Ireland 2010: Day 5

Sat 9/18 Had a traditional Irish b’fast without the black pudding (pork blood ewwww). The eggs, sausage and bacon are great to get the day started. The O’Leary clan reunion begins with a lecture from a local historian who has researched burial rituals of the Irish. We learn about the superstitions, customs, wakes, supernatural beliefs and lamenting process. The talk was absolutely fascinating and revealed so much about the Irish people. It ended with a CD recording of a Gaelic lament. An old man mourns his daughter who hasn’t died but has left for the U.S. He now has no one to care for him, and he knows his last days will be difficult. On that note, we boarded a bus for Manning’s Emporium, a traditional outdoor restaurant. It serves locally produced food from goat cheese to bread, fruit, meats and wine. The owner’s energy was half the fun. We had the pleasure of sitting with Peter O’Leary one of the most knowledgeable people in attendance on local history.

The next stop was the Drumbeg Stone Circle built around 945 b.c.. The circle is perched on a high plain surrounded by rich green fields. It overlooks the ocean. In summary, the builders picked the location based on this view and the position of the sun. The entry stones are arranged to frame the sun as it sets during the winter solstice. The history of this island is rich beyond words.

We returned to Creedon’s and instead of dressing for the big O’Leary dinner, we headed down the street to search the cemetery for Cronin remains. In particular Pat Cronin and Norry O’Leary. We saw the old remains of the church where they were married in January 1839. We did find a Cronin stone; based on the name and place he was definitely a relative.

Dressed in our finest (which turned out to be our only clean clothes) we headed down to join the O’Learys from the outlying areas. Carolyn and I walked into the dining area and noticed a smiling couple sitting on the sofa. We said hello and the gentleman got up to properly introduce himself and his wife. It turns out that he has been coming for years to these reunions to see if any of his O’Leary relatives will show up! He asked how we were related to the O’Learys and when we informed him our O’Leary link was Nora O’Leary up in Gurteenflugh, his eyes lit up, and he said he was related to the O’Leary in that home also. This was very exciting and we proceeded to get lots of info from here about the Cronins and O’Learys from Gurteenflugh. A fun evening was had by all.