IRELAND TRIP 2019

Ever since we three siblings were really small, we heard stories about our Irish roots 

(the Moynahans, Brennans, Brodericks, Coughlins, etc) 

and we dreamed of visiting Ireland one day. 

Thanks to our generous brother "Paddy", 

the dream has come true and we are heading to Ireland this spring!

The Moynahan siblings: Left to Right: "Paddy", Kelly and Cindi (c. 1963)

This page will be a collection of links to our planning, our research and, 

when we return, 

we will post reports from our trip.

Links to Our Logistics Planning

Destination: Southwest Ireland

To begin, we sat together and drafted our Ten Point Plan and agreed-to the terms:

1. Make A Travel Budget. The complete funds for this trip are being provided by our generous brother but we are planning as frugally and cost effectively as possible. We agreed to personally assume the costs for our own meals, attractions etc.. That left the trilogy of travel expenses to be budgeted: flight, car and accommodations. Family Tree has the best "Genealogy Trip" worksheets for budgeting:
   
• Family Tree Magazine - Research Trip Budget Worksheet (you have to provide your email to receive the sheet but it's worth it)
2. Choose the Date: How many days? What months? What week? There are so many factors to consider before choosing your dates
• The BEST times to go to Ireland? Well that all depends. According to Frommer's, Spring and Fall (Autumn) are the best times to visit Ireland. Other factors like costs and crowd density are also effected by the time of year you visit.
• Irish Weather: There’s no avoiding the rain in Ireland no matter what time of the year you land on its shores (so we best have rain gear!) But we need to know the temperature for packing so we rely upon the AccuWeather Channel (and short-term forecasts are viewable at Met Éireann)
• Public Holidays and Holy Days in Ireland: We thought it best to avoid these times of year because many businesses and attractions would likely be closed. (Added bonus:  Gaelic calendar)
• Festivals and celebrations in Ireland: It's the luck of the Irish if your travel plans can meet up with and Irish festival or celebration!! Rick Steve's provides a list for 2019
3. Choose an airline: There are lots of airlines offering super cheap flights but you really, REALLY have to read the fine print!
• We agreed to support unionized/nationalized airlines. Air Canada is our airline of choice here in Canada and we researched all of the other airlines operating from Canada to Ireland. Researching airlines (airline safety, quality and cost comparisons) was harder than expected https://www.airlineratings.com/airline-ratings/
4. Book the ticket: This is the starting point of all the planning activities that follow. Here are some tips for once your tickets are booked.
• The tickets are booked ! We are halfway there!  Now the fun begins (Steps 5-9)
5. Book the car. There are many things to consider before booking a car in Ireland.
• Driving: How to Master Driving in Ireland (as a tourist!)
• Distances and roads: Unlike America, we wont be relying on GPS and Siri to guide us! Maps of Ireland are needed for planning our road trip
• Gasoline: "Petro"
• 7 Tips for Renting a Car in Ireland (Beware #6)
6. Plan the Itinerary: Starting with a carefully thought out travel itinerary
• The collaborative itinerary will combine genealogy and sightseeing.
7. Book the accommodation: there are so many choices these days and booking is so convenient online
• Solicit recommendations from friends
8. Make a "Wish List" of places we need to visit. Its important that this trip fulfill the wishes and hopes of  EVERYONE.
• Each county has it's "must-sees". We made a list
9. Make a "Packing List" of what we need to take.
• Family Tree Magazine - Research Trip Packing List (you have to provide your email)
• What to Wear in Ireland: A Packing Checklist for the Emerald Isle!
10. Ask the question: Is there anything we're forgetting?
• The little things: like electric power adapters, currency,

Links to Our Research

  The counties we need to visit on this trip: Kerry, Clare and Galway but we did not know the exact townlands. We will add links to our research strategy and findings here.

Three things that I did when I learned that we were going to be visiting Ireland: (1.) I upgraded my ancestry.ca account (temporarily); (2.) I subscribed to John Grenham's Irish Roots  and (3.) I registered at Ireland XO

1. Finding our Bowler/Brennan Ancestors in Co. Kerry
2. Finding our Broderick Ancestors in Co. Clare
3. Finding our Hussey Ancestors  on Co. Galway
4. Finding our Coughlin & Duffy Ancestors in Ireland
5. Finding our Moynahan Ancestors in Co. Kerry
6. Finding our Roach Ancestors in Co.Cork

Links To Our Trip Reports

Stay posted for our "Day by Day" reports for family, friends and others are dreaming of visiting Ireland someday.

1. The Flight
2. Arriving In Dublin
3. Road Trip Day 1 
4. Road Trip Day 2
5. Road Trip Day 3
6. Road Trip Day 4
7. Road Trip Day 5
8. Road Trip Day 6
9. Driving Back to Dublin
10. Last Day in Dublin
11. Heading Home 

Links To Internet Resources 

We Found Helpful

Planning A Genealogy Trip To Ireland 

 (links to people who do this as a business and may have some free advice as well)

• http://www.celticquest.net/ Celtic Quest, LLC, organizes genealogical research trips to Ireland’s archives and repositories. 
• My Ireland Tour My Ireland Tour offer private tours of Ireland and Northern Ireland, customized to your specific interests and requirements.

