Tuesday April 19: Innishannon, Ireland
Bob: We picked up Lois at 10:50 at the airport and drove back to the B&B to drop off her stuff, then started to track down a family myth. I had earlier asked our hosts at our B&B if they had heard of a place called Derrynagasha. Our great-grandmother Sarah Kingston Holmes's will had said only that it was about 365 acres belonging to her parents and located near Innishannon. Our hosts referred us to Alice Taylor, a resident of Innishannon who had written books about the local countryside, and added that she was usually to be found at a shop in Innishannon. So after unloading Lois's things we drove on to Innishannon where we hoped to find Ms. Taylor and maybe a lead on the land mentioned in the will. |
Monika: After a very good breakfast, we tried out the internet and caught up on our writing. When it was time, we drove to the airport to pick up Lois. The route was becoming familiar. We waited with a few other people at the doors for the flight from London. There were business people to be picked up by their colleagues carrying signs with names. There were families waiting impatiently for friends or family to come home for a visit. And then there were two girls with mother who ran to greet their father, when he arrived. And finally Lois came through the magic doors. We all were happy to see each other. Lois looked tired, which is natural after an overnight flight, and she also was recovering from a rather nasty bout with a cold that had turned into bronchitis. We first drove back to the B&B to get Lois settled and decide what to do next. Since we had arranged to go to the library in Cork the next day, we decided to go to Innishannon, a town about 10 km west. The will of great-grandmother Sarah Kingston Holmes had mentioned a property of about 365 acres named Derrynagasha that was supposedly near Innishannon. Our landlady suggested, trying to find a lady named Alice Taylor who writes local books and knows the area and see whether she could help us. |
Bob: But by this time we were all pretty hungry. Fortunately we found the eponymously named "Found Out" cafe right on the main street and had lunch there. |
Monika: When we got to Innishannon our first order of business was lunch. There was a little cafe, called the "Found Out Cafe". It looked inviting and so we had nice sandwiches with a little salad. They were so big, that Lois and I took half of ours back for the evening meal. |
Bob: After lunch we wandered around Innishannon until we found the town grocery and sundries store, which looked as if it was a place for the local folks. |
Monika: Now that we were refreshed we started to walk along the main street of this charming little town. When we saw a little supermarket, we stopped by for a few more essentials. |
Bob: I asked our clerk if anyone know about Derrynagashee , or could put us in touch with Alice Taylor. At that point the world-famous Irish hospitality kicked into gear as our clerk put in a call to a gentleman, who then went out and fetched Alice Taylor, who then called up John Buckley, who knew all about the farms in the area. He, in turn, drove us around the area southeast Innishannon for almost two hours to find the location of the old farmstead and even an old codger who knew all the folks thereabouts. |
Monika: There Bob and Lois asked about Alice Taylor. She was not in the store, but appeared a few minutes later. When she found out about our quest, she said she knew about the property, but not exactly where it was located (but she could pronounce it correctly with the emphasis on the 'ga'). So she called in a gentleman, John Buckley, who knew where it was. He thought we would not find it by description alone, so we should just follow his car and he would guide us. Following the ever smaller road, I thought, he was correct, we would not have found it! He finally stopped at a farm, that even had a very old stone barn on it. This was the beginning of the land. It was the typical Irish landscape, green rolling pastures, some with cows, divided by hedgerows and a few stands of trees. It truly looked like a postcard. I could not take enough pictures, trying to get at least one that would portrait the beauty and serenity of this landscape. |
Bob: In the end we found the correct area and even a old barn with rough-hewn, mortared stone walls that just might have existed back before the 1880s when the farm presumably passed out of our family's ownership. So it appeared that part of the legends of the Holmes family in Ireland may be true. In any event, the weather was mild and mostly sunny, so we were having a wonderful time just driving around the rural roads of Ireland and enjoying the lush, vividly green scenery. |
Monika: John tried to raise someone to tell us about the families. But nobody was home. So we kept driving along through the old property trying to find anyone at home. Finally on the road called Derrynagasha which marked the end of the property, he found an old codger and we started talking. Unfortunately, he did not know about an absentee landlord from about 150 years ago. |
Bob: John finally escorted us back to the Catholic church in Innishannon because he knew of an old map on the back wall of the church that he thought might have reference to property owners in the area. The church itself was quite pretty and the map was there as promised, but it was dated in the very late 1800s and did not mention my ancestors. |
Monika: John guided us back to town and to the catholic church, which had a nice old map of Innishannon and surroundings and then said goodbye. We thanked him for all the time he had given us. The Irish seem to be as helpful and as generous with their time as the Australians. |
Bob: Lois was suffering from jet lag plus some residual cold symptoms, so by the time we had finished at the church that was enough for the day. We repaired back to our B&B and sat in a large bench swing whilst savoring the bucolic countryside in the valley below. |
Monika: Back at the B&B we brewed some coffee and tea and sat in the swings that were provided enjoying the evening sun, before heading inside for some hot cross buns with cheese. Lois turned in early, while we read a while before turning off the lights. |
| Index |
| Prolog | Map of Transatlantic Cruise | Map of Drive in Ireland | Epilog |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||