The End

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

It was sad to say goodbye to Ireland, especially because there is still so much work that can be done.  But we need to leave things for others to do, right?  

Tuesday morning, we enjoyed our last full Irish breakfast.  For those of you who have had full English breakfasts, they are one and the same.  And they are awesome.  The B&B might not have been the best in the world (no air conditioning), but the location and the breakfasts were great.  And parking was free.  And talk about secure!  

We had prepared forms for ordering 40 records the night before, and Rich and Reed had worked late into the night to organize the requests for the remaining records we needed from GRO.  We were worried about finding parking at GRO, but Liz's parking fairy, Celeste, was with her.  For a moment we thought Celeste had deserted her post when a Mercedes pulled right into the spot where Liz was parallel parking (that was not a nice thing to do, sir), but the taxi parked right in front of that pulled out, and Liz was able to park. Thank you, Celeste!  

Famine Memorial in Dublin

We were so anxious to get to work that we walked right into the lobby, ready to head up in the elevator, but we were stopped short by the receptionist - not open yet!  We arrived at 9:05, and the doors don't open until 9:30.  So, we hustled over to the Quays and took pictures of the Famine Memorial statues.  They are haunting.  Then back to GRO, right at 9:30 (Reed timed us for everything). 

Okay, here's the low-down on GRO:  

• If you want to use the books to do a general search, it's 20 euros per person.  
• If you want to do a search for only a five-year period, it's 2 euros.  
• If you only want to order copies of records, there is no search charge, BUT there is a charge of 4 euros per copy - always.
• If you want the copies that day, you can only get five per person, BUT if you leave the order forms and pay the 4-euro per copy charge they will mail you the copies. 
• There is no extra charge for mailing.
• You have to give them the order forms in person; you cannot request them by mail or via email.  WHAT?  In this day and age?

Ready to get to work!

So, we got our 25 copies (plus the 10 Rich and Reed had picked up the night before), and left orders for 60 more records, which will be mailed to Rich - 95 records ordered in total.  We also picked up extra forms because orders could be filled out here in Utah, ready to drop off at GRO by the next group; we could save some time that way.  Of course, there would be no instant gratification (holding the records in your hands), but it's an option to consider.  

And, then it was time to head to the airport, turn in the car, and do a little last minute shopping at WH Smith and Irish Memories in the terminal before going through U.S. pre-clearance customs.  Yes, in Dublin, you clear U.S. customs right there in the airport so that you don't have to do it at JFK.  It was slick.  The best part of the whole trip for Liz was when she was upgraded to first class on the Dublin-JFK leg of the trip.  Can you believe that?  Celeste was making up for allowing that Mercedes to pull into her parking spot.  Way to go, Celeste!

That is our report.  We are anxious to share photos and videos with you and will be putting them on the SmugMug and YouTube accounts soon.  We feel like we had a very successful trip, even though we didn't find some of the records we hoped to for Hugh's family.  We eliminated certain avenues and have documented those avenues carefully so that others will not waste time researching them. That's important as well.  We will present a full report at the family meeting in September, and Liz will be contacting all of you to arrange that meeting.

We appreciate all of your support and the many prayers that were said on our behalf.  Love you all! 

Wrapping Things Up

Monday, 29 July 2013

Our last full day in Ireland was spent wrapping some things up and starting on a new project.  After checking out of our B&B, we spent 15 minutes at St McCarten's Cathedral in Monaghan.  They were celebrating the ordination of a new priest, a rare occurrence these days.  St. McCarten's is a beautiful church and has beautiful stained glass windows.  It has no ties to our family, but it was still worth the stop.  Kathy took some great photos, the best of the trip, but only she will be able to see them in her mind's eye because she discovered there was no memory card in her camera - about 10 miles down the road.  Darn!

McKenna headstone
at Newtownsaville
Cemetery

Our next objective was to talk with Eugene Hackett in Newtownsaville about burial records.  When we reached the Hackett store, Aunt Kathy and Rich went into the store so we wouldn't overwhelm Eugene.  Turns out Eugene isn't well, and so they talked to Patricia, his daughter.  She showed them the burial records, and then told them that the records are not complete.  To try to get a better record, they recorded the headstones and then set a date to meet at the cemetery where families could tell them about their family plots.  Of course, many families did not show up - some because they had left the area, others because all the family members had died, and others for whatever reason.  We went again to the cemetery (we'd been there before) just to look at the McKenna headstones one more time.

