February 11th: I speak to the local genealogist

I was in a bit of a funk this morning after weighing myself so Ruben persuaded me to go into town and speak with the local genealogist, John Tuohy. We were first informed about Mr. Tuohy by the local grocer at Moroney's. We stopped into the grocer's again this morning and he asked if we had spoken with Mr. Tuohy. When we said that we had not, he offered to call Mr. Tuohy, which he did and we popped round next door to speak with Mr. Tuohy. I told Mr. Tuohy that I was seeking the birth village of my ancestors, the Brownriggs who emigrated around 1853 to Quebec, Canada. There was John Brownrigg, who was born about 1783 and his children, John, George, William, and Anastasia. Mr Tuohy said that he had only heard of that surname once before and it was of a Catholic Bishop Ossuary for Waterford who lived around 1920. We then chatted about the services in Waterford and he recommended that I call first before going there. He said that they had baptismal records going back to 1780. Unfortunately, a lot of records were lost in the revolution of 1920.

February 4th: Dublin to Clogheen

Since we didn't get to sleep until about 4am this morning, we didn't awake until about 12:30pm. We quickly showered and got downstairs to catch the 1pm shuttle to the airport so that we could pick up our rental car. Ruben and I were busy memorizing the route we took because we'd have to drive back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. Our shuttle driver was kind enough to drop us off right at the Hertz rental car door. And the Hertz rental man was so nice. I really should have gotten more photographs of people. With a smile and a wink, he said to Ruben, "You Americans drive on the right side of the road but we drive on the correct side of the road."

February 5th: a day in Clogheen

February 9th: to Waterford

February 10th: to Cahir Castle

We had lunch today at The Hermitage House - a special treat for Ruben and I. This restaurant has been recommended to us by the owner of the rental property and several people from the village of Clogheen. We were the only ones in the restaurant and so got to pick which table to eat at.

Ruben and I both chose roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with strawberry mousse for dessert. The mashed potatoes and gravy were delicious. We were also served Irish soda bread which I've never particularly cared for. I told Ruben that the dwarfs in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series carry dwarf bread with them on all their travels because of its multitude of benefits: it can be used as a weapon and, because it is so hard and tastes like cement, you will eat just about anything else in order to avoid eating dwarf bread.

February 6th: a side trip to Clonmel

After a chilly night at Moonlight, we woke up and wandered around outside the house. It was too dark and drizzling too much last night to clearly see our surroundings. The backyard overlooks a farm while across the street is a delightful sheep farm. Today's excursion was to Clogheen on a mission to obtain the proper power converters and to fill the larder with groceries for the week. I never thought that I would miss a Benny's store as much as I do right now. We're back home by 2pm and we're both online and working remotely!

February 7th: Moonlight at Clogheen

The flowers are called Snowdrops. The roads are very narrow and Ruben has for some reason become a speed demon here. The sheep are across the street from our house and are closest to us around lunch time. I go out and they all turn to stare at me - reminds me of the sheep in Wallace and Grommit.

There is a rainbow just about every day...because it rains just about every day. I am gaga over the old churches and castles.

February 3rd: Flights from Boston to Dublin

We boarded the Hilton shuttle to Logan around 6am Sunday morning and arrived at a pleasantly empty international terminal at Logan. There was NO line at security! I wish that I had taken a photo of this as it's an oddity to see such an empty airport. I did take a photo of Ruben enjoying his breakfast at the terminal.

We boarded our flight on British Airways early and took our seats in Premium Economy. These seats cost a bit more than economy but far less than business or first class. We purchased mostly at my insistence because they promised greater legroom and personal space. Our area of the plane had a 2seats - 4 seats - 2 seats configuration with Ruben and I sitting on the far right side 2 seat area with me next to the window. There were welcome packets containing a blanket, pillow, toothbrush and toothpaste, socks, and eye visor awaiting us in our seats. The stewardess brought around free newspapers - The Daily Mail and the Irish Sun.

I am thrilled with our seats on the plane. Lots of legroom and personal space ... except I have to keep moving Ruben's stuff back to his side. The game, television (Red Dwarf to name one), music (we can listen to full albums of music), and movie selection is amazing. Each seat has its own entertainment console to watch, play, and listen to whatever you want. I love controlling my own destiny :) I know one movie that I want to watch - The Seven Psychopaths. We're getting a full breakfast with sausage, scrambled eggs, ham, mushrooms, tomatoes, yogurt, bread, jam, and a cheese danish. I'm glad that I didn't eat in the terminal. The food is very good and wonder of wonders, we are given real - not plastic - utensils. Ruben is watching The Trouble with the Curve and I'm watching The Seven Psychopaths. I didn't realize that The Seven Psychopaths was a comedy. Or maybe it's not and I have a twisted sense of humor. I must have laughed out loud because one of the stewardesses came by and asked if I'd be interested in filling out a survey. I said "sure" and put the survey aside to return to watching my movie. Maybe it will be a guarantee of good service. I finish watching The Seven Psychopaths and move on to watch Lincoln. I told Ruben after watching Lincoln that I was struck with the greatness of Lincoln and the people surrounding him at the time. His pursuit of the passing of the 13th amendment while embroiled in the Civil War shows a bull-headed determination and clarity of purpose. I enjoyed discovering Senator Thaddeus Stevens and the only fact that I could quote about Secretary of State Seward was that he negotiated the purchase of Alaska (the so-called "Seward's Folly"). I didn't know that he was instrumental in helping to get the 13th amendment approved. Watching these two movies made the flight pass incredibly quickly. We had to circle around Heathrow for a bit because the airport was jammed but we arrived not too much later than our scheduled time. The rest of the night was a bit more chaotic and stressful. Our flight to Dublin was delayed and no gate was shown when we arrived.

The night before...

Our trip began Saturday night, February 2nd, 2013 at the Logan Airport Hilton in Boston, MA. Spending the night before our flight at a hotel that has a free shuttle to the airport saves us hours of sleep and eliminates worry of a car malfunction the day of our flight. Our son, John, dropped us and our mounds of luggage off and after a fierce goodbye hugs from Ruben and myself he returned home. Ruben and I were in a bit of a funk that night knowing that we wouldn't see Kristin or John for two months.

Here's what our room looked like. I would have preferred to post a photo of John but he is a difficult one to capture via photo.