Day 64 - Banagher to Dublin Airport

8 June 2023

I write this sitting at Dublin airport about to start the long flights home. What a treat this whole trip has been, and I feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to share these experiences with Rog and Mum. It has certainly been a ‘trip of a lifetime’.

We were able to squeeze in one final castle today, and chose to explore Malahide Castle and Gardens, just outside of Dublin. The Talbot family built the castle and lived in it for almost 800 years. The family is now dispersed around the world, including in Canada, England and Tasmania, but luckily the castle and gardens have been preserved and open to the public. Entry to the castle is via a tour, and our tour leader was very animated and a great storyteller (it was probably the best castle tour that we have done this trip). We learnt about the ghosts that inhabit the castle, and a French settee that has room for a courting couple to sit well apart and includes an extra seat on the end for the chaperone. War seems to be a theme that runs through Ireland (and the UK), and the Talbot family were no exception – during one battle they lost 14 members of their family.

Photos from Malahide Castle. Top right photo shows the courting settee. Bottom left shows the table set for a dinner party (note the interesting placement of the bread-and-butter plate and knife. Bottom right photo shows the St Leger Coat of Arms which was on a Roll of Battle 1066 manuscript displayed in the castle.

The gardens were vast and well patronaged by the locals. We saw a fashion photo shoot and a wedding party in the grounds, plus lots of families enjoying time together. There was a section of the garden that was planted with New Zealand plants (some doing better than others) and included a Maori whare and a carving. There were also a couple of very large Australian eucalyptus trees.

Malahide Castle gardens. The tower looking structure in bottom left photo is a bell tower that was built in the 18th century as a folly.

The drive today was very complicated, and we were on a total of 17 different route numbers during the two hours it took us to travel from Banagher to Malahide Castle. Unless you are just travelling between major cities, navigation in Ireland is not simple and requires multiple changes in routes. I would have been very lost without my chief navigator’s very clear instructions. We have driven a total of 1265km over the last eight days in Ireland – most of it jumping between 120km/h motorways of excellent condition and narrow, winding country lanes. It has definitely been an adventure, and my left leg is looking forward to having a break from clutch work.

In the 64 days of my trip, I have been so lucky with the weather, having had only one day with any significant rain. That rainy day was when Rog and I visited Balmoral Castle, and we both felt that the rain added to the mystic of the highland location. How lucky am I!

Day 63 - Clifden to Banagher

7 June 2023

The Connemara area of Ireland has the most spectacular scenery, and we have been very lucky to see it in the best possible weather. This morning we started with an early morning drive along the Sky Road which offers stunning panoramic views over Clifden Bay and the offshore islands. People in Ireland seem to stay up late at night and get up late in the morning, so we had the drive pretty much to ourselves. Thank goodness because there were some very narrow sections with no real places to pass. It is considered one of the most beautiful roads in Ireland, and it wasn’t difficult to see why.

Stunning views from the Sky Road.

We thought that it would be difficult to top the Sky Road, but Kylemore Abbey gave it a good run for its money! Kylemore Castle was built in 1868 as a home for the Henry family, on the edge of a lake surrounded by soaring mountains. Kylemore Abbey is a Benedictine Monastery founded in 1920 on the grounds of the castle by Benedictine nuns who fled Belgium in WWI, and until recently was also a Catholic girls boarding school. The grounds include the abbey which has very informative displays detailing the building’s history as both a family home and an abbey, a Gothic chapel built as a memorial for Mrs Henry, a 6-acre Victorian walled garden, and stunning woodlands and walking tracks. It was a lovely place to spend a few hours and felt very much like the Scottish Highlands with the abbey being nestled in a glacial valley surrounded by rocky mountains.

Beautiful Kylemore Abbey. The centre photo is of the Gothic Church (complete with sheep). Bottom right photo was taken on the drive after we had left the abbey. The scenery today was amazing.