With Brendan McKenna
on the land where Hugh
McKenna lived

We tried to call Brendan McKenna to see if we could meet with him, but there was no answer.  But you know how it is when a strange phone number shows up on caller id and you don't answer the phone?  Well, we thought that might be the case, and so we drove over to his house, hoping that the third time would be the charm.  And it was!  Brendan was able to tell us his father and grandfather's names, Michael and Johnny, and wished he knew more.  We told him that we would share whatever we found with him, and we hope that we can find something TO share!  Once again, it was awesome to meet with a cousin, and we KNOW that he is one.  That is our quinnly opinion (see previous post for definition of "quinnly").  Oh, and guess what?  Besides being a farmer, Brendan is also the gravedigger for the Newtonsaville cemetery.  

The group with Mary McKenna
at her home, an old church
where Hugh and Mary might
have been married

Next on our agenda was a visit to the Martin and Mary McKenna home in Clogher.  Remember that their home is in the old church where perhaps Hugh and Mary were married?  Mary was trying to help us connect with Father Dawson, the parish priest, about church records that might not be available in PRONI. Unfortunately, he had not returned her phone call, but she is going to continue to follow up with him.  She very kindly gave us a tour of their home, and it is beautiful.  They have done most of the work themselves or have designed what they've had built, like the front door.  It is so cool!  Mary is now family, and we wish we had had more time to spend with them.  We wish them the very best of luck in the All Ireland competition.  

Liz and Aunt Kathy
at Trinity College
in Dublin

Our goal was to leave for Dublin by 1:00 so that we might have time for one group to go to GRO to look for some records and the other group to go see the Book of Kells.  We made it to everything, although the three of us at Trinity College had to wait in line in a downpour, sharing one small umbrella, for 30 minutes.  We then met up in the Temple Bar region and had Todd's favorite lamb stew.  Todd, it really was delicious.

That evening, the two Kathys and Liz filled out forms to order records at GRO, and Rich and Reed worked on the spreadsheet so that we could quickly order the remaining records in the morning.  It was a race to the finish!

Return to Mullabrack

Sunday, 28 July 2013

It was back to Mullabrack on Sunday for church and to have another look at the records. Some of the records we photographed were ones we already had from PRONI, but the copies are so much better.  The lines from the microfilm show up so badly on the printouts that it makes it hard to read, so we were glad to get photos of the originals.  

Our group being
greeted by
Rev Neville Hughes
at Mullabrack Church

Once again we were made to feel so welcome at the Mullabrack Church.  The best thing about Ireland has been the people; they are friendly and kind.  Reverend Neville Hughes gave another good sermon, which we enjoyed, and it was good to see the folks we'd met the previous week.

One of Rich's favorite comments of the trip was spoken by Lewis Singleton, one of the parishioners at Mullabrack.  He said that all Americans want to know where they came from, and Rich asked if he thought we were mad (crazy).  Lewis responded, "No, just insecure."  But he also said that it makes them curious about their genealogy.  So, we are a good influence, even if we ARE insecure!

After church, after copying records, after a very quick lunch, we met with Lewis Singleton.  He shared information about his Singleton family and then took us to meet his Aunt Freda and Uncle William. 

Lewis Singleton and his aunt,
Freda Singleton Mulldrew

 His aunt has done family history work on the Singleton family, and we wanted to learn from her.  We had a wonderful visit and felt very blessed to be in their home.  It's hard to describe how warm and inviting people are here.  They are so willing to take time, and we have truly benefitted from that.  When we left, we felt that we were leaving family.

