Waterford – The Roaming Roths

Waterford/Cheekpoint

The kids and I took advantage of the amazing grounds at Faithlegg this morning and embarked on an early morning falconry excursion. Meet Albert, the Harris Hawk and Nelson, the White Faced Scoop Owl. We learned a lot about the birds themselves and the history of falconry. I would include that all here but figured you can Google the info if you are interested in further details.

Raw meat is used to train the birds to come to us and return to the trees as we trekked through the woods. The hawk watched closely as we moved and stayed very near, as they say, “watching us like a hawk”. We were able to get great slow motion videos that really captured the birds wing span as they landed on our arms.

After we were done “fowling” around, we joined the rest of the family for a 2 mile walking tour from Faithlegg down to Cheekpoint Village which is the area that was home to our family. We definitely took some of the road less traveled.

We stopped at the church cemetery that houses the burial sites of some of the early members of the Keough lineage and family spread holy water and laid flowers at the tombstones.

The cemetery is home to one of the tomb sites of the famous Thomas Francis Meagher. Meagher has four grave sites, none of which house his actual body. Click on the link by Andrew Doherty, our walking guide, to read more about this Irish rebel who fought in the American Civil War and eventually became the first governor of Montana.

The tour eventually led us to the home of Denis and Bridie Keogh, who take us back 5 generations in the Keogh bloodline.

Before we delve into the happy hour and reunion dinner reception, let’s take a quick pause for the reason we are here in Ireland. This beautiful lady is my paternal grandmother, born Anna Louise (Nancy) Keogh. She was the second born of 12 children, only one of which is still living today (Gerry Caulfield pictured below with myself and the kids).

The reunion kicked off with a happy hour in the gardens behind the hotel. Insert random fact here, but oddly enough, whiskey is not the primary liquor of choice here as I expected. Every bar in the country that we visited has an extensive gin menu posted above the bar.

The location for the reunion couldn’t have been more perfect. My cousin Anne did an incredible job of pulling together the perfect evening. It was a rush of new people and old stories. My kids instantly bonded with new cousins and disappeared into the grounds all evening. Our family history is full of stories of power and love and connections to influential parts of world history. Our family has crossed continents in search of a better world and today we all traversed the world to come together. I can’t even begin to explain what a gift this is to give to my children and bring home to my father. As we watched slide shows of old photos of family members past, we all took comfort in the fact that even the memories of this reunion have been captured for our future generations.

The Keogh/Walsh/Power families rallied well into the wee hours again. This was the pinnacle of entire trip and I can say Ireland has given us s all we had hoped for and more and our hearts are full. It is a land blessed with beautiful people and a wealth of culture and history. It was a trip well worth every dime spent.

Cobh

Nothing makes a real overseas vacation complete than at least one person throwing up in the rental car. We were driving from Cobh to Waterford in torrential down pours on a tight road overlooking the ocean when I heard the dreaded words from the back seat, “I think I am going to be sick”. If you know the country roads in Ireland, there is no shoulder, so I cringed as I heard the sound confirming what she had said. For another 2 miles I couldn’t find a place to pull over. When we made it safely to the side of the road, I spent the next 20 in driving rain trying to rinse the floors mats with all the half drank water bottles scattered throughout the car. I begged a nice lady in a small gas station for paper towels and a garbage bag. 30 minutes later we were back on the road and I was soaked up to my waist.

The day was not all bad though. We started out the morning in Cobh (pronounced “Cove” and formerly called Queenstown) grabbing coffee at a small cafe and then headed to another Titanic Museum. I would have to recommend this museum over the Belfast Titanic museum. It is more quaint, realistic and authentic to the story. The museum is housed in the original White Star Line ticket office where the last of the fated passengers purchased tickets and boarded prior to the sinking. During the tour you stand on the same area the passengers stood before processing to the Heartbreak Pier when many travelers spent their final moments on dry land. After the tour we explored Cobh as much as we could despite the bad weather.

We made our way to the Faithlegg Hotel in Waterford where we joined up with the Keough/Walsh/Power clan for our family reunion weekend. The hotel is tied to the Power side of the family and the website does a great job of walking through its history.

Most of the family congregated at Jack Meade’s Pub for happy hour. We all got lost in the gin and hours of storytelling and connecting dots. As the true Irish family we are, we shut down three bars by the wee hours. It was fascinating to meet and greet folks from all over the world to include Australia and Dubai. The history shared last night was amazing rich! Tomorrow begins the main events or the reunion and we will see more family roll in. Almost 100 people have journeyed for this event. My grandmother’s only living sibling of 12 children is here with us this weekend.

Planning Our Next Itinerary

Most of you know that in 7 months, the kids and I will be heading to Ireland for a family reunion and to meet up with a few friends in our path of travel.

I am fortunate my friend Jen decided to marry an Irish lad this past year. While they were home for Christmas break, they came by and helped me lay out my plans over some gin and tonic. Conor was a wealth of knowledge on how to make the most of our 12 day trip. Of course this itinerary is only our guideline and subject to change based on our whims.

We plan to fly into Dublin and stay downtown so we can foot hike around the city. I’m sure The Temple Bar will hit our list of must stops. They have the largest collection of whiskey in Ireland. St Patrick’s Cathedral and a hike up Wicklow Mountains also top the list.

After two days in Dublin we will head to Belfast for two days with a stop at the Titanic Museum. My son is a huge fan of Titanic. He has been entranced with books detailing the ship’s construction, it’s journey and its ultimate demise since he first learned to read.

From Belfast we will traverse the countryside and it’s scenery for several hours to Sligo, which is situated between Donegal and Galway. It’s a combination of literary legacies, a surfing hotspot and jagged mountain peaks that helped to inspire the writings of William Butler Yeats.

After departing Sligo, our next stop is Galway. We have a friend in Galway with a horse farm along the beach so we plan to take a ride along the shore. There is so much to see and take in in Galway that we may take a few days to rest here. Who hasn’t wanted to be a Galway Girl for a few days?

We will drop south of Galway to hit the Cliffs of Moher for some incredible views before we cut Southeast for our final part of the week.

Our next destination will take us to Kinsale, Cobh and Cork. Kinsale is known for its yachting, sea angling, and golf, but also for being the gourmet hub of Ireland for foodies. Right up my alley! I plan to fill my belly quite well as this stop.

Once known as Queenstown, Cobh was the final port call of the RMS Titanic when it set out on its maiden and final voyage across the Atlantic. It is also the departure point for over 2.5 million Irish people who emigrated to North America between 1848 and 1950, including the Keough’s and the Moriarty’s. See, this is how you all ended up with me!

We can’t leave Ireland without partaking in a little tradition so we will check out the Blarney Castle and kiss the old Blarney Stone to seal up our Gift of Gab.

We will finish out the trip with a 3 day visit to Waterford, which is where my grandmother’s family originated. During the Keough reunion will get a personal tour of the area with specific focus on our heritage, old family homes, burial sites, etc. We will be staying at the Faithlegg House, old castle style, for a dinner and reception to meet our relatives from across the globe. This is such an amazing opportunity for the kids to meet their relatives and trace their heritage to a different sort of home.

From Waterford we make our way back to Dublin for a flight out the following morning back to the States. We will catch a few more sights here before we head home. Along the way we plan to get in some hiking, tour some castles, enjoy the local beverages, and maybe even squeeze in some falconry! Sleep is overrated. There is so much to do here that we will catch up on that on the flight home.

I’d welcome any feedback or suggestions for our travels from those who have experienced Ireland firsthand!