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May 26, 2004
Of hearts and broken things....
Last August my grandmother had quadruple bypass. The doctor who operated also repaired the valves on the right side of her heart, but didn't repair the left under the assumption that the problems would correct themselves once the other side was fixed.
Since then she has not been recovering well. Her heart has not been pumping well enough to get the "fluids" off of her body. Her potassium levels are very high, her angiogram this morning revealed that the left side of her heart, is basically toast.
Despite this she has opted to have another surgery to try to repair the left side of her heart, the valves. She is considered very high risk.
To top things off, my grandpa has Parkinson's. Just a few weeks ago, the doctor asked my grandmother, "If you need to have surgery again, do you want to do it?" My grandma's reply was, "I have to be here for my husband."
My grandparents are strong people. Bull-headed, even. My grandfather had a fall on Monday night, was running a fever, but refused to be taken to the hospital. Instead he waited until morning to go to his doctor and we found he had a bladder infection. Stubborn as bulls, they are. I love them, deeply. In fact, I live with them.
My own heart is a little broken at the thought that my grandparents are aging rapidly before my eyes. They cared for me often when I was younger and now it is my turn. Funny how the tables turn so quickly. I've been so lucky to have them with me for as long as I have. My grandmother has outlived her own mother, who also died of heart problems, by 20-plus years. I want them for at least 20 more, but I'm beginning to see that it may not happen.
I'm going to milk whatever time I have left with them for all its worth.
Posted by Sarah at 04:37 PM | Comments (1)
May 24, 2004
Fondue is good for you.
I took Shera and Adriana to The Melting Pot to celebrate their graduation from the Master's of Criminal Justice program at Weber State University. It was very expensive, but well worth the experience. We had "The Big Night Out" which came with a cheese course, salad course, entree and dessert. It was good, heavenly in fact. The dinner I shared with them Saturday night, is certainly how food should be enjoyed. Slowly. It took us three and a half hours for our meal from the beginning of our cheese course to the end of our dessert course. I highly recommend The Melting Pot to celebrate special occasions.
Now...onward to Ireland.
4/23/04 - Castle View B&B, Two Mill Borris.
Breakfast this morning was YUMMY, once again. We set out on another geneology adventure today after making reservations for our last few B&B nights. Strangely our 1st choice was booked, but our second turned out to be one of the coolest families and storytellers, Pierce and Joan Duggan.
After making our reservations we went to Upperchurch and found...O'Dwyer's Groceries and....Undertakers...the same family, in the same building. Now, I know that Pub families generally did the pubbing and the undertaking, but was startled to see the grocery duo. The husband had just left, but Pierce Duggan and Mrs. O'Dwyer both believe that it is a relation. We also visited with Father Flynn in Drom, where we believe Martin Flynn was from originally. Father Flynn (no relation) the parish priest in Drom told us that excellent stories, one in which the Flynn's were driven out of the village by the British in the mid 1850's. This story explained why we were having such a difficult time finding anyone by the name of Flynn in Tipperary County. Many of the Flynn's were sent to Australia.
After we finished our geneology work we headed to Two Mile Borris to check into Castle View. Mrs. Duggan recommended the Horse and Jockey Pub in "Horse and Jockey".
Dinner was excellent and on our return Pierce was waiting anxiously to speak to us about our adventures. Mr. Duggan is amazing. He had such a depth of knowledge and sense about Two Mile Borris, Thurles, Upperchurch and Drom. Later we discovered that he was once the parish priest in Upperchurch but after meeting Joan found that he wanted to embrace the love he felt for her. His former vocation shines through as he is wonderfully philosophical and opens your eyes to things you wouldn't necessarily notice or see at first.
He said that there are definant "stories" from the records we have, but that we need the original Marriage certificates and told us to research records at the Thurles Library and Historical Society. We're going tomorrow. We also plan to go back to Upperchurch to see if we can meet up with Mr. O'Dwyer.