The McKenna kids
playing with their friends
in an impromptu session
in the streets of Dromore

After our visit, we drove to Newtownsaville to see if we could speak with Eugene Hackett about burial records and Brandon McKenna about the McKenna land. Neither one of them were home, and so we went on to Dromore to visit with the McKenna family band who had played on Friday night at the rally.  The kids were performing at a big music festival, and their mother, Mary, had invited us to come if we were able.  The competition was over by the time we arrived, and we learned that they were winners for all of Ulster.  They will now go on to compete in the All Ireland competition.  It is a really big deal.  Pretty cool, eh? The kids played music in the street with their friends, and it was so fun to watch!

Lots of driving yesterday, and lots of talking.  Liz said that the hallmark of this trip has been meeting and spending time in people's homes - making connections.  We think she is spot-on.

We will know whether Quinn is reading this post if he comments.  We have created a new word in his honor; it to "to quinn."  To quinn means to speak authoritatively when making an educated guess on something you know relatively little about.  Quinn has said that if you speak like you know something people will believe. So, we've been "quinning," and we have all been "quinned."  We've acted "quinnly," and we've felt a sense of "quinness."  And we've had a TON of fun with our new word.  Here's to you, Quinn! 

Discovering McKenna Country

Saturday, 27 July 2013

Saturday was a day of discovery and adventure.  We felt like Liz discovered a gem when she found the Tullybryan B&B - comfortable accommodations and a fabulous Irish breakfast.  You can't have breakfasts like that every day but we're enjoying it while we're here.

The Carrickmacross Workhouse

The McKenna Rally offered a bus tour of sites in Monaghan County, and we took advantage of that, at least for part of the day.  It gave us a chance to continue to talk to our fellow McKenna cousins (not sure how we're related, but we're bound to be, don't you think?).  And we saw things that we normally wouldn't see.  First stop was to the Carrickmacross Workhouse.  The first workhouses were built in 1841, and they were for the poorest of the poor.  When the Great Hunger hit, this workhouse, originally built for 500, housed 2,000.  At the height of the famine, on average 70 people died every day in Monaghan.  At that time, there were 8.5 million people in Ireland; 1.5 million died and 3 million emigrated. The emigration had, of course, started before then and continued afterward, as we know because Thomas and Sarah emigrated in 1872.  The country's greatest resource, its people, was reduced by half.  To this day, Ireland has never reached the same level of population.

What was horrifying to discover was that while the potato crop, the mainstay of the common man's diet, was decimated during the famine, the rest of the crops and the animals were not.  But they were grown to pay the rent on land owned by absentee English landlords, and food that could have saved lives was shipped annually to England.  

We also learned that during the famine, Earl Grey  devised a scheme to ship young girls, ages 14-18, from the workhouses to be wives and servants for men in Australia.  Thirty-two girls were sent from the Carrickmacross Workhouse; they know the names of 19 of them.  We'll never know if they went willingly, but it's not hard to imagine that most of them would want to escape the workhouse, which was set up very much like a prison.  How do you decide between two bleak choices?  Many children had been left orphans (think Oliver Twist - he was in a workhouse), and life was incredibly hard.  Thinking about what our family had to endure during that trying time has helped us appreciate them so very, very much.

The next stop on the tour was a golf course.  Rich and Reed might remember the name (Reed said it was Concran).  It was beautiful.  But it was then that we decided the tour wasn't going to take us to the McKenna sites that we wanted to see.  As the tour was going back to Monaghan for a break, we decided to switch to our OWN tour.  That's what the rental car is for, right?

Reed, Aunt Kathy and Rich
with Seamus McCluskey

So, we piled in and headed for Emyvale, the heart of McKenna Country.  We needed to stop in Emyvale for an ATM, and as we were walking right by Seamus McCluskey's house, we thought we would stop in for a wee visit.  We truly wanted to thank him for his hospitality previously.  Oh, and let him know that we put his tour on YouTube!  He didn't remember Liz and I, but when we told him about YouTube, he said, "Oh, that was you who did it!"  He said that he wasn't up on that type of thing, but someone else had seen it and told  him about it.  Sounded like he was fine with it.  Whew!  Rich, Reed and Aunt Kathy were able to meet Seamus and had a picture taken with him. While we had no intention of asking him for a tour of the McKenna sites, he apologized several times that he couldn't take us on account of his having visitors.  How kind was that?  It was a pleasure for everyone to meet this truly fine gentleman - what a great day when we first discovered him.  Thank you, Todd!

