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Now, I’m Ready
I took the bike the 47 miles to the bike shop in Bloomington, IL. It was the Bloomington Cycle and Fitness store. Kelly and Mike the Mechanic came along. Kelly drove. It was a great opportunity to get acquainted. Mike’s a military retiree from Alaska and Kelly, a former JAG lawyer who lives in Reston, VA. They both have been on the ride since Seattle.
The Bloomington Cycle and Fitness store was amazing. They immediately went to work on the bike, fixed the main problem and about six others. We went to lunch and, when we came back, they were done. They also gave me a 10% discount in honor of the cross country ride.
The couple who owns the store are passionate cyclists. The husband worked on my bike while Kelly shared biking war stories with the wife. She started a women’s cycling club in Bloomington and they have 80 women for the Friday night rides. I’m beginning to better understand the cycling subculture.
Anyway, the bike is ready and so am I. 80 miles tomorrow.
Fuller Cross Country Bike Ride
Me after 60 miles in 85 degree heat
Today, I will head out to Peoria to meet up with my bike. On Monday, I will begin the ride back to DC over the next two weeks. The ride starts with four days in a row of 80 plus miles of riding each day. The longest I’ve ever ridden is 60 miles and it wasn’t pretty. See picture.
I’m nervously confident I can do this. But we’ll see….
My confidence comes from my friend, Peter Asmuth. He’s a man of my “generation” and has been riding from Seattle. He was much more fit than me starting out. So, his success doesn’t necessarily mean I can do this. But he insists I can do this. Fortunately, there are support services on the ride, like debrillators, etc.
While I am planning to post regularly to this site, that presupposes I will have the time, inclination or energy to do so.
Peter has been sending emails regularly to a group of friends. They are informative and very witty. With his permission, I will post some or all of his messages going forward to this blog.
So, off I go. Wish me luck…
Archie’s House
Bill, Richard & Bob in front of our ancestral home in Ballygill on Rathlin Island
Archibald Black left Rathlin Island in 1848 to escape the Great Famine. He’s the ancestor who brought the Black family to America. We visited the house he left.
On the way over, we discussed the evidence that this home was, in fact, the source. Richard, who is normally very skepticcal, chastised me for raising the question. Bob explained that he had been researching our family tree for more than 40 years. And he was convinced. So there.
In 1968, our grand uncle, Brother Jason (a Xaverian Brother) and two of our uncles, Eddie and Vinnie Black, visited Rathlin. During that visit, they came to this place and it was occupied by a woman named Mrs. Susan Black. While they couldn’t find a direct connection, they were convinced, almost by process of elimination, that this was our ancestral home where Archibald lived. The fact is that there are simply not that many other possibilities. That a woman named Black lived here, was a pretty good indication of our heritage.
A Cottage on Rathlin
The ancestral home of the Black Family Singers
After leaving McQuaig’s, we set out for our lodging, a classic Irish cottage on a hill with a magnificent view of the sound between Rathlin and the mainland. I’m not sure when it was built, but it was clear that the indoor plumbing was a retrofit. The original rooms were very small, but there was a spacious family room, clearly a modern expansion, on the second story with large windows facing the water.
The house was surrounded by sheep pasture and the evidence of the sheep was everywhere. We had to take our shoes upon entry so as not to tramp “sheep dip” into the house.
It was a perfect place to stay. It made us feel like we belonged.
McQuaig’s Pub
McQuaig’s Pub is the heart and soul of Rathlin. It sits right on Church Bay, which is where all visitors arrive on the Island. As you approach Rathlin, you see St. Thomas Church on your left and McQuaigs on your right. While Catholics and Protestants have always lived peacefully together, the political dominance of the Protestants is illustrated by the prominence of St. Thomas, the Protestant church, which also includes the islands only cemetery.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception is located about a quarter mile inland from St. Thomas on a hill surrounded by trees. Since we weren’t there on a Sunday, we were unable to evaluate the relative attendance at the two churches. But all of our relatives are and were Catholic. No doubt most of the 140 residents of the island share that affiliation, at least by tradition.
But back to McQuaig’s. It was our very first stop. And, of course, the
Katrina, in one of her multiple roles on Rathlin, between Bob and me
bartender, Katrina, knew we were coming. Katrina is a young blonde-haired woman of about 30. Bob knew her family, of course. In a very sad tragedy, I found out later that her father died at sea only about five years ago. He was an accomplished diver who went out one morning and didn’t come back. First his empty boat was found, then later his body was found. He’d had a heart attack, but it is unclear whether that was the cause or effect of whatever happened in that boat that day.
This is turning into a very long post. Every paragraph I begin leads to a digression.
So, back to McQuaig’s….