Mr. Duggan was very cool. And he was happy for me to tell him that I thought he was. I'll have to post a picture of me with him. He was surprised to find that I was so knowledgeable about history, particularly Irish history. IF you're ever in the area....visit his family's B&B you won't be dissapointed.
Posted by Sarah at 01:50 PM | Comments (2)
May 21, 2004
No Ireland today, folks...very busy.
As of June 1st, I officially start as Volunteer Coordinator for LifePath Hospice & Family Care. Yay!! No more desk-monkey for me!! But I wanted to take a brief moment to share a quote that I received in my mailbox this morning from beliefnet.com.
"I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for oneself, one's own family or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace."
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
From "The Pocket Zen Reader," edited by Thomas Cleary, 1999. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com
Amen, brotha.
Posted by Sarah at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2004
When the chips are down, the cows are empty.
4/22/2004
I could shoot myself. I ruined a roll of film today because I didn't make sure it wrapped around the thingy that pulls the film enough. That was the one thing my photography professor couldn't express enough. I'm pissed.
Anyway. Today we went to Lough Gur and the Grange Stone Circle. Lough Gur is one of the oldest archaeological sites in Ireland that has been excavated. It was the site of an ancient celtic civilization. Though most of the buildings have been destroyed you can still wander around the area and see the foundations. We also found a wedge tomb as we were driving to the stone circles.
The amazing thing about many of the "off the beaten track" sites is that they're public access despite being on private lands. The people here are willing to preserve site that are on their land...simply for the sake of their heritage. The wedge tomb was off to the side of the road, marked with a simple brown heritage site sign. Although the remains had of course been removed, the wedge tomb was in perfect condition, no grafitti or ruin from humans.
Further down the road we stopped at the Grange Stone circle after deposting 2 Euro in a box that requested funds to help maintain the gate surrounding the site. The land is owned by a local cattle farmer.
Imagine our suprise as we headed over the small, muddy hill to find a herd of cows surrounding and within the stone circle...mooing at us and watching us with a careful eye. After carefully maneuvering through the cow pattied area we decended into the small stone circle. For being the largest stone circle in Ireland it was suprisingly tiny. It was amazing to be able to walk in a place that you know had signficance for people thousands of years ago. The circle is in excellent shape. Beautiful huge grey stones connect with a large oak tree. I wish my pictures would have turned out.
We went from Lough Gur to Bunratty. The trip included a terrifying excursion through Limerick..echhh. Traffic was horrible and my poor mom, bless her heart has serious problems with round-a-bouts. After reaching Bunratty, home of Bunratty Castle and Folk Park...aka...tourist trap and touring the castle and folk park we decided to head to Durty Nelly's a pub that was established in the 1620's for castle guards. I had the classic...fish and chips along with a 1/2 pint of my first Guinness in Ireland...it was a magical moment.
Bunratty was fun. The whole time I was thinking...."Can it get any more Lord of the Rings in Ireland?" If Shera had been with me in that castle, we would have been all over it like Hobbit's on Second Breakfast. Ireland truly is the Shire. I was waiting to turn a corner and find Hobbit holes or orcs lurking.
Tomorrow..some shopping in Bunratty at the Woolen Mills Shops...tax free shopping baby, yeah. Then we head to Upperchurch, Thurles and Two Mile Borris for more genealogical research. Then..Dublin!
Posted by Sarah at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)
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 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2004
Let's see if we can keep work quiet for a little while.
I've been so damn busy at work that I haven't been able to update lately. So...here continues the story...
Our B&B was just outside of Kildare in a small village called Montesterevin. Cloncarlin House is a working beef farm run by the McGuinness Family.
On our arrival Mrs. McGuinness provided us with tea in the drawing room. She had prepared our beds for us, plugging in the electric blankets only a few minutes before. She assumed we would be tired and suggested we nap for an hour and then explore Kildare for dinner. The beds were toasty warm and we had a good nap.
