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Published: August 11th 2008
Lost in the farming district.
The homestead was very rural... it was a miracle we found it! I know that this entry is a long time coming, but I feel like I finally have a minute to sit back and process all that I experienced when David and I visited Ardfert, Ireland.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, my grandmother, Catherine (Harris) Corwin was born and raised in Massachusetts, USA and then moved to the Pacific Northwest after she met my grandpa, Philip Corwin. Her parents and grandparents were from Ireland. Growing up, that’s about all I knew about my families heritage on that side.
While David and I were in Ireland this July (wow that seems like a long time ago!) we contacted relatives with the help of my Aunt Cindy in order to uncover more about my Irish heritage. First, we emailed Pete Tallman, a third cousin living in Massachusetts. He gave us information about what city in Ireland my grandma’s family was from. He also gave us the name of several family members in Ardfert (my grandma's mother's side of the family, the O'Learys), and also a person to contact to get more information about the location of the Homestead. This little information was the foundation of our search. It felt like
The Grocerry Store
The workplace of the friendly leprechaun! a mystery and like we were detectives who had to piece together all the clues in order to come up with a lead!
On July 19th we headed to Ardfert with only the email correspondences to guide us. The town we were visiting was so small and there were no listings available over the internet or phone book to help us find the address. So when we arrived our first clue given by Pete was to visit a local grocery store There we meet the smallest and friendliest Irish man I have ever seen, maybe he was a leprechaun? Despite his extremely thick Irish accent, David and I were given our next clue. To travel 5 miles out of town to another local grocer that services the neighboring farms. Here, we were told to ask about the location of Lerrig Loche (The O’Leary homestead). We followed the directions as we understood them (we could only decipher clues from his nonverbal hand gestures) and we miraculously ended up at the grocery store he described. Here we were pointed to a road that leads even farther outside the city.
On our way to Lerrig Loche we drove past several large
O'Leary homestead
David and I knocked on those doors so many times! farms. One farm that we drove past had huge acreage and many cows. It ended up being the O’Leary homestead! The farm was very cute with white walls and a brown roof. It was rather small and both David and I felt like giants compared to the tiny doors and petite windows. We knocked on the door and waited for awhile, but no one was home so we decided to sight see in the town.
Ardfert the city was very approachable and felt very authentically Irish. The locals were quick to recognize us as outsiders and offered many helpful suggestions for places to eat. Some locals even thought we were British because of our accents?!? While visiting the local cathedral, we were also given a personal tour! It felt like the town was excited to see some new faces and it was very welcoming! Adjacent to the cathedral was the town cemetery; here we found the grave stone of the O’Leary family. It was surreal to think that I had ancestors who may be buried there. After our tour of the town sights and a lunch at the nicest pub in Ireland, we traveled back to the O’Leary homestead
once more in hopes of meeting family. Unfortunately, the home was still empty, but David and I left a note that included both a family tree diagram and an address. We hope that they will contact us and that we can continue to have correspondence with our Irish family!
I left Ardfert thoroughly satisfied. It was so amazing to see where the Irish in me comes from and I could not have wished for a cuter town! While I was there I thought of all my family back home in the states, especially my Grandma Cathy. I really wish she could have seen Ardfert too. As a little girl, I remember her telling me about how she wanted to visit Ireland. I hope that I will be able to describe it to her well when I get home!
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Mary
non-member comment
More Irish!
Good to hear more details about your discoveries while in Ireland. Remind David that he is at least 1/4 Irish himself!! oxoxox