This evening we are staying in Banagher on the Shannon River, which is only a couple of hours away from Dublin airport. The B&B we are staying in, Charlotte’s Way, was built in the 1700s and is full of charm and character, with a connection to the Bronte family.

Day 62 - Fermoy to Clifden

6 June 2023

Today we drove the 260km from Fermoy up to Clifden on the west coast of County Galway. We stopped for a break at a beautiful park Coole Park, between Limerick and Galway. Coole Park used to be the home of Lady Gregory, who was a dramatist and folklorist. She surrounded herself with writers, such as George Bernard Shaw, Sean O’Casey and William Butler Yeats, and there is a fascinating (and free!) museum telling her story through the eyes of her granddaughters. We walked through the park to the seasonal lake, called a turlough, and on the way got talking to an Irishman and his three boys. It came up in the conversation that we feel that Irish drivers drive very fast, and he was somewhat surprised by this comment. I explained that when I am obeying the speed limit, especially when encountering road works, cars are flying past me. He laughed and told us that the speed limits are “merely suggestions”, and that the Irish are rule breakers at heart. No wonder I feel that I am slowing everyone down – however this little Kiwi will continue to follow the road rules!

Top two photos were taken at Coole Park. Bottom two photos were taken in Connemara.

Clifden is a little town on the Atlantic Coast in the Connemara area with a genuine Irish feel to it, which is no doubt why it is chocka full of tourists. Mum and I spent a lovely afternoon exploring the town including the Christ Church (which surprisingly was open and empty), the Town Hall where we heard children having music lessons on traditional Irish instruments, the tiny and very tidal harbour, brightly coloured homes, and a wide variety of tourist shops, pubs, and cafes. This evening we sat out in the town square, eating dinner and watching the tourists go by. The pub across the road was beckoning us, so we headed over and got front row seats while a talented Irish duo played wonderfully toe-tapping traditional Irish music. It was a lot of fun and there was plenty of audience participation, especially from the Americans in the crowd. Clifden is certainly livelier than Fermoy was, and I am very grateful that we have been able to experience the more fun side of Ireland.

The delightful town of Clifden - very colourful buildings.

The countdown is on, and we only have a couple more days before we fly out. Tomorrow we are planning to do the Sky Road before we start heading east again.

Day 61 - Kinsale

5 June 2023

The Emerald Isle was once again bathed in sunshine, and we did our best to make the most of the sunny weather. First thing we did was head south of Cork City to Summer Cove which is just outside of Kinsale. We approached Summer Cove from the top of the hill, where the old Rincurran Church is found with glorious views across the harbour. Mum’s 4^th Gt Grandfather, Rev John Bagwell Creagh, was the Rector at Rincurran Church from 1829 until his death in 1846. There were many family weddings at this church, including Dr William Davies and Isabella Gethin Creagh in 1829. We were very lucky to find the gravestone of Rev John Bagwell Creagh, who is buried with his wife, Gertrude, and their daughter Rebecca. It felt very special to have visited this location that was, at one point, such an important focus for our ancestors.

We then drove down into Summer Cove itself, via an insanely narrow road with houses on both sides touching the road and nowhere to pass. So pleased when we got through this section and then found a large car park area up the top of the other side. I’m sure if Rog had been driving, I would have been squealing in the passenger seat – thankfully Mum was very quiet! We parked up and then walked back down to the cove itself. It reminded us of a very tiny version of Staithes, with houses and pub close to the waters edge, a small beach, and glorious views across to Kinsale. We must have sat there in the sun for close to an hour, just chatting with the locals, watching the yachts sailing in and out of the harbour, watching families in the water swimming and kayaking, and generally just soaking up the atmosphere (and sunshine). Behind the pub is a house called Creagh House, which we suspect was the family home while John was the rector at the church. If this is the case, then it is in this house that Mum’s 2^nd Gt Grandmother, Gertrude Anne Eliza Davies, was born in 1830.

Top left photo is myself at Ringcurran Church with the Creagh grave, bottom left is Mum outside Creagh house. Right photo is looking back at Summer Cove - water is to the left of the photo, pub is the orange building, church is up the hill showing on the top left of the photo.

