Friday, March 9, 2018

My Ancestry in Thomastown, Ireland

Happy Friday to you.  I am revisiting the land of my grandparents, from a trip we took three years ago. While I didn't plan to blog everyday, it gave me a chance to journal all of our activities. "Yesterday was an extremely busy day for us and today this gal feels like my tank is on empty. I've already told hubby we will be taking it slower and easier today, with not too many places to see~one is a castle here in Kilkenny and the other is Rock of Cashel. More about these places tomorrow. Yesterday morning we left Dublin and couldn't be happier to head to the open roads. Dublin is a wonderful city, so beautiful and charming, but the traffic is hard to deal with if you haven't been there before. We headed toward Wicklow to visit a quilt store, after all we had gone to Jameson for hubby on Wednesday. The roads were very nice along the way, mostly highways. When we got to the town, we discovered that the store wasn't there but back about 1/2 hr. Hubby was more than willing to go back, but due to the fact that I have about 6 more stores to check out and we still had quite a way to go,  but we passed. From Wicklow to Thomastown was quite an adventure! Our Garmen took us on back roads and gravel roads, again they were very skinny and in some places quite scary. WE went to Thomastown specifically to see cemeteries and find, if possible, graves of my ancestors. We hiked through the ruins of old cemeteries, which to me is such fun. We walked up and down streets and had to find a caretaker of the key to one cemetery; the old church is owned by a lady now who lives there, so we couldn't disturb her. So without further delay, here is a sample of our photos.


Entering the small gate to a cemetery owned by a lady; we were told not to bother anything on her home.





We were successful in finding four headstones-what a thrill. When we were finished, we headed to Kilkenny.  This city is incredible and we loved it!  We walked up and down streets, had dinner at a pub with live traditional music and two young teens clog dancing.  Such fun!!!! Everyone is so nice and friendly.  Hubby and I are falling asleep before 10:00 p.m. and today we slept in, quite late for our standards. After having a continental breakfast downstairs, we are now ready to get a move on(albeit a bit slower) and start exploring here.  I just hope the Iron in my vitamin kicks in.  So there you have our time here so far".  To be honest with you, hubby and I had a trip so filled to the brim and I actually felt like we've seen it all(silly me) and that we wouldn't ever need to return, too many other places we want to see.  After looking at these photos again, I would consider going back, but like I said earlier, our trip would be totally different.
May your day be bright and your life be full of joy.
Hugs for now~
Noreen

2 comments:

  1. I'm so happy you found some of the tombstones. I do love walking around a cemetery. Love the pictures and continue to have a fabulous time!

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  2. A couple in our church just returned from a two week trip to Ireland. They had a wonderful time. Know you still enjoy reliving this trip.

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