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Rita’s Relations
Rita’s father’s people are from County Kerry. We were told that she had relatives in a place called Kilgobnet. No one we spoke to had ever heard of the place. Fortunately, Google had, so we were able to place it generally, near Killorglan, the place where Puck Fair takes place. Rita’s father’s boat was named Puck Fair in honor of his ancestors.
Unfortunately, most of the people in Killorglin had never heard of Kilgobnet either. We ended up stopping at a private home and got directions that brought us close. We asked about three more people before we found the Kilgobnet Post Office. Here’s Rita with the pictures that she’d been sharing with postal employees. They got us close. The last person we talked to turned out to be the next door neighbor of our target. The place she sent us to was a working dairy farm.
We went to the designated house and Rita knocked on the door. The woman who answered was Nora O’Shea and, after a moment of hesitation, greeted us warmly and invited us in.
It was a delightful visit. We had tea and, just as we were about to leave, her son, Cormac, showed up. He runs the farm and was equally gracious.
Here’s a video of the great meeting.
In the Rain
In a previous, out of sequence post, I showed our visit to Torc Falls. Here’s a bit of an “out-take” that really gives a sense of the rain as Danny and Bridget exit the frame dejectedly to get under an umbrella.
The Kerry Mountains
We stayed in a very nice B&B in Ballylicky, County Cork on Wednesday night. Good food, good accomodations. No Internet connection, depite promises on the web site. So, we enjoyed our stay and moved on a day earlier than we had planned. Our next stop was Killarney, which would take is through the mountains of County Kerry. We also made short stops in Kenmare and Skibbereen.
The weather alternated between light and torrential rains. While the weather limited the distance we could see, it did not limit the beauty. In fact, I kind of liked the ethereal mode of the mountains as we drive through Moll’s Gap and stopped at Ladies View.
Here we are braving the elements somewhere up in the mountains. That’s Danny beneath the hood.
Tomoleague Friary
As we drove along the south coast of Ireland, we came across an old ruin of a 13th Century monastery, Timoleague Friary. It is now reduced to its exterior and interior walls. But it was clearly quite the structure in its day, overlooking the sea and countryside.
Bridget explored a number of “nooks and crannies,” even climbing through some very narrow passage ways. She found what appeared to be a dungeon, but was probably just one of the monks’ cells. You can see her through the bars.
The grounds are now covered with grave stones, both inside the structure and out. Some are as recent as the 1990’s. The propery is now, in effect, a cemetary.
Moy Hill
This is a little out of sequence, since I’m still posting from three days ago, but here’s where we stayed last night. It’s the home of an young Irish telecommunications entrepreneur, whose name I have to leave out for security reasons. He has enemies….seriously. We became friendly through our daughters, who were classmates in grammar school. Their house in Washington off Foxhall Road is the former home of Bishop Fulton Sheen. This is their house in Ireland. They invited us to come visit. A truly spectacular estate, once owned by the 60’s rock star, Donovan.
This the main house. Many other building on the 90 acre property. A 2 mile driveway, a lake in front and sheep grazing on the lawn.
Billy and Dan
Also from central casting, these two American tourists with their mobile devices, visiting Kinsale from Washington, DC.
Jerry and His Ponies
Here’s the corral next to Jerry and Peggy’s house with Jerry’s ponies. Typically, Bridget was enchanted.
“They’re so cute!”
I didn’t get their names.
The O’Donovans
Our destination in Cork was the O’Donovans house, Jerry and Peggy. Many members of my family have visited Peggy and Jerry, as they are rumored to be distant relatives. I haven’t been able to establish for certain whether the relationship exists, but it has become irrelevant. They are so welcoming and so many have dropped by, that we’ve stopped obsessing over the relationship. That said, if a relationship exists, it would be that my great grandmother is sister to Jerry’s great grandmother. The evidence is that they had the same last name, Regan.
Here’s their house. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens, with a fenced in yard on the left for 
Jerry’s three ponies. “Just a hobby,” he says. They also have two little terrier dogs. One played Toto in the local production of The Wizard of Oz and would have to be picked up every evening by cab to be ferried to his performance.
The house was full when we arrived with friends and family. And Peggy put out a massive spread of food.
Lots of laughter and catching up on the “family.”
We also talked politics. They abhor Bush, so we obviously got on well politically. Ever time it was suggested that they visit us in the states, Jerry would say, in his thick Irish brogue, “After Bush is gone.”
The also all voted no on the Lisbon treaty. It was fascinating listening to their reasoning, particularly after hearing the “pro” from most of my colleagues with Fleishman Hillard.
It was a warm vist and we’ve clearly made friends for life, whether or not they are family.
