Dublin - September 26th

After breakfast we headed into Dublin and parked at the St Stephens Green Shopping Centre. We then walked to the Hop On/Hop Off bus and took a bus tour around the town. We saw a number of Churches (Christ Church, St. Patricks, St Aouden), Phoenix Park, the Guinness Storehouse, the Jameson Distillery and O’Connell Street and the GPO which featured prominently in the Irish resistance of 1916. We then went to Bewleys for a light lunch.

Following this and a bit of shopping, we took the car south towards Avoca. It was a bit late by the time we got there considering our 6:30 dinner date. However, it was great to see in person the village and environs, which are very scenic. We then drove back to the apartment.

A quick turnaround later we left for the bar where we to meet Dermot, Hugh & Rory (cousins) for a dinner. Due to some discrepancies between the address on the website and the actual address, it proved difficult to find. However, with some basic detective work and the assistance of a local taxi driver we managed to get there an hour late. We found Hugh & Rory, but Dermot was dealing with a vehicle breakdown problem and was even later still. So in real terms, we were on time.

We sat about and talked about various subjects, mostly dealing with Ireland and Bermuda, having some laughs and some interesting conversations, even on such subjects as rugby. Dinner was quite nice in the midst. Meanwhile, Manchester United was playing Newcastle United on the screen, and Liam watched the game on and off. Final score Man U 2, Newcastle 1. Maybe next time…..

Dublin - September 25th

So apparently I turned 40 today. There was a banner over the mirror in the living room, announcing that fact, and a few cards at breakfast. We had an earlyish start and went to Trinity College Dublin to see the Book of Kells, a 1200 year old book of gospels and some related books. Part of the exhibit showed how the books were illuminated and bound. We also visited the Long Room, the library above the Book of Kells Exhibit.

We then went to Bewleys for a light lunch. I had a sultana Danish and a mixed fruit crumble with ice cream. It was great! Liam ate most of his Grandma’s mixed berry scone. Marisa seemed to enjoy her chocolate croissant. Following this we all did a bit of shopping and Marisa and I went to the Irish Dancing Museum. Afterwards me, my dad and Liam headed back to the apartment while Marisa and my mom walked in the rain.

In the evening, we travelled to the Merry Ploughboy Pub for dinner. The Merry Ploughboys performed some traditional Irish folk music and there was also Irish dancing. The dinner was very nice. I had a vegetable soup and lamb shank, with potatoes and vegetables.  Liam enjoyed the first ½ hour and then got quite upset with something. However, he calmed down by the second half and was dancing and clapping his hands to the music. During the Merry ploughboys second set, they wished me Happy Birthday. At the end of the show, as the room danced past our table in a conga line, many people wished me the best. All in all a successful day.

Dublin - September 24th

Today began and ended with rain. We decided to use a wet weather programme. So my Mom, Marisa and Liam went to the National Gallery, and Dad and I went to the National Library of Ireland. After having a short look around the Library, we took out a microfiche of the Church records from Valleymount. To our surprise, we quite easily came across several names of ancestors from the Valleymount and Blackditches area. We headed back to the apartment for lunch and then Dad and I continued our search online. We found a few census records that gibed with the information we received.

Mom and Dad went for a walk in the very cold rain later on in the afternoon.

Dermot and Laura came to dinner. Dermot brought photocopies of birth and marriage records for the Irish side of the family, a tree to the mid-1800s and a few other gems of information. I have not had the time to investigate it all, but it could answer or at least begin to answer a few family legends that have been passed down, including possibly who the stone carver was that produced some of the stonework at St Patricks Cathedral in New York. Overall it was a very interesting evening.

Blessington - Valleymount - Wicklow Pass - Glendalough - Laragh, County Wicklow - September 23rd

We decided to get an early morning start (in relative terms). We had breakfast and then headed out at about 10:00. We drove to Blessington and then off to Valleymount. We stopped on the way at a couple of vista points on the reservoir to take a few photos and look around. We tried to feed and photograph a rook, but only achieved a few blurry pictures. We arrived in Valleymount at about 11:30 and took the track to the reservoir next to St Joseph’s Church. There were a number of fishing lines set up with no visible signs of their being attended. However a dog did run up to investigate us, and having had a good sniff decided to go off where it had come from.

We got back to the church just as the service was ending and waited until everyone had exited before we went in to have a look around. We then walked down the street to the car. Following this we drove towards the town of Hollywood. We took a detour to look for a power station, but never found either the town or the power station.

From there we headed to Glendalough via the Wicklow Pass. At least this time the clouds were not completely shrouding the hills. We stopped at the saddle at the top to look down at the valleys below. Down the hill we stopped at the visitor’s centre for the St Kevin’s Way. However it was soon decided that lunch was a bit more important, so we went off to the Wicklow Heather Restaurant, where we had been 5 years ago. They were quite full, but did have a table available for us. The meals were once again excellent and each of us enjoyed them. Liam made a lot of friends, with one couple next door giving him a bag of white chocolate buttons.

From here we drove to Laragh, where we again went to the woollen mill. Grandma and Grandpa bought Liam a “maaa” (a lamb stuffed animal toy). We then drove back to Dublin, stopping at a Tesco’s to buy a few things. My dad and I sat in the car outside. Then an alarm went off and a few minutes later the Gardai arrived and took away a guy in handcuffs. Marisa and my mom didn't even realise that anything had happened in the store.

Now we are back at the apartment preparing a light supper. Mom and Dad are presently entertaining Liam with a number of stories.

Dublin - September 22nd

We had a lovely night's sleep... thank goodness! Liam woke up maybe twice in the night and after some milk went back to sleep quickly. Once we got up we had a lazy morning in our apartment around the breakfast table. We were going to meet up with Aidan's dad's 1st cousin, Dermot, around lunchtime so we decided to head into the city center for the morning. Aidan's mom wanted to walk in so I joined her and we would meet up with the men at St. Stephen's Green.

The walk was superb. We walked past Aviva Stadium and then past where I took a course in 2003. We then walked through the neighbourhood that I walked every day for class and across the canal and quickly into the city center. Once we got there we didn't see anyone so we then walked around the outside of St. Stephen's Green. Apparently, Aidan then drove through as we came around the corner.... but we didn't manage to meet up with them for another 45 minutes. Yeah, between parking and figuring out what Aidan meant by 'passing the National Gallery to get to St. Stephen's Green', we didn't meet up for quite a while. It got to the point that Aidan's mom and I split up and while I found the car, she ended up walking through Grafton Street. Thankfully, when we finally got together and called Dermot he had not left home yet.

We met up with Dermot and Laura in Ballsbridge for lunch. It was great seeing Dermot again and Aidan was so excited to see him and his dad finally meet each other. We went to Roly's and had an amazing lunch. The conversation was even more wonderful as Dermot, Simon and Aidan shared family information. Laura surprised us with a Strawberry cheesecake for our anniversary and we made sure everyone got to share it. We stayed at the restaurant talking for hours. Aidan moved the car once and the second time we decided to move the conversation to the apartment. Mary and I walked back to the apartment while everyone else drove (we beat them!). The conversation continued well into the evening. We're going to get together for another evening during the week. Everyone is already looking forward to it.