dropped us off we arrived at our lodging.
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| Lisdoon Lodge Guesthouse |
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| The Irish countryside view from our room |
The next morning Breda picked us up from Lisdoon Lodge and drove us to Kilfenora. Kilfenora is the town where the Hillary family went to church for generations. We saw the original church of Kilfenora Parish; where Dan's great grandfather, William Hillary, was baptized. Next to the old church is a cemetery where Dan's great great grandparents, Joseph and Anne Hillary are buried along with Dan's great Aunt Mary Kelly (Hillary). (A 'JTB' for ya: it is common in small towns/Parishes like Kilfenora for the family to own one burial plot where several family members get buried. When a person dies, they place the coffin on top of the coffin(s) of the people buried before them; one coffin collapses into another and family members are buried on top of one another.)
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| The old church of Kilfenora Parish and cemetery where Dan's great great grandparents are buried |
The gravestone of Joseph and Anne Hillary
The headstone reads:
Erected by
Jeremiah Hillary, Doon
In loving memory of his father
Joseph who died 13th March
1929 aged 80 years Also
his mother Anne who
died 20th Feb 1924 aged
84 years
R I P
Next, we met a couple more of Dan's family members in a pub near the church. We met Joe Carroll, who would be Dan's grandpa Hillary's first cousin, and Joe's daughter Noreen. Joe is 84 and still sharp as a tack with an impeccable memory. Joe told us all about the Hillary family origins: how the Hillarys came to live in Co. Clare, how they became Bog farmers, and what became of the brothers and sisters of William Hillary (Dan's great grandpa) who stayed in Ireland. We even got Joe on videotape, which was a really big deal for the family. Joe is known for his memory and for telling stories of the family history, but he refuses to speak on videotape. Joe's brother, Father John Carroll, once tried to get him to talk about the family history on tape, but as soon as Father John pulled out a video camera Joe wouldn't speak and actually left the room. Lucky for us, Joe thought we were taking pictures of him instead of videotaping. We didn't intentionally deceive him. We actually didn't know about his aversion to being videotaped, and we thought he knew what we were doing. Afterward we found out that we were the first people to get him on tape, but his kids were happy to have a recording of him so we didn't feel too bad about the misunderstanding. After some tea, apple pie and a nice chat about the Hillary family history it was off to see the old Hillary property.
Joe brought us to the land where the Hillarys farmed Bog and raised their family for generations. We saw the house where Dan's great great grandpa, Joseph Hillary, was born; also where his great grandpa, William Hillary, was born and raised until he was 23 when he left home for America. The original house has since been redone, but we were able to go to the exact spot where the house stood. The house is located in an area called Doon and sits atop a hill that overlooks Lake Lickeen and hundreds of acres of rolling Irish farmland. (A 'JTB' for ya: Lake Lickeen provides drinking water for all of Co. Clare.) The Hillary family may have been poor Bog farmers, but they had a million dollar view from their front porch!
The (now re-modeled) house where the Hillary family farmed Bog for generations
Dan's cousins (left to right): Noreen Talty, Breda Frawley, Joe Carroll, Dan Hillary
The view from the old Hillary farm.
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While we talked, Michael called up his sister Frances who owns a B&B in Killarney. Frances has a fairly extensive written history of the Hillary family, especially of William Hillary. Frances was able to tell Michael who Dan's grandpa Hillary married and who Dan's Dad married and what number great grandchild Dan is (he is the 125th great grandchild of William and Margaret Hillary). Dan was really excited about all of the Hillary history Frances had and she offered to mail us copies of everything. The Carrolls also had a picture of Dan's great grandpa on their mantle. It was a picture taken in 1972, which was the last time William Hillary, at age 92, visited Ireland before his death in 1977. This was the first time Dan had seen a picture of his great grandpa. It was pretty special. (A 'JTB' for ya: August 22, 1972 was declared "William Francis Hillary Day" in Grand Rapids, MI in honor of his service to the city.) After a wonderful day spent with the Hillary family it was time to go back to Lisdoonvarna.
Left to Right: Noreen Talty, Dan Hillary, Joe Carroll, Joseph Carroll, Nellie Carroll, Michael Carroll
That night we went into 'downtown' Lisdoonvarna and watched a local Irish band, The Coelan Band. It was a quiet night in town and we were the only people in the bar for the first hour they were on stage. We think our waitress told the band we were from the States because the first 5 songs they played were about leaving Ireland to travel to America; then again, in this part of Ireland a huge piece of history involves emigration to the States. (A 'JTB' for ya: over 112,000 Irish men and women left Co. Clare between 1850 and 1880 in search of a better life. For a comparison, the current population of Co. Clare is just over 90,000). The band was great and we wanted to stay later, but we had a big day planned the next day so we called it a night.
Downtown Lisdoonvarna. Don't drive too fast you might miss it!
11 months out of the year Lisdoonvarna is a sleepy town in the hills of Co. Clare. But during September the 'legendary' Lisdoonvarna Match-Making Festival draws thousands of singles from around the world in hopes of meeting their perfect match.
Hundreds of years before the Match-Making festival, Lisdoonvarna was famous for its mineral waters which were said to have healing powers due to the naturally high levels of Iron, Calcium, Magnesium and Sulfur. You could smell the sulphur near this spa.
The next day we went to Doolin Cave and the Cliffs of Moher, but that will be in the next post...
Stay tuned!
Love,
Abby and Dan
Loved the commentary, loved the pictures! - Mom
ReplyDeleteSo interesting, can not wait to see for myself. I be waiting for the next posting.
ReplyDelete