Up the top of the hill heading towards the habour entrance (where the large carpark was thankfully previously found) is a very large fort called Charles Fort, which has defences dated from 1682 and was still in use during the First World War. It looks quite small from the road but is surprising huge once you go inside and start exploring. Its high location overlooking the habour is fabulous and the photos definitely don’t do it justice.

This area of Kinsale was stunning, and it is somewhere that I would very much like to further explore at some stage.

Before heading back to our accommodation in Fermoy, we took a little detour to Bridgetown Abbey, the ruins of a 13^th-century monastery located near Castletownroche. Down yet another very narrow road (Ireland seems to be full of them!), the abbey is quite well preserved and has the most amazing little cloister still intact. There are graves within the abbey walls – both some very old and some recent ones, and some of the window surrounds have survived. A short walk over a field from the abbey there was a river with lots of families enjoying picnics, BBQs, and swimming. Perfect day for it.

 Top left photo is from Summer Cove looking over towards Kinsale. Middle top photo is taken from the fort, looking towards the habour entrance. Top right photo shows the crazy road that I drove down. Bottom middle and right photos were taken at Bridgetown Abbey (Mum with the cloister).

Tomorrow we leave our accommodation at Fermoy, and head further north towards Galway. Hopefully the weather continues to be nice to us.

Day 60 - Macroom and Surrounds

4 June 2023

This was the day that we finally made it to Macroom, the town where our Pearson and Davies families were centred in the late 1700s/early 1800s. It took us about two hours to get there because we opted to take the quieter (and narrower!) rural roads which took us up hills, down into valleys, and through some very tiny villages. There were a couple of times where Mum and I started doubting the GPS as we turned into tiny little lanes, but we eventually made it and got to see parts of Ireland well off the tourist track. Macroom itself is bigger than we expected, and very pretty with a market square (actually more a triangle), very old castle gates, colourfully painted houses, lots of pubs, and very fast drivers! We arrived late morning on a Sunday and the town was fairly deserted and nearly everything was closed. However, once the Catholic Church service finished, town was suddenly bustling, and the pubs all started to open and fill up.

We visited St Mary’s Church to see if we could find any graves of our Pearson or Davies relations, and while we did find one Pearson grave, we were unable to find anymore. Apparently there is a vault underneath the church where Christopher Pearson (Mum’s 6^th Gt Grandfather) was buried in 1767. The current church was built in the early 1800s, but on the same site as the old one. We were hoping that with it being a Sunday the church would be open, but it wasn’t. We asked for help at a local pub and were told that the church is currently being renovated and will eventually be opening as a community centre. The local council have a key and would have let us in, but of course they are closed for the weekend. Next time!

Clockwise from top left: view from the top of a range just outside of Macroom; St Mary's Church in Macroom; colourful Macroom houses; Macroom Castle gates.

About 3km out of Macroom is the location of Mount Cross House, where the formidable “Big Mrs Pearson” had lived, along with many other Pearsons starting with the Christopher Pearson mentioned above. With some help from locals, we were able to find the original house but were not keen to enter through closed gates to walk up the drive. Luckily we could view the back of the house from the road, and we got a good idea of what the estate would have been like. It has been subdivided so there are more houses surrounding the old house than there would have been in the Pearson’s time. It took a bit of searching to find it, so for anyone in the future looking for Mount Cross House, its towards Macroom on the western side of the R582 just down from the crossroads where the R582 meets the L3416/L3417 roads.

15km southeast of Macroom is Kilcondy House, where Dr William Davies and his wife Isabella Gethin Creagh (Mum’s 3^rd Gt Grandparents) lived just before the emigrated from Ireland to New Zealand. We were very brave and drove down the long narrow driveway to see what remained of the house. After passing a modern house, we came to the ruin of Kilcondy House. It must have been a grand house in its time, but there is now not much left of it. While we were there, we met some walkers and another car with people looking for their dog – not too sure why I was so nervous driving up a stranger’s driveway, it seems to be a ‘thing’ over here. Again, for anyone in the future looking for what’s left of Kilcondy House, it’s off the N22, down from the Shandangan Crossroad, and just past the Lee Valley Equestrian Centre.

