Cash's Holiday

Hello, Finally, internet connection, …… This blog follows a bit like a diary as have been formatting this in word as the days have passed.

Wed 7th. Our final stage has begun. …… Flew from Exetor (in Devon) to Dublin…..didn’t take long, bit like Auckland to Wellington….seems your no sooner in the air then start to descend again, – arrived to a windy, cool Ireland. Massive construction work at the airport…seemed to have to walk for ages with what luggage that didn’t have wheels attached, being draped around us.

Managed to get rooms in a central hotel (via the internet) at exceptional rates …..we learnt why!!! Its in an area of many nightclubs and our hotel located/attached to one of the popular ones……till 4.00am. Closed windows helped muffle the base beat of the music…..welcome to Dublin. Picked up on a few amusing things during a bus tour of the city….the accent makes listening a little difficult…..`th’ sounds like `t’ ie Thirty is `turty’ and as far as the weather goes, they say its either – been raining, going to rain or it is raining……welcome to Ireland.

After two nights in Dublin, with Dave and I taking in a performance of `Riverdance’, we headed Northwest on a `Cash’ genealogy trail which took us into the county of Leitrum up near the border of Northern Ireland to a town called Drumshanbo. A sad but inspiring story unfolds (will make it brief)….but picture….many Irish families struggling to scratch out a living, the potato famine strikes 1845 – 51 tipping the balance. Ireland losses three million to death (starvation and disease) or emigration. The workhouse/poorhouse was the last resort for some and so it was that two sisters 16 & 17yrs were sent there by their parents as a means of survival. They became part of an emigration scheme that saw four thousand women shipped out to Australia. In only a few months of arriving, there is marriage for the 17 yr old to a `free’ (after doing his time) middle aged gentleman and between them they amass a reasonably large land holding. In time, that gutsy young women and her husband sponsored out her mother and younger siblings from Ireland after the death of her father. And so you have Mary and James Cash…..their children….eight of them, never had to suffer the cold or hunger that Mary and her family did back in Ireland. We read of the hardship so many families endured…… misery and mortality.

Anyway to shed light on snippets of information that Jim had gathered up was very satisfying all round. And so it was we drove south to Galway….(located directly across from Dublin on the west coast of Ireland) Once again Anne’s family (aunt and uncle) offering their holiday house as our base. After all our time away, it is so nice to settle in one place and be able to call it home.

Have ventured out on day trips. – Northwest, doing a circuit of an area called Connemara, very stony land, with multiple little lakes. Interesting to see `peat’ being dug in brick form from the bog land….its stacked and dried, resulting in a fuel source. – West, On a 40 minute boat trip to the Aran Islands in Galway Bay…..now stony is an understatement…how people managed to live in such a barren waste I don’t know. It had very little soil but over years the combination of seaweed and sand mixed with what soil could be found in crevices has resulted in what paddocks there are today….if they can be called paddocks. Dry stone fences creating multiple enclosures. The main island, Inishmore (one of three) is only 9km long and 2kms at the widest point. On arrival, passengers are beckoned over by the many mini van tour drivers….the choice is walk, hire a bike or tour via these vans….or trap & pony. The van driver who acquired our 20 euro’s had lived on the island all his 70? Years. The main employment has been fishing but now tourism plays a big part to the point that most households have someone involved in some way with one or the other. Listening about life on the islands and watching a movie filmed there in the 1940’s helped to round off our day out there. Could go into detail now but if anyone is interested some time, just ask for a quick review.
Wed 14th Day trip southwest to take in `The Burren’ in County Clare….. (`Boireann’ is Irish for Rocky Country) Rugged bare limestone hills overlook an estuary of Galway Bay. Pretty farmland at its base with once again dry stone walls being the main fencing material. The Cliffs of Moher were our next `tourist’ stop, and you can’t help feeling like a mob of sheep as its 8 Euro to park the car and view the cliffs….but spectacular they are…standing 200m above the sea. A sturdy stone slab fence gives security before the great drop….though we saw one idiot further along the cliff where the barrier is only a token gesture standing right on the edge.!!!

Been good to collect emails etc at last ….taking the small laptop has been the biggest plus for the whole trip. We head south in a few days. Then next week its homeward bound. We have all enjoyed everything about the trip but are looking forward to getting back to familiarity and family. (:) G