Seamus shared with us an article about a burial site for unbaptized babies, and we set out to discover the location.  After a bit of a hiccup, we finally got on the right road and reached it.  We also discovered the Blue Bridge, a beautiful stone bridge that was mentioned in a poem by one of Monaghan's famous sons, the poet William Carlton.

The next adventure was Tully Fort, the site of one of the McKenna ringforts.  After crawling under (or over) a gate, climbing through stinging nettle, rolling under a barbed wire fence, and being zapped by an electric fence (so sorry, Reed), we reached the center of the ringfort - only to discover that there was a path into the ringfort and all you had to do was open a couple of gates and watch out for the cow pies!  But how adventurous would that have been?

With the McKenna High Cross
at Donagh Cemetery

Donagh Cemetery was our next destination.  This was the place Aunt Kathy was most anxious to see.  The McKenna High Cross still guards the old graveyard - what stories it could tell!

We next journeyed to Castle Leslie, site of the original McKenna Castle (no longer there) for a quick visit.  Didn't get out, took a couple of pictures through the window, and then continued on.  The 2011 research team actually stayed at Castle Leslie, and they have lots of pictures to share on our SmugMug site - McKennaFamilyHistory.smugmug.com.

Here lyeth the body of
Hugh McKenna
who departed this life
on May 7th 1723
aged 58 years

The McKenna crest
on Hugh McKenna's
headstone

The ancient graveyard, Eriggal Truah, was our last destination of the day and a great discovery.  It is in this cemetery that the original McKenna crest can be found on a headstone - but we had no directions to where that headstone might be!  Fortunately, it's a small cemetery.  The grass had been cut down (sort of), and we were able to see most of the headstones.  (FYI:  it's a tad bit treacherous walking through the graveyard - be careful for hidden stones and holes.) Within 15 minutes, Aunt Kathy had discovered the headstone.  We've all heard about it, right - the crest with the rider, the stag, the two hounds, and the two moons.  But what we haven't heard is whose headstone it is.  We looked on the other side, and the name of Hugh McKenna popped out! Yes, it did!  We were so thrilled.  We worked to get the moss off the stone so we could read what it said (where was a toothbrush when you need one?).  "Here lyeth the body of Hugh McKenna. . .1723."  It was so, so, so cool. We went on to find more and more McKenna headstones, some which could be read and others not so much.  Finally, time just ran out, and we had to leave.  But what a discovery!  Someone has provided information on each of the headstones at this website: http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/monaghan/ cemeteries/errigal.txt. Note:  We need to search the web for an article on this graveyard by Plunkett McKenna.

Richard McKennas -
identically different

The McKenna Rally hosted a dinner at 8:00; it was tasty, and we were hungry. We have met many people, but we've really enjoyed talking with a couple from Australia, Richard and Ruth McKenna.  We have a picture of the two Richard McKennas; the Australian one said that they were "identically different."  We had a lovely visit with them and will be sharing information.  Since they have retired, they have been to Ireland five times and to many other places as well.  Interesting, kind people.  Note:  We need to see if we can find a copy of a book Seamus McCluskey wrote titled "Emyvale."  Richard and Ruth found a copy online last year and showed it to us at the dinner.  And they also know Seamus - have been communicating with him for several years.

At the McKenna Rally
with Father McKenna and
his sister

At the end of the evening, we had our picture taken with Father McKenna.  He gave the blessing on the food and the thanksgiving grace after the meal, and you could just hear him talking to God.  A sweet spirit emanated from this man, and we felt very privileged to talk with him.  Even after 50 years of serving in San Antonio, Texas, he still speaks with a delightful Irish brogue.  He attended the dinner with his sister, and they told us how all nine of their family (brothers and sisters aged 73 to 93) get together one week a year to visit.  Father McKenna said that when one of them passes away, they will spend three or four days together at the funeral, but he would rather spend the time with them now when they can share stories and reminisce.  Inspiring.