It was very quiet in Kildare village. One amazing thing we discovered is, when the work day is done, it's done - and usually between 5 and 6PM. Shops close, many pubs don't serve food after 5PM if the day is slow. We decided to go to a restaraunt/pub called Silken Thomas. I wanted something light and warm. The day had been chilly with rain and a very cool breeze. I opted for a bowl of fish chowder served with fresh brown bread. Dear God, how I love Irish Brown Bread. I also wanted something light for dessert. I splurged so often on this vacation, that I must say my innards were delighted. There was a fresh Pineapple/Pear sponge cake served with custard that sounded scrumptious and it was.
By that time my mom and I were completely beat. We headed back to our B&B, I showered and dried my hair and drifted off to sleep as I wrote in my journal...very obvious from the slanting and drifting script on the page.
From this point on I'll be transcribing directly from my journal.
4/20/04 - This morning we got up and had another wonderful breakfast. Yee Haw! I love Black Pudding. Anyway, last night I wanted to to write about the richness of the colors and tones here. The richness of the people I've met, so far. We drove back from Kildare to Cloncarlin House last night and the sun was setting. It cast this incredibly wamr golden hue over the trees, the hills and there was the most brilliant rainbow I've seen in a very long time. The buildings here aren't bland recreations of one another. They are brightly painted and as outspoken and colorful as the people.
This morning we went back into Kildare, but St. Brighid's Cathedral was closed. We ended up talking to Yvonne in a nearby shop who explained that the Church of Ireland kept it closed during the off season, only opening for Sunday services. The fact that this once Catholic church had been overtaken by the Church of Ireland irked me. You can tell I was certainly raised in an Irish family. Yvonne suggested we visit St. Brighid's Well which was about 3 kilometers from the town center near the Irish Stud and Japanese Gardens. We decided to explore the small town center for a few minutes and head toward the well.
Walking around the village at around 10:00AM we interrupted a rather shocking scene. Suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by military fatigued men with very big machine guns. We were startled. Yet, every person around us was just going about their business. Later we were told that during bank transfers in the morning they need armed guards because there are so many robberies. Yeah, thanks for telling us before we look like total American Freaks, bigged eyed and really bushy tailed.
After our shock the well was a refreshing treat. The area was small, littered with rosaries draped on a statue of St. Brighid holding her flame. A tree in the corner of the area near the well's source had pieces of material tied to its branches. Legend has it that those who were healed by the waters would leave a token of themselves to as a sign of thanks.
From Kildare we headed toward Cashel in Tipperary County - to see "The Rock." Now, as rocks go in Ireland - generally, I assumed we'd be going to see an Ogham stone or stone circle or something (Shows how much I didn't know about Ireland around the time of Saint Patrick. We drove around a corner in the hillside and suddenly, I was shocked to see a HUGE fortressed cathedral on top of a hill. We toured the beautiful ruins, braving the cold wind. The wind was very strong blowing little ole me around quite a bit.
There's a great story about Cashel. Many years ago, when Saint Patrick was touring Ireland, converting pagans he came to the village of Cashel. Saint Patrick was busy converting people when the devil, flying some distance away saw St. Pat in the village. He became so angry that the devil took a bite of a mountainside and flung the rock at St. Patrick to try and kill him. The rock missed and as a result St. Patrick built the Cathedral on top of the rock. From the top of the Rock of Cashel you can see in the distance a large dip in a far mountainside that is called "The Devil's Bit."
From Cashel we journied toward one of the most important destinations of our trip. Tipperary Town. Tipperary County is where my family came from in 1850. The names in the county make it obvious. Gleeson and O'Dwyer are incredibly prominent Tipperary names. We drove a bit outside of Tipperary Town for our stay in Bansha at Bansha Castle.
This is where the story gets really, really good...at least for me. Tomorrow, I promise I'll continue on with the story of Damerville.
Posted by Sarah at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
May 06, 2004
Where was I....
My mother fears, above all, the dreaded round-about. I scoffed at her fear as we made our way north on the N1 toward Belfast...though we wouldn't be going into Northern Ireland. Our first priority was food.
