Catching up

The weekend was mostly genealogy but not my own. I helped someone find a few missing records. Got some names on old Byrne photos and stepped back into Egan's pub for some traditional Irish music in the evening.

Pat Jordan and Finian's Rainbow were featured on Saturday night. He's from just around the corner from the pub but has been living in England for a long time. He's developed a successful career as an entertainer. He certainly didn't disappoint on Saturday night.

The new Irish drinking and driving laws were responsible for me sticking to a glass of tonic water as my beverage of choice. I was among the first to leave around midnight. The party showed no signs of slowing down despite the advertised time being 9 pm to midnight.

On the drive back to Bunclody I encountered only one other car. As luck would have it, the 'meeting' was on the narrow stone bridge in Clonegal. Twenty kilometers of road, and there was only one oncoming vehicle. It underlined what I believe to be one of the driving rules in Ireland. If you are meeting another vehicle on a country road it will happen in one of three places. And on a stone bridge is one of them. A few seconds difference in time and the meeting would have been on a wider stretch of road. Ah well ... it was a 'no contact' event as we were both travelling slowly enough to negotiate the narrow space available.

The rest of the trip was uneventful despite a lot of ground fog, meaning I couldn't see if I used high beams. 

Sunday dawned bright and sunny. That lasted until about noon. In the morning I picked up Marg and Jane and we attended Remembrance Day services in Gorey. From there it was into the back of beyond - or so it seemed.

There was some hesitation of how to get to The Gap. No - not the store. It is a pub located somewhere that required a lot of driving on fun little roads unbothered by the lack of a centre white line for the most part. Google Maps and Navigation provided assistance.

It also just happened to be the one day of the year of The Hunt!. We had to stop to allow dozens of horses and very trimly dressed riders who were following a pack of hounds. I'm not sure how they arrange for a fox to be in the right place to be followed, or whether there even was a fox. I couldn't get a straight answer.

And to skip ahead a few hours, we met them and had to stop again on the way back. During the intervening hours it was often raining. We were either in a pub or in the car when the rain was heavy. The hunters weren't so lucky but they were a dedicated lot.

The pub was a wonderful very old pub. The decor was eccentric and just what one would ask for in such a place. The story goes that it was once - if I recall correctly - a barracks or a military building of some kind. 

Our table  - I guess they like creative customers

Back part of The Barn at The Gap

At the appointed time, we met Tom Cullen who is a local historian. In between the raindrops we travelled to see some historic sites in the townland of Croghan. This place was subject to evictions in the 1870s. There was no assisted passage for these farmers. The landlord tossed them out with no regard for their future. 

There was even a murder as a tenant tried to resist the eviction of his family.

From the 1880s to the turn of the century a sustained campaign for land reform was carried out by the Land League under Michael Davitt and the Irish Parliamentary party under Parnell. The Croghan evictions took place in 1887 during which a large number of tenants were evicted from the Brooke Estates in Ballyfad and Coolgreany. At this time also John Kinsella of Croghan was murdered by the Emergency men supporting the landlords.

There are some ruins of homes abandoned by the evicted tenants. Others have been restored and renovated. The views are spectacular, leaving me to wonder how anyone could have treated the farmers so cruelly when just looking around should make you feel at peace.

We were in and out between Wicklow and Wexford all afternoon. Here Tom and I are in different counties. I can't remember which of us was in Wicklow and which in Wexford.

It was a truly unique experience being shown a lot of very significant pieces of local history. Tom let us know that he would make himself available again if we wanted to extend this tour.

This morning it was time to exchange the nasty little Opal for a real car. Without much ado, but with lots of rain, I made my way to Wexford and the Hertz office.

I'm now driving a lovely VW Golf. I'd said it didn't matter if it was manual or automatic. It's an automatic. I'll keep it until my return trip to Dublin. It is very peppy and responsive and has a diesel engine. This will save me a LOT of money in fuel. Petrol is about 1.48 a litre and diesel is about 1.38 and provides much better mileage as well.

Once I got back to Moss Cottage and did the laundry, I launched myself back into genealogy land. Those of you not into this, you may return and pick up your day where you left off.

Genealogy alert:

I was merrily reviewing my McDonald-Walsh records but didn't make any progress. Then Marg called with a name and phone number. This might be a lead on my Kehoes. I'd long abandoned the idea of making any progress there.

Well, lo and behold, this person has Kehoes all over her family tree. Once branch has links to the same townland that has been mentioned as probably significant to me. Helen provided all sorts of interesting facts. There seems to be a connection but neither of us can make any particular theory work with the available records. Of course this derailed the McDonalds for the day.

It's now time to call it a day and wind down with my book. It's called Bayonets and Lace, by Barry Redmond. It's set in Co Wexford and begins before the Rebellion of 1798. The author is probably then new owner of Coollattin which may be used as the setting if the book is made into a film. Only time will tell if that happens.