Tracing Roots...

 Thursday, August 24, 2023

A few years ago, Jim's brother got a message from a 4th cousin, discovered through a brother's "23 and me" DNA test.  Through emails and text conversations, they were able to connect the dots on Jim's grandmother who came to the states on a boat at age 16 with her younger sister.  Jim's family had traced the roots back to Ellis Island but couldn't find much about life in Ireland prior to their departure.  The 4th cousin, Valerie, (an Irishman now living in the US), supplied the missing Ireland background info, which she and her family had traced. But her side didn't have information about what happened after their ancestors left Ireland.  Through this connection, both families now have a more complete understanding about the relatives who started in Ireland and ended up in the US.  What a neat story!  

In April, we were able to meet Valerie in person and she gave us more details about how to find the area where Jim's family called home!  So today, our mission was to find it!  It was a bright and sunny day--the first day we've had to wear sunglasses.  We figured this was a sign from Jim's grandmother!

We found the church where Jim's great- grandfather was baptized in 1848--St. Joseph Church in Kilkerrin.  Although the church has been expanded and restored, the original tower was saved. 

 We walked 1 km to the Kilkerrin  cemetery.  Jim had previously checked and did not find relatives buried here, but we thought it would be interesting to see.  

We also found another cemetery which was the closest to where the family lived. Although we did not find the specific Connaugton name, we found several families from their area (Springlawn) buried here.

We travelled the roads as close to the family farm in West Screggs as we could get.  It is a remote area, still farmland, very few houses, but we were in the one mile area where his ancestors lived.

It's hard to imagine how long it took for people to get around back then.  Even with a car, it took time to navigate the roads.   Although the land is mostly still farmed, there were signs of lots sold, indicating housing will soon be coming to the area.  (I hope they widen the roads!)

To celebrate our successful day of tracing roots, we drove south to Kilkenny, where we traced the roots of Smithwick beer! 

 It started in 1710, taking over the abbey where the Franciscan monks had boiled the mineral water in the area to make it safe to drink, and accidentally discovered they could make beer.  The Smithwicks expanded the business and built the brand which was purchased by Guinness.  

The brewery was moved from Kilkenny to Dublin in 2013, but the company still provides free Smithwick beer to former employees every Thursday at a local pub in Kilkenny, as a thank you for their service!

After the Smithwick tour and tasting, we ate dinner at the Left Bank, a neat restaurant in an old bank, right in the heart of the city center.

We've been gone a week, and I'm already losing track of time!  I thought I'd share several observations about Ireland:

1. The people are very friendly and welcoming.

2. There are lots of sheep and lots of narrow roads, even sheep IN the roads, and lots of green and farmland.

3. There are also a lot of smokers!  Cigarette machines are in the bars and hotel lobbies!

4. The weather is strange...it can be sunny one minute, and a dark rain cloud shows up, it sprinkles and then it's sunny again.    Check out this untouched photo that shows the clouds today! (Also, the rain, breeze and humidity isn't the best for curly hair.)

5. Laundromats are in gas station parking lots!  We stopped to do laundry at an "eco-friendly" laundry.  It cost E26 to wash and dry two loads!

6. Tipping is not a practice in Ireland.  We asked for change at the hotel to leave a tip for breakfast, and the attendant said "NO", we don't do that here! 

7.  People say "lovely" a lot.