After 10 years of procrastinating we made it to Ireland in Sept. 2008.

by James Aylward
(Scottsdale ,AZ)

I had always wanted to visit Ireland as that is where my Fathers side of the family had lived.
My Great Great Grandfather came to the States in 1852 from Ireland after being involved in a fight with a tax collector who was trying to run them off the land they farmed in Mullinavat (County Kilkenny).

We decided on a 13 day bus tour which turned out to be a very good decision in many ways. On our third day there our bus driver asked if I had ancestors from Ireland and I told him I did. He asked where they were from and I replied Pat I doubt that you would have heard of it as it is a small place with only a few hundred residents. He asked the name of it and when I told him Mullinavat he looked shocked and told me he had been born and raised there.

The following week we arrived in Waterford which is about 10 kilometers from Mullinavat and as we entered the hotel our bus driver Pat said, as soon as your bags are in your room please come back to the lobby. He had arranged for his niece to meet us at the hotel with her car and was taking us to the farm my ancestors had lived on and that the lady that lived there was related to me. When we arrived we found out the lady was 91 years old and very sick at the time, however I visited with her daughter who knew our family history in great detail. She even knew my Great Grandfathers nickname. I was stunned to say the least that I was at the place where my family had lived so long ago.

We got back in the car and I assumed we were going back to the hotel, but Pat asked her to go to the next house up the road. There we met a man who was also related to our family through marriage. He greeted us like old friends and invited us into the house for a drink of whiskey. Not being much of a drinker I did the best I could and then he invited us out to see the farm. As we walked out he showed us the remains of a foundation and explained that was where the house had stood that my Great Great Grandfather lived in. He told me to go stand on the spot and took my picture. I was shaking so badly I thought I might pass out. Then we walked to a field that he pointed out was the forty acres my family had actually farmed. The land is rolling hills of green (what other color would it be) It was one of the greatest moments of my life.

Our entire trip was one we will never forget. The Irish have to be the most hospitable people in the world and made our entire group feel welcome everywhere we went. The country has so much history and is beautiful beyond belief.
I look forward to another trip there and will continue to cherish the memories of a magical Country.