And that ended another very busy day.  While we are all enjoying the work tremendously, we are going to love being home and having a good night's sleep.

The North

Friday, 26 July 2013

Do you want interesting reading or just the facts?  If you want poetic, check out Liz's blog - her poetry and prose have left us speechless (but in stitches), especially when spoken with an Irish accent.  Here, we're just going to give you the facts.

Fact number one:  Ireland is beautiful and green.  There is a reason they call it the Emerald Isle, even in a drought.  People have told us that this summer is the driest and hottest it has been in many years.  We can't tell it, though, because we've felt the humidity.  And it's rained practically every day!  Not all day, but every day.

Aunt Kathy at Dunluce Castle

Fact number two:  Dunluce Castle is still there, we are happy to report.  Nothing else has fallen off into the sea.  Aunt Kathy really enjoyed the history and the antiquity and explored every nook and cranny.  She is going to tell her grandkids that she went to a castle just like the one in the movie "Brave."  Liz, on the other hand, guarded the car because our neighbors in the car next to us had been robbed.  They were gone for about 10-15 minutes, came back, and their daughter's backpack, with her phone, passport, and credit cards, in essence, her life, had been stolen.  She is a reporter for Bloomberg News in London (they were all Americans), and so losing her phone meant that she'd lost all of her contacts.  It was really sad.  The boys climbed down into a cave underneath the castle.  Never mind the sign read "No Entry;" Rich said that that was just "a suggestion."  The cave was used millennium ago by early inhabitants of the region.

Liz at the Giant's Causeway

Fact number three:  The Giant's Causeway was created by an Irish giant named Finn McCool.  We have all bought a book that says so, and we know that books don't lie.  Fact number three.1:  We really liked the Giant's Causeway, even if it WASN'T created by Finn McCool.  The site was crawling with a million people, but we still managed to get pictures without all of them in it.  The boys went on a hike and then we headed back on the bus to Bushmills.  We talked with the bus driver, who is a Harley biker (we gave him a card for the Ride for the Fallen), and he told us about a place where the locals eat in Ballintoy.  

Rich and Reed
We feel sorry for their
mother.  Was she
ever able to get a serious
picture of them?  Then,
again, maybe she didn't
want to!  Would you?
No, really!?!

Fact number four:  Ballintoy is a quaint wee town.  We ate with all the local day trippers in a restaurant down by the harbor.  It was a beautiful place.  We'd passed a wedding at a church down the road, and lo and behold the wedding party showed up to take pictures at the harbor.  The place just felt happy.  The food was good, and we expanded their culinary knowledge by asking for ice cream on the rhubarb and apple crumbles and apple pie.  The waitress said they had never done that before.  

Fact number five:  You cannot drive very fast in Ireland.  So, if the GPS says you will arrive by 6:00pm, add 45 minutes.

Fact number six:  The McKenna Clann International Rally started off with a rousing show.  We registered and then started to mix and mingle.  The musical entertainment was provided by a McKenna family from Clogher who now live in the church where possibly Hugh and Mary were married.  Rich got all their names and contact information, and the mother, Mary McKenna, has said that she will help us in our search.  She's going to talk to their priest about the Catholic records.  We think there were about 75-80 people there, and they came from South America, 

Reed and Liz with Chieftain Maria,
the new Clann McKenna leader

Australia, the U.S., Europe, and, of course, Ireland.  A new chieftain was inaugurated, a woman, and we all had our picture taken with the new clan chieftain - or is that chieftainess?  We think we will be in the next Clann McKenna book - so now we're famous.  Oh, by the way, we were able to accomplish another of our objectives by buying Vol. 1 of the Clann McKenna books.  At the end of the night, everyone joined hands and danced around the room.  It's too bad we don't have a video of that!

Kathy as we normally see her

Fact number seven:  Liz doesn't have a blog.  Sorry.  You are missing out on her poetry and pose, but you really need "to be there" to enjoy it.  And we're not sure that Rich enjoyed it even then.

