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May 18, 2004
In search of the missing links...
4/20/2004 - Continued.
I could tell that my mom really wanted to get going to try and find Damerville.
(Backstory: My great-great grandmother left an oral history that said her family had to travel through the village of Damerville to reach Tipperary before they left from Cobh for the United States. My mom and I had searched for records on Damerville...in maps, documents. Finally I found a document online that said Damerville was located between the villages of Lattin and Shronell, on the Emly road from Tipperary. However, no maps that we could find, other than a very poor copy had Damerville on it.)
Before we left Bansha Castle I noticed a map from the late 1920's, framed and hanging on a wall. I decided to look and see if Damerville was on the Tipperary County map...it was...located exactly between Lattin and Shronell on the road to Emly. Excited we took the road toward Emly.
Lattin and Shronell are two very small dots on the map. A few houses, a nursing home, they are about 1 minute away from each other in the car. Driving between the two spots I saw a tall abandoned building....now this may seem weird but just two weeks before I swear I had a dream about this building. I instantly got chills and told my mom to stop....this had to be close to where we were supposed to be. However, we couldn't find anything substantial to tell us that this was Damerville.
Just across the street and up a ways we found a large mound with huge oaks coming from the top of it. This Lattin Motte is huge and my mom and I instantly knew that this had to be a sacred site...I took pictures. I'll get them up ASAP. Still we couldn't find anything that named Damerville.
Going back toward Tipperary, we started to pass Deer Parker Nursing Home in Shronell. I told my mom we should stop and see if any of the residents had ever heard of Damerville. Joan and Mary, two nursing aides held us to find a resident that knew Damerville was actually a very large estate. The house on the estate was directly across the street from the building I had dreamed about. There are small stone houses across from and around the house which had been left after the woman had died. Her neice is now rebuilding the estate. By this time it was raining very hard and my mom and I headed back to Bansha village for dinner at a nearby pub.
Comfort Food, yum. I had Shepard's Pie which was ground lamb in a gravy with potatoes and carrots and other root veggies, topped with mashed tatos and baked...with a side of "mash" (potatoes.) My mom had roast beef and the works. The owner of the pub is also the cook and bartender...he's good. Very good. He proudly displayed the many awards for his cooking that he's recieved over the years.
Today I told my mom that I didn't need to go to Dingle. Exploring the land where our family came from was far more important to me at this time. I can always go back to Ireland.
4/21/04
NO PUDDING!?!? Yes, I did not get pudding with my breakfast this morning. Made me very sad.
Today we started very early with two hours at the Geneological center in Tipperary Town. We think that we were able to find some missing family links. We discovered that my great-great-great grandmother's maiden name was O'Dwyer. It was never listed in any family records, but we were finally able to find it through Martin Flynn & Joanna O'Dwyers marriage and children's brith records. However, the Arch-bishop of Emly/Cashel is a real turd. He charges people to look in depth at any parish records. He won't release them to people.
After, we went back to Damer Estate and looked around. The people at the nursing home said not to worry about going into the gate and exploring the house and grounds. On the grounds I found an Ogham stone & what we think might be another motte. Damer Estate has huge oak trees surrounding it with brambled branches. I definitly felt a strong energy there....whether it was in my mind or real, who knows, but it gave me an incredible sense of wonder.
We traveled onto Emly to meet with the Parish Priests and see if they might have had any clues. Father Sean Kennedy explained that the family likely came from another village to work at Damer estate in order to earn the money to go to the states. All of the records from our family search led to two villages in the Tipperary highlands, Drom (Martin Flynn) and Upperchurch (Joanna O'Dwyer). Tomorrow, though we'll be heading to Bunratty in Clare and then back towards this area to do some more genology.
Tonight after a lot of country road driving, just to explore, we're staying at Ballinacourty House. The house itself was destroyed during the Civil War but the remaining buildings were used by Eamon DeValera's forces as headquarters. DeValera was the first president of the Republic of Ireland.
We checked in and decided to explore the Glen of Aherlow more. WE found Moor Abbey which gave us creepy feelings and we later found out that monks had been massacred there in the 1700's. Icky. I told my mom as I nedtered the building that I felt icky, she asked me if I had read the sign outside, "No." She explained the history that she had read. Continuing our drive we found St. Sedna's Well. I've never heard of St. Sedna, but it was a holy well, so I wanted to see it.
We decided to partake of the three course meal offered by our hostess and her son...(he was the cook, and again damn good.) I shiver with excitement at remembering this meal. Chowder, smoked salmon, brown breads, crepes, homemade ice cream, place (its a fish), fresh veggies....it was wonderful!
Tomorrow we're hading North to Lough Gur and The Grange Stone Circle, the largest in Ireland. We'll go through Limerick and into Bunratty to the castle and folk park...touristy yes, but you have to do a few touristy things. Holycross, Thurles and Upperchurch/Drom the next day. I can't believe its already Wednesday night. We'll be going home in one week. It's so beautiful here, in the Glen of Aherlow, in Ireland altogether. The countryside is peaceful, I think I more relaxed here then I've been in a very long time.
More tomorrow.
Posted by Sarah at May 18, 2004 11:29 AM