Ireland Trip - Last Day and back to Dublin Airport

For my final day, I was hoping to squeeze in a few more interesting sites.

The Glenveagh Castle at Glenveagh National Park.

  

I was there early for the tour, so I was able to walk along the grounds and part of the park for a while. It is an interesting place, and since October is the off season it was quiet and you could just look and reflect. 

Next was the Dunfanaghy Workhouse. 

  

The tour tells of a woman Hannah who spent some time in the workhouse during the famine years. This was around the same period my great great grandparents and family left and settled in the US.

My flight was for the next morning but due to poor planning I didn't realize I'd need to be on the road at by 3 AM to get to the airport. Besides, I would rather be able to see the countryside and any interesting places to stop rather than drive in the dark so I decided to leave that afternoon.

Not long after heading out I came to I think the village of Dunfanaghy  With it being cold and rainy the beach was deserted. 

Along the way I saw many ruins like this. Unfortunately, most I couldn't see a way to stop and explore. This was one of the larger ones and from the window to the left on the first picture, I'm guessing it was a church. 

It would be fun to research these buildings, find out how old they were and who lived in and around the area back then, but that's a project for another day.

There were a lot of other things I wanted to do but didn't have the time. I'll definitely need to come back someday.

Ireland Trip - Day 11

There were quite a few things I wanted to see and do in the area, unfortunately I wasn't able to get to all of them. Many of these historical markers and objects were out of the way on non-paved roads or trails. It had rained almost every day of my trip so far, I decided not to go after dark since I didn't see any lights at most of the places and didn't want to get my car stuck anywhere with poor phone reception.

My first stop was the Coughaneely Stone.

The legend is that this is the stone on which Balor, the one-eyed mythical king of nearby Tory Island, decapitated the local chieftain, Mac Aneely.

Next I stopped by the ruins of the late medieval Tullaghobegley Church and graveyard.

The birthplace of Saint Columba 521-597

As I did this I wandered around and just took in the scenery. The pictures really don't do it justice.

I really wanted to hike or bike this mountain and area.

I'll just need to come back someday.

Ireland Trip - Day 10

This was my final day to do research in Ireland. I visited the Donegal County Library in Letterkenny. It was about a 45 minute drive from Falcarragh.

I didn't find anything about my family but did a lot of reading on the area and its history. I also found several more names to look into to see if there is any relationship.

After finishing at the library I did a little self-guided walking tour. I'll definitely plan to come back here someday and spend a little more time.

Ireland Trip - Day 9

Day 9 was a Sunday and not too much was going on in town. I went out and took another walk around town and except for an occasional car I saw very few people out and about.

I came to Falarragh Cemetery and wandered around there for a while. There were quite a few McFadden's and Ferry's but I didn't see any Collum's. No telling yet if some might have been distant cousins.

 Because it was cold and rainy, after lunch I decided to get in the car and drive around the mountains and look around.  I drove over this bridge a few times before I realized the stone next to it with writing.

This is where family and friends would say goodbye as others walked over the mountains to emigrate to other locations. It's about 40 miles to the port of Londonderry and about a 12 hour walk. It's likely my great great grandparents and family took this path to come to the US about 1850.

It reads:

"Family and friends of the person leaving for foreign lands would come this far. Here was the separation. This is the Bridge of Tears".

I think it might be interesting to hike this route starting at the bridge and ending up at the Londonderry port, but that's an activity for another trip.

Ireland Trip - Day 8

The official research part of my trip was finished but I definitely wasn't ready to return home yet.

I returned to Dublin airport to pick up my rental car and drive to Falcarragh, County Donegal. It was about a 4 hour drive and as I got closer the roads got narrower. I later learned that the GPS directed me to the back roads rather than the main roads.

I stayed at the Loft B&B which is attached to the Loft Pub. It was a quiet street and the pub closes at 11 so it was a great place to stay.

 

I checked in then went out and walked around town. It was a small, quiet place, quite a change from Dublin.  

After a while, I returned to the pub, got some dinner and a Guinness or two. Everyone I met was very nice and when they inquired about my trip I said that I was doing family history research and mentioned the names I was looking for. Everyone replied, "yeah, there are a bunch of them around."

Unfortunately none of them said, "hey, you need to meet John down the road," then called, which would spur him to come on over to the Loft pub and he'd fill in all my Irish brick walls. So instead I had another Guinness then went back to my room to plan what I was going to do for the next few days.

Flight to Dublin and first day.

 On October 4 I flew to Dublin. I arrived at the airport at about 10 AM on October 5.

The only hiccup was my first part of the trip from Houston to Chicago. The plane arrived early but got to the gate late, so I had to run to make it to the flight to Dublin.  Fortunately I traveled light and only had carry-on luggage so I didn't have to worry about my clothes and stuff not arriving with me.

I checked into Bushwells Hotel. It was an older, smaller hotel where you leave the key with the desk when you go out. It was much better than staying at a larger, chain hotel.

I arrived a day early to get used to the time change, so after checking in and to avoid going to sleep I took a self guided tour of the city.

As I wandered around I saw St. Patrick's Cathedral.

And the statue of Daniel O'Connell (1775 – 1847), often referred to as The Liberator. My uncle, Daniel O'Connell McFadden (1900-1996) was named after him, and I was named after my uncle.

 
When I finally returned my my room. I unpacked, and got out my computer and started reviewing my family history notes and what we were doing for the week.




It was about 6:30 and I was getting extremely tired but still didn't want to sleep, so I went down to the bar and had a Guinness or two.




I returned to my room about 8 and realized I hadn't had anything to eat since the plane, so I ordered my first meal in Ireland. And I did something I never do, I got room service.




After 11, I didn't feel tired, but went to bed anyway. I had downloaded some RiffTrax to my iPad, so watched a little until I could fall asleep. I was still up at 3:30 and finally was able to sleep for a bit. I didn't wake up until after 2. I'm glad I arrived a day early and didn't have to do anything until Monday.