After Brach and Kendra got off Rick and I went up to the gates where our flight to Dublin was supposed to be. We were kind of in a holding area until the right gate opened up so we were just playing on our phones when we got a text from Skylar. He and Sarah had made it to Heathrow and were just browsing some shops on the next level above us. A little while later they came up and we had a good time catching up on their flights and our previous week. Within just a couple of hours we were in Dublin with a rented van heading to the hotel. We stayed at The Clayton Hotel just a few minutes from the airport. As expected Skylar and Sarah were pretty tired so we green to just have dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was pouring outside and I felt chilled so I was happy not to go out into the rain looking for a restaurant. The food was great and filling.
After a good night's rest we got up and grabbed a little breakfast for the road (to eat later because it was fast Sunday) and headed over to church. We met at the Branch and had a sweet experience there. We were running a little behind and as we walked in the Sacrament hymn was being sung. There were about twenty people in total in the room. We four sat down and started harmonizing. We do that:) I noticed the chorister had tears running down her face but didn't think too much about it. It was fast and testimony
meeting and it really was a beautiful meeting starting our with two young girls with bright spirits and testimonies. A few more got up and bore testimony and it was really great! Next, the chorister, Anna, got up and through her tears, explained how she sometimes feels like angels are singing with this little congregation. "That morning", she said, "I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to let me see the angels, and then this beautiful family walked in. She was looking directly at us referring to OUR little family.
It was really tender to us all.
During Sunday School while Anna was teaching, it somehow came up that Sarah is a Speech Therapist.
Anna got really excited and said, "Oh we need to talk! I have a son who has speech problems." So after the meeting the two sat and talked and I could see Sarah trying to work a little with her little boy as well as giving ideas for Anna on how to help him. It just really felt like we were meant to be in that branch on that day. There are hundreds of tiny branches throughout the world. The spirit and people are so strong in these little parts of the church. It is just really neat to see!
After church we drove North into Northern Ireland, Down County, where Rick's GG Grandfather was married. On the marriage certificate we found that they were from neighboring villages. George Truesdale was from Kilkinamurry and Elizabeth Paxton was from Shannaghan. We had the great privilege of driving through these two little communities. Honestly, I can seay that it was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. Definitely in my top five sights int he world. But just the feeling of being in one's ancestors area of where they lived is so fulfilling!
The pictures of Shannaghan just cannot do it justice. Beautiful rolling green hills dotted with homes and sectioned off by hedgerows. Just breathtaking!
Next we drove just a couple of Kilometers and we were in the little village of Kilkinamurry. We were able to find the parish church there and walk through it. In the 50"s the church was torn down and rebuilt because of severe mold in the walls. The only original part left was the foyer. It was about a 12x20 space but had a beautiful stained glass window from the 18th century.
Two direct descendants of George and Elizabeth Truesdale/Drysdale:)
After spending time at the Kilkinnamurray Church we drove over to Hillsborough Castle (which is actually a palace and not a castle) and took a tour, then enjoyed walking around the grounds and taking pictures. It was very nice:)
We had a very nice dinner at the Plough Restaurant. We thought it was funny because the restaurant is spelled Plough but pronounced PLY. The accents and way things are pronounced in all three areas we visited on this trip were amusing at times😀 The Scottish and Irish accents are very hard to discern at times.
Here we are at the Plough.
That night we stayed in the Castle Leslie. Well, not actually IN the castle but on the castle estate. The castle itself was very beautiful but it was booked out for a wedding. We ended up staying in the mews, which is the old stable area, I believe. It was a little apartment that served us well. The grounds were beautiful and Rick, Skylar and Sarah enjoyed jogging around the estate both mornings we were there. There was even a little lake there.
This picture is in the little courtyard of our room.
This is the Castle Leslie. We did get the chance of walking through it before leaving the area. It was really cool. I could see how renting out this place would be amazing! Lots of money, though!
Fun fact: Paul McCartney married his second wife here.
On Monday morning we drove the two hours to the North Coast of Northern Ireland. We went to the Giant's Causeway. It was a nice walk down to the water level and to the interesting rock that the causeway is known for. It afforded some really beautiful views and we had fun climbing on the rocks.
Rick wanted to take the long way back which included a huge stairway up the top of the mountain. I declined and went back up the way I had come down. Skylar and Sarah went with Rick. It took them about an hour to get back to the top. They were glad they made the trek, though. Well, at least Rick was...I'm not sure about S&S.
We then drove over to Carrick a Rede Bridge just a few miles from the Causeway but were so disappointed to find that it has been closed since the pandemic began. This was THE event I was most excited about for the whole trip so the disappointment ran deep. 😓 We did drive over to a park that gave us a good view of the bridge. Not quite the same though.
WE stopped and had dinner that evening as we were driving back to the castle but I cannot remember anything about that.
That night we watched What's Up Doc on Skylar's computer and had a fun time laughing. Sarah had not seen it before and I'm not sure she cared much for it but it is one of Rick's and my favorites:)
The next morning I woke up early with an urgency to drive back to Shannaghan and Kilkinamurry. I could tell Rick was stirring so I told him that I thought we should go and he was all for it. It was an hour drive from the castle which was kind of a bummer because it felt like we were rushing to see everything that I wanted to see. First I felt that I wanted to get back to the parish church and get a full picture of it. Then I wanted to get a picture of the old manse where the pastor used to live.
Here is a picture of the full church. The little piece of the church where the door is marks the little area that is part of the original church. The stained glass window can be seen to the left of the picture.
This is a picture of the old manse. I think it is such a cute home.
While I was trying t get a picture outside of the iron gate an older lady spotted me and started walking towards me. Rick got out of the car and after identifying ourselves and the reason for being there she opened the gates and even invited us into the home. She lives there with her husband who was born in this house. We did go into their home and we talked a little about the area and asked about any Truesdale's. They suggested we go over to another close parish church but I had in my mind that I wanted to get over to Balleyroney, which was just a few kilometers away. In my research, I found a lot of Truesdales that lived in the Balleyroney area in the 1800's so that's where we headed next.
We found the Balleyroney Parish Church and I was SURE we would find many Truesdale graves. Sadly we only found one. This is the one we found. It left us wondering where all of those Truesdales went between the 1800's and the 1900's. A lot of people have moved out of Ireland to Scotland and Canada and The States so maybe that's what they did. I wish I knew.
We continued to drive around the area because there were Truesdales living in a lot of the little towns around but we didn't find anything of importance. We made the hour trek back to the Castle Leslie and asked for a late checkout to be able to get cleaned up and packed up for our next adventure.
To be continued in next post.....
