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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Ireland - Part 2 - Clogherhead

Longing to return to this beautiful country does not make it easy at times for me to work on my genealogy.  I know that some answers about my family tree rest in Ireland.  When I visited there in 2004, I had no idea that my future desire to find my family tree would become such a consistent project and sometimes an addiction for me.

Below are photos that are slightly more local to my Flanagan and Maguire ancestors of Termonfechin, Louth, Ireland.  Clogherhead is just slightly north of Termonfechin. 

Copyright 2004 - Clogherhead Lifeboat Station
Copyright 2004 - The Lifeboat




The lifeboat in Clogherhead is beach-launched which is rather unique in 
the world of lifeboat rescue, especially in Ireland. 

I had to look up some information about Clogher because you see so many different spellings.  The headland in this location is known as Clogher Head while the village is known as Clogherhead and the townland is known as Clogher, Louth, Ireland.

This area is lovely.  While this part of Ireland runs along the Irish Sea, it is still mainly an agricultural community.  It often strikes me as funny when I recall seeing cows in pastures with beachfront views.  In California, the people hoard the beach views while the cows are in pastures mainly inland.

I've been trying to locate the parochial parish name for Clogher.  That is to say, or ask, is the parish for Clogher called Clogherhead?  It makes a difference when you want to research Roman Catholic Church records at the LDS library.  I have not attempted to do this research but may someday.  I know that there are Maguire's buried in Clogher.  They seem to be my ancestors.

My final comment is about my Kirwan family line.  I just ran across some information online that indicates Kirwan's originating in Louth.  While the family surname of Kirwan is known well in Galway, they were first in Louth.  I find this fascinating and need to research the Kirwan's further.  Maybe my Judith Kirwan and her father, Nicholas Kirwan, from this area of Louth are of these Kirwan's.  I kind of think they are and tracing this line could get interesting.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Ireland - Part 1 - Monasterboice

In the spirit of walking in the footsteps of my ancestors, I thought that I'd share photos right here of my 2004 trip to Ireland.  It is "summer vacation" after all.  My own children have about 3 weeks of vacation left before school begins again.  At that point,  I intend to really dig into my genealogy yet again.  For the next few weeks, I will be cleaning up my family tree and blog indexes.  Let's hope the laptop can keep up with my typing outside on the patio while I watch my children play.

My intent in sharing my Ireland photos here in my blog is to also review what I have.  It has been a while since I looked them over and I never quite know what memories I might find.  And, yes, all of these photos belong to me.

Copyright 2004

The above photo is a high cross at Monasterboice.  It is Mulredach's Cross, one of the most perfect high crosses in Ireland and is believed to be circa 900 A.D.   The condition remains quite excellent even given its age.

Copyright 2004

Above is the round tower at Monasterboice built around the 10th-11th Century

Copyright 2004

Crucifix next to a 14th Century church ruin at Monasterboice
 Monasterboice was a pretty amazing place.  It is located in County Louth, Ireland.  Lots of church and religious history rests here.  It is a beautiful spot.