Finding Your Ancestors Town 

"The key to your Irish ancestry lies in the name of your families townland in Ireland"

Claire Santry

•  10 Tips for Finding Your Ancestor’s Town
• "Tracking Irish generations in land valuation records", by Richard M. Doherty (Page 54) 
• Irish Genealogy Toolkit For those who don't know the exact location of the ancestral home – and they make up a sizeable proportion of the descendants of emigrants – this is the first and biggest stumbling block they encounter. 
• Hunt For The Townland Part I: You know the county but not the townland. Pin down your Irish ancestry origins.
• Next steps for your ancestry research: Your Irish ancestry research can really start to move on apace once you have a strong sense of the direction, the real geographical direction, it should take. At this stage you can start learning about the place of origin of your Irish ancestor.

Maps of Ireland & Placename Databases

• https://www.logainm.ie/ga/ the Placenames Database of Ireland (launched in 2008), developed by Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge (DCU) and The Placenames Branch (Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht). 
•  Placenames searchable index of the 1851 General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, parishes and Baronies of Ireland along with street listings from Dublin, Cork and Belfast cities 
• Placenames and Surnames John Grenham Search Tool 
• Townland Search Page searchable database of all the towns and townlands in Ireland used for the 1851 cenus, detailing the County, Barony, Civil Parish, Poor Law Union and Province for that town or townland
• Early Irish Maps c.1558 – c.1610 National Archives collection of early maps of Ireland, created when land ownership was transferring from the native Irish to English settlers, $ to download maps
• Townland of Origin blog (2013-2017) archived online - still a great resource
  

Connecting With Irish Locals

• Ireland XO
• Local Genealogy Societies in Ireland
• Local Historical Societies in Ireland
• Local Libraries In Ireland

Connecting With Experts on Irish Genealogy

• Claire Santry's Irish Genealogy News - The most up to date reporting
• John Grenham's Irish Roots  - An often humorous commentary on the often frustrating world that is Irish genealogy
• Donna Moughty's Irish Genealogy Resources Blog - Expert posts about research sources and other observations

Understanding Irish History

• The Great Irish Famine: In Ireland, the Great Famine was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration between 1845 and 1852. It is also known, mostly outside Ireland, as the Irish Potato Famine. During the famine approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%. The proximate cause of famine was a potato disease commonly known as potato blight.
• Travel Through The Ireland Story: Even though this site has not been updated since 2001, it has great information on the Irish Famine Years
   
  

Using Your DNA To Find Your Irish Ancestors

(DNA is a WILD wild new frontier that warrants caution)

•  Irish Origenes: Since Irish surnames can still be found concentrated in the area where they first appeared, one can examine the distribution of the surnames that appear in ones DNA results (see: surname distribution maps) and identify an area common to all and pinpoint a ‘Genetic Homeland.’ The Genetic Homeland is the very small area, usually within a 5 mile radius where one’s ancestors lived for hundreds if not thousands of years.
•  Genetic Genealogy Ireland: presentations from the 2015 conference

Miscellaneous

• Index of FREE Irish Genealogy eBooks:  The availability of FREE eBooks and eJournals on the internet grows by the day.  This page attempts to collect them all!
• The Irish Archives http://www.theirisharchives.com/ is a family history research tool for users whose main interest is that of Irish genealogy and the search for family roots in Ireland. We've collected thousands of Irish ancestry and genealogy related links, and continue to do so on a daily basis, allocating them to dozens of suitable categories for ease of search. This is family history research made easy: no cost, point, click, and read. 
• Digitized Irish Records In The Familysearch Catalog 
• Census Substitutes and Putting The Pieces Together (2006)

The Moynahan siblings dressed in period costumes (c. 1981)

Reverse Genealogy and 
"Tar Abhaile" (Come Home)

The "Tar Abhaile" series was created in  2013 - Ireland’s ‘Year of the Gathering’

Twelve descendants from across the globe traveled to explore their Irish roots.

Unlike other genealogy formats, ‘Come Home’ used reverse genealogy.Reverse genealogy is a unique method whereby a local community uses collective memory and, crucially, local knowledge to piece together the lost stories of these descendants’ ancestors. They reach out and invite the descendants to ‘come home’ and walk the same land their ancestors walked on, visit the homes they were born in and the graves where they were buried… but also meet some living relatives… long lost cousins they never knew they had...

(Read about all six episodes here: : episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4, episode 5, episode 6.)

Come Home (Tar Abhaile) Sizzle Reel from Red Pepper on Vimeo.

Who knows what this journey will bring? 

I just know it is one I will never ever forget it!

Thanks Paddy