The top photos are of Kilcondy House, the bottom photo is Mount Cross House.

Today we were definitely off the beaten track and trying to find some very obscure locations. I am very lucky to have had a ‘navigator extraordinaire’ guiding me (i.e. Mum!).

After yesterday’s very long day, it was quite nice to have a slightly shorter day today and have some time to catch up on writing and washing. Not too sure yet where we might go tomorrow but are thinking of perhaps heading down to Kinsale which is just south of Cork City. Kinsale is where Isabella Gethin Creagh’s father, Rev John Bagwell Creagh, died (he’s the one who built The Hermitage house that we visited yesterday), and where Mum’s 2^nd Gt Grandmother, Gertrude Anne Eliza Davies, was born in 1830.

Day 59 - Doneraile

3 Jun 2023

Today was exceptional and full of surprises. We started the day at Doneraile, where Mum’s St Leger family lived, firstly in a castle, and then in Doneraile Court which was built in the late 1600s. Doneraile Court was in the St Leger family until the mid 20^th century and is now open to the public, along with its extensive parkland. Mum and I were lucky enough to have a private tour through the house, and it was thrilling to see a large family tree on the wall that included Mum’s 8^th Gt Grandparents, Randolph Gethin and Mary St Leger, and went back to the St Leger ancestor who come out of Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066. Crazy stuff! The house itself has been lovingly restored, and the grounds were full of trees, fields, deer, lakes and walking tracks. It didn’t have the colourful gardens that we saw in Scotland and England but was still beautiful and pleasant to explore (as lots of people were since it is a holiday weekend here).

Some photos of Doneraile Court and its grounds.

Doneraile village itself is charming with very old buildings, including St Mary’s Church that the St Leger family built, and Creagh House which belonged to another arm of Mum’s family.

From top left, clockwise: St Leger Arms in Doneraile main street; carriages in Doneraile Court stables; the driveway at Laurentinum House; St Mary's Church in Doneraile

Just around the corner was a long driveway leading to Laurentinum House which is situated on the banks of the Awbeg River. This house was built by Mum’s 6^th Gt Grandfather, Michael Creagh, in the early 1740s, and was where all his children were born. You can’t see the house from the road, so we parked the car and walked down the very long and winding driveway hoping to get a glimpse of the house (hoping the owner wouldn’t jump out with a shot gun!). We were nearly at the house when we came across the owner, Michael Smith, weeding. Michael and his wife Eileen are such lovely people and were very willing to show us around the house, both inside and out. The house has been in Eileen’s family for about a one hundred years (she has lived here all her life), and they are putting considerable effort into restoring and preserving the house. The house is a nicely proportioned Georgian style building which is flooded with light from the large windows in every room. We felt so privileged to be able to explore the house that our ancestor built so long ago. Since this is a private house, I have decided not to include any photos.

Mum and I knew of the nearby Hermitage House on the townland of Ballyandrew, which Mum’s 4^th Gt Grandfather, Rev. John Bagwell Creagh had built in the early 1800s. Again, we parked on the road and walked down the driveway hoping to see the house. The lovely farmer, Seamus, had just arrived home and insisted that join him inside for a cup of tea with his mother and aunt. His aunt was 96 and his mum was 90 and had lived in Hermitage House all of their lives. They knew of the reverend, that he had died at Kinsale, and of the Creagh family in general. Seamus’ brother, Domhnall arrived home and organised for us to visit the private Creagh graveyard, as well as the private Creagh Castle and gardens which were at a separate property. He then insisted on driving us around to these locations, which was probably just as well because Mum and I would have got horribly lost. We are so lucky, as I would imagine so few people get to visit these sites. The Creagh Castle was down a very long drive which had an extremely impressive entrance gateway that was constructed in 1827. The castle itself consisted of a defensive tower, and we very bravely climbed the many stairs, past various great halls, up to the very top. The view over the valley and beyond was spectacular. Again, since we were on private property, I won’t include any photos.