It is a simple bar with an attached dining room (newly built, I’m told). Bob and Richard knew a number of people who happened to be there at 7:30 on a Monday night. We had a relatively quick dinner at the bar. As we were leaving a number of people were coming through the door with musical instruments. Clearly, there would be a “session” tonight. Would need to return, after we dropped the luggage at the house.
The Blacks, McCurdys and McFauls
Bob chats it up with John McCurdy, who has worked the Rathlin Island Ferry for decades
Back the day, there were essentially three families on the Island, the Blacks the McCurdys and the McFauls. There was much intermarriage among these families and all three names populate all three family trees. One of the challenges for Bob in building and maintaining our family tree is that there are multiple appearances of McFauls in our tree. Bob says that we might have more McFaul blood in us than Black blood. Of course, our connection to the Black Family singers and the fact that we were staying at their house, gave us special status. In any event, everyone we met with one of those names is likely a relative and knew it.
From the minute we walked onto the ferry to the island we were greeted as family even though none of us had been to the island in years. John McCurdy knew Bob and Richard and knew the whole Black family story. He even knew we were staying at the singing Blacks homestead. They all spent the ferry ride catching up on developments on the island. There were a could of recent deaths of well-known figures on the island, people with whom Bob was very friendly. Chief among him was Augustine “Gusty” McCurdy who has written numerous books about Rathlin and ran the historical society. We paid our respects at his grave the next day.
On to Rathlin
Our Rathlin ferry was schedule for 6:30, so we left John’s at about 4 pm. Richard has been doing the driving and we’ve minimized the “wrong side of the road” challenge by sticking to highways as much as possible.
We did a FaceTime call with Michael Black, our host, on the way. Sadly, Michael will not be joining us on Rathilin due to a medical issue he needs to attend to in San Francisco. It will be his first summer missing his visit to Rathlin in 20 years. I learned later how significant his absence would be for the people of Rathlin.
We called Michael en route. I have never done a FaceTime call and it was pretty amazing to be driving down the highway in Belfast having a video call with Michael in San Francisco to prepare our arrival on Rathlin. He had gone to great lengths to prepare our accommodations, including having his niece, Aiofe (Frances’s daughter), drive up from Dublin to get the house ready. Aiofe is also a musician with a strong following in Ireland. Her most popular single is Along the Wild Atlantic Way. it’s great! But on this day, she’s our housekeeper. Only in Ireland….
Michael Black’s indestructible jeep
Michael also left us his jeep at the dock for use while on the island. I loved tooling around the island in the very durable vehicle. The stick shift brought me back to my early driving days.
John & Mona McGarvey
L to R Mona, John McGarvey, Bob Black, Me.
Photo by Richard Black
We set out for Northern Ireland at about 9:30 am on Monday morning. Our plan was to have lunch with John and Mona McGarvey. John is a long time family friend who has been helping with the genealogy project for forty years, since he worked with my uncle, Eddie Black. John is a semi-retired college professor who teaches about some arcane scientific topic at Queens College in Belfast.
John is a delightful man, with a big family, 20 grandchildren. The conversation was lively and warm, focusing largely on family.
At lunch, however, the conversation turned to politics. I was surprised to learn that John had voted in favor of Brexit. Typical for John, it was a thoughtful decision and he explained his position persuasively. I then, explained to him that, in the U.S., many comparisons are made between Brexit and the Trump phenomenon. I suggested that, since he supported Brexit, he might be a supporter/admirer of Donald Trump.
He almost spit a mouthful of food across the table. Literally. And he assured me that he considered Trump a very dangerous man and was in no way supportive of him. We have yet to meet anyone over here who does not think that Trump is a danger to the world order and we’ve asked everyone from our taxi drivers on up. It’s unanimous. They all wondered what’s come over America?
We didn’t have a good answer.
A Poem for the Blacks
Pat Good, our best friend in Ireland, composed a poem, in 24 hours, to commemorate our visit to Rathlin Island. It is a wonderful and touching tribute. The text is below the video.
Welcome Home to Rathlin
I
Three Blacks came to Dublin Town
Two brothers and a cousin Bill
To Peadar Brown’s they were taken down
And there they drank their fill
Pints of Guinness they lowered back
They couldn’t get back enough
And many a counter attack and raid
The three men called Black made
For more of the beautiful Black Stuff
II
Three Blacks came to Rathlin
Richard, Robert and Bill
They felt the pull of home as they crossed the foam
And with salt tears their eyes did fill
In the graveyard by the quay
Among the Headstones they stood — Silent.
Failte Romhat Isteach — Richard, Robert and Bill
Welcome Home to Rathlin Island
The Video of Grace
Here’s a short clip of the grandfather and granddaughter singing Grace. I learned later that the grandfather was a big supporter of the hospice mentioned in the previous post and raised $78,000 for the facility. He deserves such a beautiful granddaughter.
