Eats in Eire

In Ireland, just as in the States, it seems eating out provides few vegetables and fruits compared to meats, dairy and breads.  So we scouted out a grocery store, very close to our hotel as it turns out, and picked up strawberries, apples, grapes, and bananas.

My mission was to find some typical Irish products to share here.  This is what we came up with so far:

(Note:  Clicking on photos should enlarge them.)

  (Jam's probably jam everywhere you go.)

Quail eggs.  (Well, heck, I don't usually see these in the U.S. where I live.)

Now these are what I think of when you say "Ireland"... root vegetables, greens.

So okay, I buy this at Whole Foods in Atlanta, but it really is great butter.  And it really is Irish.

Before buying groceries, we dined at the Blue Ginger Cafe on the main street of Dun Laoghaire.

Mine:  Salmon with asparagus (unfortunately, a paltry amount) and onion-herb-mashed potatoes with Hollandaise sauce.  

Ireland Arrival

Seeing all the sights, packing in as much as I could in the time I had abroad described my mode of traveling in my younger years.  At this stage, I want to amble along, see some sights (but not let them dictate the trip) and just discover what it means to be Irish.  Reminds me of a segment of a tour I took in my 30's, during which we had only two nights and a day in Paris.  Everyone else jammed onto side trips to Versailles or Chartres or Giverny, but I chose to go alone to an outdoor cafe to sit and sip espresso and Parisian-watch. I just wanted to feel Paris. 

Being of similar minds, Chari and I took our time after our airport arrival and got out to Dun Laoghaire, a 45 minute drive from the airport (20 south of Dublin) several hours after we landed.  We airport-ambled, changed money, and wifi'ed for a while before catching the big blue bus to the Royal Marine Hotel on the Irish Sea.

We've no set schedule, will make plans as we go, and intend to avoid any rushing whatsoever.  So let's see what unfolds.

(Note:  You can click on any photo in this blog and it should enlarge for better viewing.)

  

Dublin airport

The Irish Sea from our room at the Royal Marine Hotel

Royal Marine Hotel

Royal Marine Hotel from the sea

Hotel entrance

Forty Shades of Green

Ireland, My Ancestral Home

Many years ago, I began a search for my ancestors, starting with my father's side, the Harneys.  My great aunt Helen had compiled some family facts, which she passed along to me before she died.  To these, I added the Mormon records, but made little headway.  The furthest back that we could verify was my great-great grandfather's death certificate which listed his parents as having been born in Ireland, but gave no county and no names.  So I set everything aside for twenty years.

Then last summer, I agreed to a home exchange with a lovely Irish couple, who came to the U.S. to stay in my Chicago condo for three weeks.  I was to have their home in Galway the next summer.  Suddenly, my passion to find my Irish ancestors' names and county in Ireland was reignited.

With the help of Ancestry.com and a good friend, whose decades of experience produced thousands of names of relatives on her genealogy tree, we found dozens of my ancestors, going back to the time of the Irish potato famine (1846-1849.)  Unfortunately, many genealogical treasures were burned in Dublin during the Irish Civil War in 1922.  So as of yet, I've not discovered what county or counties we hail from.

Now here it is, a week away from my departure to my ancestral home, and I have to be content knowing that my great-great-great grandparents on my great-great grandmother's side, James Barron and Jane (nee?) Barron and my great-great-great grandparents on my great-great grandfather's side, John Harney and Elizabeth Clairmont were all born in Ireland.  Just seeing their homeland will have to be enough for this journey.

Perhaps if I find more specifically where I hail from, one day I'll return and walk the same hills or roads or city streets they did.