I suggested that we stop at any village that we thought looked interesting. Traveling along the small roads we finally came across Slane, a very small village with a one-way bridge built onto a hillside. What attracted me was the facade of ruins at the top of what we now know is called The Hill of Slane. I said, let's stop here and then I want to see if we can go see those ruins on the hill.
We had breakfast at a small inn on the main street of Slane called The Conyngham Arms Hotel. The brown bread scones were absolutely to die for. I still shiver when I think of them. Milk or cream and sugar was going to become a habit for me while I was on this trip - luckily I stopped that after I got back. I felt obligated to use them because our hosts always brought them to the table. This was my first foray into the what is possibly the world's most fattening and artery clogging meal ever created. And dear God was it good. The black pudding has a distinctive, smoky taste. The white is less smoky, but seems richer. Rashers have to be the best bacon. I will never again touch a piece of American bacon....such products are a travesty to the beauty of pork meat products. Then you have a fried egg, with either mushrooms or half of a fried tomato. Don't forget the additional scones, toasts and brown breads - served, of course, with butter.
It is truly amazing that I didn't gain any weight. After our delicious breakfast I told my mom to drop me at the bottom of the hill, I wanted to take a walk. I assumed that it would take me 15-20 minutes to make the trek. Suprisingly it only took five minutes. The view from the top was amazing, but what we found was goose bump inducing.
We had no idea when we entered Slane that the ruins of an ancient cathedral and burial grounds were on the top of the hill. Even more significant was the fact that this was where Saint Patrick lit the first Easter Fire in Ireland. Every year the locals relight the fire in a small pit on the grounds. My mother and I were overcome with joy and shock.
After a brief journey of the grounds which were public access we headed to New Grange, one of the most well preserved passage graves in Europe. This was again significant for me. Since I was a child I was obsessed with spiraling patterns and would always doodle them. I had studied New Grange in my Celtic Anthropology class and was excited to be there. You can actually go into the passage grave where they simulate the light entering the tomb on Winter Solstice.
It was incredibly cold this day and after spending some time on the two hills we were ready to move on, get to Kildare and take a nap. We were exhausted. We went back to our car after warming up with some tea in the visitor center and made our way to the land of St. Brigid, Kildare.
To be Continued.....
Posted by Sarah at 04:31 PM | Comments (1)
May 03, 2004
Into the West....
It's hard to believe that one week ago today I was in Dublin. I miss Ireland, something fierce. I miss the land, I miss the people, I miss the richness that I saw and felt.
The first few days of travel were a bitch. We ended up stuck in JFK, not able to get to Les Halles. We (my mom and I) spent all day in Terminal Four. We had arrived very early on Jet Blue and were not scheduled to leave for 12 hours. Let's just say that was a day better left unremembered.
Eventually we did get on board an Aer Lingus plane named St. Maeve. Each of the planes is apparently named after Irish Saints or mythical figures. Very cool. Most of the people on board were Irish, returning to the magical island from holiday in the states. We were served an excellent meal of chicken, salad and other nummies and eventually headed off over the coastline of Nova Scotia and into the deep dark void of the Atlantic Ocean. Our movie was Big Fish, which I really wanted to watch but kept falling asleep.
We arrived in Dublin at 7:00 AM Dublin time. My mom and I were tired, though not exhausted and were looking forward to our days on the Emerald Isle.
First thing, we needed coffee......interesting observation, which floored me...and probably showed. When ordering a large coffee, my fellow U.S.-humans, be prepared for our standard small. Yes, it's scary especially for someone who is used to ordering a Venti Coffee from Starbucks, regularly.
After our coffee, which we took black....yet another observation I will get to later on....we picked up our rental car and headed out into the country side.
Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the continued story.
Tomorrow I'll tell you all about the hazards of my mom's driving in Ireland, Slane, Irish Breakfast (YUM), Bru Na Boine and Monsterevin/Kildare.
Posted by Sarah at 02:43 PM | Comments (2)