Thursday 25 July 2013

We started the day with a visit to the Belfast City Cemetery.  Rich had pulled a list of locations of the burial sites of many family members, and it was our goal to locate each and every one.  What we thought would take an hour to an hour and a half turned into a three-hour project.  We started with a visit to the cemetery office where a really nice girl helped us locate the plots on a map.  With photos of the maps on Rich's phone and a spring in our step, we ventured forth.  Finding them wasn't as easy as we thought, though, and thankfully Rich has a VERY cheap data plan so he was able to call back and forth with the office until we located all of the plots.  It probably was annoying the girl in the office a tremendous amount, but she sounded very kind on the phone.  If we had had a box of chocolates, we'd have given it to her as a thank you.  The big find at the cemetery was that there was a headstone on one of the graves!  John and Elizabeth McKenna had placed a headstone for their son, John, who died when he was 25.  They are also buried in that plot, but no one put up a headstone for them.  Something for us to do, right?  By the way, we found no other headstones.  Rich and Reed gathered the GPS coordinates for each of the sites, and we took pictures as well.


We ate lunch in Belfast's oldest pub, White's, and then returned to PRONI for our final mad push.  We worked frantically until they closed.  Reed kept the collection desk busy buying copy cards - they couldn't believe how much we were copying.  I think they liked the business, though, and the folks were so kind.  We all love PRONI, and it was hard to leave.

We made it to Portrush about 10:30, and shortly before 11:00 several of us went to Mr. Chips for fish and chips.  It really hit the spot!  Liz said it was "too late to eat," and Rich said "it's NEVER too late to eat."  Everyone got what they wanted.  

Liz Meets Cousins in England

Liz met with the Dutsons (Phil and Sue) and Sue's sister, Dot.  Just a reminder:  they are our third cousins, twice removed, through Hugh's son, John's daughter, Elizabeth, who married Hugh Armstrong.

She says:
On Wednesday, 17 July, I met Phil, Sue and Dot for lunch in the quaint Cotswold town of Bourton-on-the-Water.  We ate fish and chips in The Village Restaurant.  We hugged all around and had an immediate rapport.  I'll be happy to give personal details on them when we meet (just not online).

They gave me a copy of two photos,  Lizzie McKenna Armstrong, her husband, Hugh, and their 10 living children.  They had 14 altogether.  I learned that several of their children had never married.  Phil gave me a detailed family group sheet.

We talked about our families, and all acknowledged that it was great to find new family.  Phil took a photo of the three cousins, and after two or so hours we parted, committing to staying in touch.  We'll share photos at the family meeting in September.

Pioneer Day

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

While many of our family remembered the pioneers on the 24th of July and celebrated with a holiday, the team here in Ireland spent another full day in PRONI.  In our own way, we celebrated our pioneer ancestors by looking for their loved ones.

The folks at PRONI are getting to know us, and they are super friendly.  Besides the helpful staff, we've met one lady who was raised in Ireland but now lives in England.  For her three-week holiday every year she comes back to Belfast and spends every day in PRONI.  We are wishing that we had that kind of time, too.  There are so many records to look at, so much to do, and so little time!

Maybe we mentioned this before, but we are documenting everything we've done so that people in the future will not repeat searches that have not proven fruitful.  We will be putting all of this information into a spreadsheet that can be searched.  The spreadsheet, in connection with the PRONI "Guide to Church Records," will be very helpful to future researchers - at least we hope it will.

Rich and Aunt Kathy spent Wednesday researching the McKennas in Fintona, and while they found a William McKenna family, there are no records that tie them to Hugh McKenna or Alice Doogan.  We were hoping that William might prove to be their brother.  Reed combed through the records of St. Anne's cathedral for the children of William McKenna and Mary Ritchie and will continue with that effort until he finishes the microfilm, or his eyes pop out of his head, whichever is first.  Liz is researching the Singletons in the Lisburn area, and a lot of effort will be concentrated there on Thursday.  Kathy finished looking through the microfilm for baptisms in the Clogher area, hoping to find Thomas McKenna's birth (no luck), reviewed the film for Newtonsaville just in case there might be anything related to McKennas there (there wasn't), and then kicked in to help Reed with finding the children of James McKenna and Catherine Doyle in the baptismal records of St. Anne's.  Thus far, Kathy has found a couple of William and Mary's children but none of James and Catherine's.

