Aughnacloy and family

Of course, the main reason the Thompson clan went to Ireland was for the girls to see where Nanny was born, grew up and to meet their Irish family!

Some of the branches of the Hamilton family!

But to backtrack just a bit, when we left Cushendun last Saturday we travelled along the coast again, stopping to say a fond farewell to the wonderful glens of Antrim...



When we reached the outskirts of Belfast, we stopped at Carrickfergus Castle so the girls could see a castle fully restored instead of the ruins (as lovely as they are) that we had seen before. Of course, the trio were most interested in those things that kids like...

 The latrine chutes visible on the outer walls, the replica of one of the ENORMOUS dogs (now extinct apparently) that used to live at the castle and fight alongside the soldiers....

   

...and playing with the huge chess game on the top floor of the castle.

After a quick lunch at a pub beside the castle we followed our GPS lady to Ebor Drive - this is the street where mom lived until she moved to Canada at age 12. The row houses are still there, though looking more tired than when the Hamiltons and their various relatives and friends resided there.
 

Mom in front of 33 Ebor Drive.

 

Talking about what has changed in the 60+ years since the Hamiltons lived here.



The back lane that ran between the rowhouses.



Mom and dad strolling along.

Then we left Belfast and the coast and moved inland to Aughnacloy in county Tyrone. Outside this village is Glack, the family farm where my grandfather's family lived (now sold and belonging to others) and my mom was born. Though my grandfather moved his family to Belfast for work (and because my grandmother liked it there), they returned every summer and my mom has many memories of school vacations spent at Glack (more on that in a later post).

Growing up, the name Aughnacloy always seemed magical to me - some mysterious irish place full of wonder and mystery. When I visited there 13 years ago with my parents and sister, the village lived up to my vision in many ways - I felt comforted to return this summer and see it looking so much the same.

As an aside - on the last day in Cushendun on the beach, the wind blew some grains of sand into my camera lens and it stopped functionning. All photos from this post on are from Kim's camera, with an occasional one from Bryanna's. As such, I don't have some of the shots I might otherwise have taken.  Thanks goodness for Kim's super camera and artist's eye - apologies to her if some shots would have been edited prior to posting! Also, few shots of Kim now as she is usually taking the photos!

On Aughnacloy's main street.

We arrived in Aughnacloy on Saturday evening in time to settle in to our B&B and grab dinner in town. The next day we took it easy (simple to do since it was Sunday and not much was open!) and then headed to my mother's cousin's home just around the corner for a BBQ. Our irish cousins had set a feast fit for a king and it was wonderful to hear the irish lilts in the voices and to see mom's smile as she enjoyed being with her family again.   

Cousin Jack and Mom

 

The men's group. Edward, dad, Jack, Graham.




Cousin Jack, the kids, and Bart the donkey.

 

Mom, Lynn, Margaret (her house) and the spread!

 

Wendy and Lianne - same generation cousins.

 

The youngest generation of cousins.



Mom, Margaret and Connie - cousins and friends.

The photo at the top shows all who were at the BBQ on Sunday. More on the family and the farm still to come.