The Search for my Roots

 After my wonderful stay with my cousins in Killarney, it was time to move on. I hopped the train to Dublin for a couple days of exploring. 

I’ve always been interested in history and a recent series of unfortunate events had left me the time to scour my genealogy online.  I have lots of connections in Ireland (not surprising as my dad is Irish and I hope to get my passport myself one day!)

So I spent my first evening in Dublin wandering the sights like Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral, I had dinner at the Brazen Head which holds a Guinness world record as the oldest pub in Dublin with one type of watering hole operating there since 1198. 

The following day I took a bus up to County Meath. One of the more famous branches of my family are from the area- the Plunketts. And the current Earl of Dunsany still lives in a castle there. 

While my family is certainly from the Plunketts, the link to the nobles is tenuous. I am still looking to find out for sure where we branched off. My 2x great grandfather was a prominent Dubliner and claimed to be a close cousin. Allegedly the Earls acknowledged that claim but I have more digging to do!! 

So while exploring Meath I started at Hill of Tara, where the Kings of Ireland would be crowned. It seemed like a gentle slope, but from the top you really could see for miles across the county. It was just beautiful. There were lots of visible burial mounds, and some that were found by scanners still hidden below. 

The Irish have a stone of destiny at the top, which allegedly screams when touched by the true king- not a peep though when I placed my hand on top. There was a group of nutters on top of the hill, they kept placing a crown on a young mans head and people were waving their hands about and gathered close to touch him. I tried to loiter around to subtly watch, I think they started putting the crown on some one else as well. Very weird. 

So I moved along to a small ruined abbey in the area. Bective Abbey was a beautiful old ruin. It had be given away during the reformation and towers added for defence.  It’s a little interesting to wander this pile of rocks and climb around, back home in Canada it would be all blocked off for safety. 

After the Abbey it was time for lunch, so I went to an old family homestead- Killeen Castle. It’s actually been a long time since any Plunkett’s have lived there, and the Earls of Fingall is a defunct title. The land is now a golf course so I had lunch in the clubhouse and wandered the grounds. The old church still stands, and the graveyard beside was beautiful. I wasn’t able to really see the old castle as it’s been completely renovated. I think it will be a hotel and I’ll have to come back when it’s finished!!

Close by is the castle that belongs to the Earls of Dunsany. I had hoped to do a tour with them, but my own bad planning meant I missed out. My email went out too late so I only got a reply after I got back to Dublin!! 

Though I suppose it’s good to leave something to do next time! So my search for Irish connections was interesting, but so far not terribly fruitful. But that was about to change.