Some pics from our past

Today, I wanted to post some pictures of where our families, ( McGaughey's and Carlisle's
homes in Ireland. This is something not too many people have the blessing of seeing in their lifetimes. I Know that my dad, your grandfather McGaughey, never ever got to see where his mom and dad grew up, or ever to even meet his grandparents on either side of the family. Kind of a shame, in a way, but that was the reality of most people who had parents that immigrated from other parts of the map, back in the 1800's and earlier.

Grandma Rachel Elisabeth Carlisle, and Grandpa, Robert Henry McGaughey, lived in Northern Ireland, on Damoily Road about 2 miles from the town of Market hill .

Here is the road sign

travel on this now paved road for about 1/2 mile and come to grandpa McGaughey's home:

The white plaster part is the original home when grandpa was a boy. Back then it had a thatched roof, and dirt floors and rock walls. Through the generations newer products were used, but this is the original spot and house with the newer products put over top of the old. While we were inside the room, our tour guide, Barbra Ferguson, showed us some of the original walls. The mostly stone area was added later as the family grew.

This is a cupboard inside the home. The home is being used for storage now, but this is the original cupboard that was used in this home. Now I know how come I like yellow and roses so much. Its an inherited thing. This actually reminded me of one we had on our ranch in California when I was a girl growing up.

This is Tracy and me leaving the McGaughey home. You cannot imagine how happy I am at this time. To think that my grandfather, had gone though this door way so many times as he was growing up. Just amazing to me that I would ever be here.

This is the view from the McGaugheys home Eastward, the pole you see on the right, is the back yard of the Carlisle home. So the McGaugheys home was on the right side of the road and the Carlisle home was about 100yards up the road on the left.

The Carlisle home is now owned by another family. That's because, my grandmother was one of 8 girls, and there were no boys to leave the home place to. Her dad, Samuel, was a school teacher and taught both Catholics and Protestant students. That was quite an honor to be able to cross religious lines and stay in good standing with members of both sides. Grandpa was well educated, and well liked.

Jason and Tracy on the road in front of the Carlisle home. notice the white home in the back grown, well, the McGaughey home is directly across the street from it.
This is one of the rooms in the original Carlisle home. The home was being used for storage, but we were allowed inside. There were several rooms, all small, and this room had a stairway to go upstairs.
This last picture is a long shot, with our tour guide and I standing at the borderlines of the property.

Were back !!

Hello all, We are back from our Feast /Ireland tip. Wow what a time we had.
traveling can be a great big informative experience. It is said that Ireland has 40 shades of Green. I agree with that. I never saw one rainbow while there, but I saw lots of friendly people with friendly, warm, inviting smiles. Sorry Mark, no leprechauns! If you ask for directions, an Irishman will tell you how to get there, then tell you again, and one more time just to make sure! Now that's service, with a smile!!
We met some brethren from Texas, a whole group from various parts of Missouri, and Canada, Britain, and other parts of the map. All our messages were informative, or/ and motivating. We had a dinner dance, with lamb as one of the meat dishes on the plentiful buffet. yummy cheese cake desserts, and even a fun game. we were placed at tables that had another countries flag as a centerpiece, then we had a list of questions we had to answerer, as a group, to see how much we knew about the other country. Surprisingly we actually did know some of the answers, but I don't think we were the winning table. I personally think it was a lesson in humility.
We visited the Waterford Crystal Co-operation! I was blown away with how many years it takes to become one of the people allowed to work on the production of the hand made glass items. The tour or the plant, I would recommend to anyone going to Waterford Ireland. Did you know that Waterford never sells anything with an imperfection in it. It is truly a work of art. they make trophies for sporting events, Chandeliers, as well as stem wear, bar wear, picture frames, and vases. some of the pieces I especially liked was the Violin, horse and carriage, lighthouse and the chess sets. Its really amazing to see all that detailed work that takes hours to produce. It takes over 20 years to become a master craftsman for Waterford. Then you are allowed to work on the trophies. It takes 5 years of training just to work on the production of any piece that is made there.
Now, I told you I would be trying the Guinness.. I did.. I have decided, I would not make a good drunk.. never mind its not morally good. Dad and I shared our first Guinness.. I let him have the lions share.. because.. yukkkk.. If that is a food.. I will be fasting a lot. Others did like it, and that was good for the Irish economy.
Now a word about Irish coffee.. now that's a whole nother story. One of the best coffees I had was in a pub named "Bailey's". While waiting for our waiter to come, one Irish local, suggested that if we get Irish coffee, make sure its made with Jamison's whiskey. Now I am not a drinker, have never really cared for anything in the way of alcohol.. but that was not bad at all.. But one is quite enough. I have come to the conclusion, that if you want good food.. the pub has to be named after a drink of some kind. ha. This Bailey's had the best steaks, all home grown, that we have had anywhere. As a matter of fact I had everything from fish to lamb, and didn't have a problem with any of it. by that , I mean, I am very sensitive to the stuff they put in our meats, here in the USA, and when I consume them , unless they are Organic, I usually end up with some NOT SO Fun, after effects.. but I ate right off the menu in Ireland and never had any reaction to any of the items. We also noticed that if we asked for something different than the way they normally make it, that the cooks went out of their way, to accommodate.. This made it all the more enjoyable for us.
It was interesting to note, that they are not any better at our geography than we are of theirs. At our Arklow Bay Hotel, where breakfast was included with our stay, one of our waiters wanted to know if Kansas was in Texas. I am still wandering if the Texas brethren were giving him a hard time. ha. And another thing I discovered.. I am not as weired as I thought.. they had beans from breakfast.. ha.. well.. we grew up with beans as one of the items for breakfast.. go figure.. my grandparents were both from Ireland.. ha.. now I know..
More in my post another day.. I got to go... my computer wants to update.. go figure.