We are finding the nightly conference calls with the home team to be very useful.  Their added insights and encouragement are priceless.  While coordinating the time differences is a challenge, it is well worth the effort, especially because it helps us to stand back and look at the big picture and helps guide in future steps.

Between PRONI and the conference call, we managed to squeeze in a quick meal at Nando's and a black taxi tour.  Liz and Reed knew what we were getting into, but the rest of us thought we were going on a tour to look at the sights of Belfast.  No.  We learned about "the troubles."  Belfast is a city where they paint their feelings on the sides of buildings, and we saw many of the city's famous murals.  Much of the fighting took place on Shankhill Road, which is where the McKennas resided some of the time, and the Peace Wall was built there.  While it is easy now to move between the two neighborhoods, there is still a distinct difference.  Rich added insight to our tour by pointing out where the McKennas lived.  Very cool.

It's back to PRONI on Thursday for a long day.  It doesn't close until 8:45pm, and so we are going to take advantage of the extra hours.  It's good to remember that when planning for the future.




Sent from my iPad

First Day at PRONI

Tuesday, 23 July 2013

So many things to report!

1. First of all - we are exhausted!  Yesterday, we were tired when we were in PRONI (Public Records Office of Northern Ireland) looking at records, but we were there for only 3-4 hours.  Today, we were there just after it opened and left when it closed.  They are good at kicking us out!  We looked through hundreds of records, which is a great sleep aid.  But we take breaks to shake sleep off and then we're back at it.

Amidst the disappointment of NOT finding things, we feel that we can celebrate a couple of finds:
   a.  Aunt Kathy found the baptismal record of Eleanor (Ellen) Singleton to Robert and Eleanor (Ellen) Singleton in 1830 in Tandragee.
   b.  Liz found a birth record of a Bob (Robert) Singleton in Mullabrack in 1810.  We think that this might be our Robert Singleton; the date is about right.  More checking to come.

2.  To catch you up on what happened on Monday:  Before we left Armagh, we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, the Church of Ireland one.  It is the center of the Church of Ireland for all of Ireland, pretty cool, eh?  In the cathedral, we saw the name of our cousin, John Ward Armstrong, listed on the same wall as St. Patrick himself.  Patrick was the first bishop of Ireland in 432; John Ward Armstrong came along much laster.  It is the same office, although they now call the head of the church the Archbishop and Primate.

After leaving Armagh, we headed to Loughbrickland Lake, the site of the first LDS baptism in Ireland in 1840.  Beautiful swans floated across the lake but the water close to the shore was covered with lily pads.  If anyone wanted to get baptized there now, they'd want to wade out quite a ways to avoid coming up covered up with green leaves.

Our next search took us to the small town of Ballyskeagh.  It really WAS a search, but Rich's and Reed's GPS skills won out.  In Ballyskeagh, Rich showed us the bridge where two young Irish "home missionaries" around the age of 16 stood up to a mob in the rest of 1850s.  Thomas Lonsdale Allen was one of the missionaries; Brother Scott was the other.  They are two of Rich's heroes, and now ours as well.

Then, it was on our way to Belfast to check into our hotel and head to PRONI. Want to know something interesting?  Our hotel, the Ibis Hotel, is located on King Street.  John McKenna, one of Hugh's sons, had a shop on 70 King Street.  We think we know where his shop was - it now houses a bookie shop!  Liz didn't realize when she was booking our hotel how handy it is to Albert Street (where Hugh lived), Christ Church (where they attended church), Sandy Row - which leads to the last thing we did on Monday (other than have the conference call with the Home Team).

After dinner at Robinson's Restaurant (did you know bacon steaks in Ireland are the same as pork chops in the U.S.?), we took a short walk south to Hope Street, over to Sandy Row, and south on Sandy Row to the ruins of the Belfast and Ulster Brewery Company where Hugh worked as a bottler and a packer.  Right around the corner (where the graffiti says to "Stay Out of Sandy Row") was Boyne Street where Hugh lived as well.  We hiked a short distance north to Albert Street to the site of Hugh's homes, had pictures taken by an ex-con (he told us he'd spent 18 years in jail, but he'd been brought up proper), headed over to Galway and Killen Streets, and then back to the hotel.  From Christ Church to the hotel - less than 5 minutes.  John McKenna set up shop not far from his home on Albert Street.