Today we meet lots of people who were so kind and went out of their way to make us feel welcome and to help us explore our family’s roots. We are so very lucky!

Day 58 - Dublin to Fermoy

2 Jun 2023

This morning we had a final walk around the Temple Bar area of Dublin. It is a part of Dublin that is full of colour and interesting sights, such as the cannons at the entrance to the Bank of Ireland!

 

Some sights around Dublin, including the cannons on the steps of the Bank of Ireland, and Mum having an intelligent conversation with some locals.

Our rental car is a lot more basic than the one we had in Scotland/England. No GPS, no air conditioning (not good for the planned hottest weekend of the year!), and basic stick shift – but it’s very easy to drive and has a proper hand brake (reminds me of my Colt), so I think it will do us well. Just got a bit hot today, and I’m really wishing that I didn’t give Rog my shorts to take back home with him after Turkey.

Our first stop after we left Dublin was in a charming village called Clonmel, about a two-hour drive south of Dublin. We knew that our Bagwell ancestors had lived in this area in the 1700s but didn’t really plan to do any family investigating, instead thinking that we would use Clonmel as a lunch stop and then keep going down to Fermoy. During lunch we did a bit of reading up on the Bagwell family and discovered that they were possibly buried in the old St Mary’s Church about a 10-minute walk away. We decided to wander up to the church for a look around, but on the way passed a lovely old building that looked like a marketplace and had been turned into a museum. We popped our head in to ask what the building was and very quickly found out that it had belonged to the Bagwell family (as did most of the town and beyond, apparently). The lovely lady in the museum explained the history of Clonmel to us and in particular the history of the building, which turned out to be called The Main Guard as it used to house the Bagwell militia. She then told us about Marlfield church (where she had married), about 3 km out of town, and the Marlfield House which was built by the Bagwell family. Apparently, the whole village of Marlfield had been built by the family. She also told us that there were Bagwell memorials inside the old St Mary’s Church. If we hadn’t popped inside The Main Guard, we wouldn’t have found out how big a connection our family had to this area. It was such an amazing situation for Mum and me.

The old St Mary’s Church turned out to be equally amazing. It is set in a very well maintained, ancient graveyard, surrounded by the originally town wall. Stunning! Unfortunately, it was not open, however there were workmen working on the shutters of the bell tower. Mum approached the foreman to see if he knew if the caretaker was around, but he wasn’t as he had left early for the holiday weekend. However, the foreman then offered to let us into the church anyway! It was such a special moment to walk into the church and find memorials to our Bagwell family on the wall by the altar. Definitely a ‘pinch me’ scenario for us.

Top left photo is the main pedestrian area of Clonmel, top right is The Main Guard. Middle and bottom left photos are of old St Mary's Church (the Bagwell memorial is to the right of the stained-glass window). Bottom right photo is part of the old city wall in Clonmel. 

We then drove out to Marlfield and visited Marlfield House which was built by John Bagwell in the early 1800s. It is looking a bit sad – currently broken up into apartments and very run down. It is currently for sale for 1.35 million Euros, and apparently would take about another 1 million Euros to renovate it back to it previous glory. It must have been so impressive when it was looked after. We also popped over to see the very quaint Marlfield Church, which is built on the site of an old abbey. Apparently, Bagwell used the stones from the abbey to build The Main Guard, so there is no longer any trace of the original abbey on site.

Top left photo is the Bagwell memorial inside the old St Mary's Church in Clonmel. Top right photo is Marlfield House. Middle photo is the driveway up to Marlfield Church. Bottom photos are taken in Fermoy.

After all of this excitement, we continued our drive south to Fermoy, which will be our base for the next four nights as we explore County Cork.