Summer in the Wild West

New York

It's been almost a decade since I've been in Ireland.

The reason I went then was to find my ancestors--the Whalens from Waterford; the Dwyers and Holloways from Carlow. I found the church in Carlowtown where my great-great-grandmother, Ann Dwyer, and great-great-grandfathe, James Holloway,r were married in 1839. I walked to the harbor in Dublin where they boarded a tiny packet in April, 1850, and headed to New York with their
5 children. I was named after the youngest, Mary Holloway, who was 3 months old when she arrived in the new land.

I considered those two findings well worth the trip.

On Friday, I'm going to Ireland again. This time, I won't be taking my computer with my genealogy program. This time, I'm going to visit friends, wander the Aran Islands, bike along the Burren in County Clare, down some Guiness.

So, dear readers, I'll be off line for a couple of weeks...reading some Yeats, even a little Joyce and soaking up the beauty of the land, the people, the promise.

This time, I consider those adventures well worth the trip.

See you then.

M.C.