So, there you are - all caught up!  Well, mostly.  Tomorrow, Liz will share her experience meeting the Dutsons and Dot in England.  They are our third cousins, twice removed, and Liz reports they are wonderful!

Landing Day

Monday, 21 July 2013

Our trip thus far has been filled with small miracles.  We know that prayers are being said and answered, and we appreciate all of our family - we can feel your support.

On Saturday, we left Salt Lake a little over an hour late because of mechanical problems.  With just 90 minutes scheduled between flights at JFK, we were very worried about making the connection.  What are the odds, though, that we would land at Gate 67 and depart from Gate 68?  We got off the plane, and immediately boarded the next one.  Small miracle.

Sunday was exhausting but absolutely amazing.  Rich said that if we wrote everything we did, you wouldn't believe us.  It was incredible.  Here are a few highlights:

1.  We went to church - twice.  The first meeting was at a Catholic service in Newry where John Taylor preached the gospel in 1840.  The second meeting was in Mullabrack at a Church of Ireland low church meeting, a lot less pomp.  Mullabrack was where Robert Singleton lived, and we talked to someone at church who was a Singleton.  Lewis, that's his name, is going to talk to his aunt, and we will be going back to talk to her.  We also talked to the rector ( who gave an excellent sermon, by the way), and he showed us their records.  We can go back anytime, and he will let such spend as much time as we need to look at the tecords.  We did take some pictures of some Singleton entries in a book from the late 1700s.  Small miracles.

Interior of St. John's Parish Church in Mullaghbrack

2.  We met Colin and Rosaleen Kerr at church as well, and Colin invited us to look at a map he had of the area at his home, named Mullabrack House because it was built in the 1820s as the rectory church.  There us only one word to describe it- wow!  The map was cool.  But what was so incredible was that they took us on a tour of their home.  There is a basement, into which we just peeked; a main floor with a drawing room, a living room, a dining room, a HUGE kitchen, and various other rooms; a second floor with four large bedrooms, all with dressing rooms attached; and a third floor with six bedrooms - where the servants lived and where the nursery was located, back in the day.  New friends.  Another small miracle.

Mullaghbrack House - the Rectory House built in 1820

View from Robert Singleton home in Mullurg

3.  Robert Singleton's property on Mullurg Road is now owned by William Hale, whom we met after he noticed us taking pictures of his property.  We did ring the bell first!  But when he didn't answer, we figured they were "on holiday."  When all was said and done, William was another friend, and said we could come back anytime.  Small miracle that he wasn't an angry landowner kicking us off his property!  What we've had reinforced is the great value we get from being here and putting everything into perspective. This is an aerial photo of the land taken in 1968. The Hale family has owned the original Singleton's 6-acre piece since 1970 and has added the surrounding acreage into their farm.

Aerial view from 1968

Our third research trip to Ireland is about to begin. The team of five will set out July 20th and return the 30th. Members of the team going to Ireland are Liz Allred, Kathy Chipman McKenna, Rich McKenna, Reed McKenna, and Kathy McConkie. Preparations have been in the works since the last team returned in June 2011. Records from the previous trip have been scanned. Names and vital information have been extracted. We stepped up with more intensive and specific preparation and training during the early months of this year. Our understanding of Hugh McKenna's life in County Tyrone, before moving to Belfast, has been expanded. Our most important goal for the trip is to identify his direct-line ancestors (parents, grand-parents, etc.). We believe that this is the trip to make the breakthrough. Secondarily, we will also identify as many of his family members as possible, including siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. We will join in the Clann McKenna Twelfth International Rally in County Monaghan and make contacts with extended family. We hope to share our web site with them. This Rally is part of The Gathering happening all over Ireland. We will also investigate getting headstone(s) on some of our family's unmarked graves in Belfast cemeteries. We will post to this blog daily on our trip. We are excited to be on our way.