I finally got to visit the passage tombs at Newgrange and Knowth. What a brilliant day!
Category / Visiting Ireland
On the Trail of a Tall Ship
Pam Eddy at the Jeannie Johnson tall ship.
I found more photos from our adventure to visit the Jeannie Johnson….
Shannon with a famine figure.
Pam discovered…
…fish in the lights!
And a PacMan someone added…
…for fun.
He was rather delightful.
On the Jeannie Johnson
Mast of the tall sailing ship.
The tour guide tells the story, drawn form historic accounts, of each character on the ship. (This guy reminds me of my red-bearded friend Wayne.)
There are many amazing sites I have recorded but haven’t had time to share.
One is the Jeannie Johnson, the replica ship from the famine era that is harbored right here in Dublin.
Dr. Pam Eddy and I visited the ship in March.
In contrast to most “coffin” and/or “famine” ships, no lives were lost on the Jeannie Johnson. There was a very skilled physician on board–and quite bit of luck to boot.
This is what it looks like on deck and also in the berths below deck….
Officially Launched
William and Mary’s School of Education published a press release about last night’s photo launch. The event was such fun.
What an honor it was to have so many friends and colleagues attend!
Here are a few photos of the start of events… I got too swept away to take more photos myself. I hope others will send me some to share.
Colleen’s daughters welcomed people as they arrived.
Entry Hall with the labels installed.
Chatting with firmer Fulbright, Jimmy O’Brien-Moran.
Dave and Mom arriving at the opening.
A Weekend by the River Shannon
Mom and I are just leaving County Kerry. We enjoyed a lovely weekend at the home of Con and Eilish O’Hanlon. Eilish is mom’s second cousin.
St. Patrick’s Day, Academic Style!
What a phenomenally Irish weekend!
I didn’t do the things a tourist to Dublin normally does on St. Patrick’s Day (which seems to include a lot of roaming the streets while intoxicated). Instead, I packed my schedule full of St. Patrick’s Day Festival events. My friends an I pooled out ticket allotment so we could see many shows.
I’ve pictured some of the events below (I didn’t even take photos at every event, believe it or not). The photos show how academics enjoy St. Paddy’s! You can see my brainy friends and me enjoying short films in the Examination Hall of Trinity, for instance.
The group that coordinates the St. Patrick’s Day Festival did a fabulous job! I send my heartfelt thanks to them!
Incidentally, you’d be amazed to see the streets of Temple Bar on Sunday night: wall to wall people dressed in green velvet!?!! I elbowed my way through at 7 PM (I don’t even want to think what the place was like by midnight). Even at 7, I was clutching my belongings so tight that I forgot to take a photo!
Turtle Bunbury presented “A Global History of the Irish Abroad.”
Turtle delivered his lecture at Marsh’s Library.
There was an event of short films about Dublin held in the Examination Hall in Trinity College. (I prefer film-watching to exam-talking any day of the week!)
I brought Toni Gray, Giuseppe Conte, and (former Fulbright scholar) Nancy Stenson along with me to the “I _ My City” film viewing.
Nancy and I enjoyed a tasty late-night dinner at Café en Seine on Dawson Street.
David Slattery (who is a full-time writer as well as an Associate Fellow at the Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media at The National College of Art and Design here in Dublin) read from his newest book “Poet Madmen Scoundrel: 189 Unusual IrishLives.”
David was introduced by a staff member from Marsh’s Library (this is a fascinating place to visit). I purchased David’s previous book “How to be Irish” and also a catalog of the Library’s current exhibition “Marvels of Science: Books that Changed the World.”
At the Chester Beatty Library, the show TEMPO fused Irish and Brazilian rhythms.
The show featured: Joe Doyle (Vocals & Percussion) Mick Donegan (Hard Shoe Dance) Kelly Baldonaldo (Samba Dance & Percussion) Maia Adelson (Capoeira dance & Percussion)
I finally visited the Smock Alley Theater, for performance art (film+clarinet solos) that brought the eclectic space to life.
I purchased a CD of “Zoë Conway Live” following this performance by the fillde player and her husband, John. She is a professional musician who plays with Riverdance (among other groups).
The show included performances by one of Riverdance’s lead dancers, Zara Curtis.
Irish Roots
Image of Cobh downloaded from the Visit Cobh website.
Recently, I’ve uncovered more and more roots to my family tree in Ireland.
For me, it starts with my great grandmother, Teresa Neenan. She was a smart, spry, and energetic woman who was a dear part of my early life. We called her “Nanny” and spent a number of holidays with her. I vividly recall images from an Easter she spent in Staunton, Virginia (my parents’ home town).
My great grandmother was born in Astee and christened in Ballybunnion (in Co. Kerry) in 1890. She left Cobh (in Co. Cork) in 1912. Like so many others, my great grandmother left Ireland when times were very hard, and opportunities limited.
Nanny left Ireland as Bridget Neenan and emerged from Ellis Island as Teresa Neenan. (There seems to be a data entry error in the records at Ellis Island, as someone translated the into n into an M somewhere along the way. Fortunately, it’s spelled properly on the wall at Ellis Island.)
In the States, Teresa married “Beppie” O’Mara who owned a taxicab company in Millburn, New Jersey. They had four girls, including my grandmother Alice who was born in 1916. That was a pivotal year in history when Ireland began its final quest for independence….
I visited Cobh recently and saw the breathtaking neo-Gothic cathedral that marks the summit of the town. I have enjoyed my visits to Cobh immensely. It’s amazing to realize that this Fulbright scholarship brought me back to Nanny’s homeland. It’s a land that has become my spiritual home. The welcome I have received here has been inspiring and heartwarming. I hope Nanny would be proud.
My mom and I look forward to visiting our “cousins” in Kerry in May. We’ll get to retrace more of our roots then and meet even more family!
Chasing Rainbows
Even in dreary weather, Ireland glows green. Here are a few snapshots from our recent drive around the Rings of Kerry (who knew there were two loops?) and Dingle town.
We saw lots of cloudy, rainy weather when Patty and Kitty were here…
…and many rainbows, too.
The fields were green nonetheless…
…they stay well watered, don’t ya know?
We even saw snow-capped hilltops…
… and other amazing sights.
Striking Silver at Bewley’s Cafe
Patty, Kitty, and I tried to fit so much in during their visit… and we ultimately missed out on some sites that we wanted to see. We’d hoped to make it to the Parliament hall, for instance, but found Bewley’s instead. Guess there’s a sliver lining in every cloud.
We didn’t make it to the Bank of Ireland (location of the former Parliament chamber) before closing time…
…so we headed past Trinity and down to Grafton Street…
…and enjoyed a tea at Bewley’s Cafe (http://bewleys.com/bewleys-grafton-street-cafe).
Working on the Railroad with Kitty and Patty
Irish Rail is definitely something to write home about! Clean, comfortable, reliable, and on time. It accesses all the major cities in Ireland.
If you’re coming to Ireland (for this year’s Gathering perhaps) all you need to do is go online to irishrail.ie to book your train tickets. You’ll pick your tickets up when you get to the station by entering your reservation number into a kiosk. The find the train platform and take your seat. There are food, restrooms, and free (but intermittent) wi-fi access on board.
Simple as pie!
We had such a lovely train ride to Cork a couple weeks back.
Kitty and Patty sorted photos, chatted…
read, and watched the landscape whiz by.
I even got some work done…
…reviewing a journal article.
It was fascinating and well written. I hope to see it in print soon.
Ireland by Chance 