Day 2 - Arrived in IRELAND!!!!

06-27-08

I arrived in Shannon, Ireland about 11am (Irish time) and we headed straight to my family home in Tullycrine, Co Clare, Ireland which is absolutely beautiful!! It's located between Kilrush & Ennis. (Other smaller towns located around Tullycrine are Tullabrack, Cooraclare & Lisseycasey.)

It is 42 acres of pure bliss. I fell in love w/ it immediately. It’s a country-type setting that words really can’t describe. Aside from the house itself (which was my great-grandparents home and where my Great-Aunt May lived for years before she passed away.), there are horses/stable, a riding ring, a holy well and a Fairy Cemetery all on the property. Here's a quick pic of the house itself. More specific pics as it relates to the house and the property can be seen in my photo album once I get all the pics uploaded.

After seeing the home & unloading my suitcases, we headed down the drive up to the holy well and the Fairy Cemetery which offers a feeling of peace & calmness that again is something you’d have to experience to understand as words can’t justify its significance. FYI: A Fairy Cemetery was where they buried babies that died b/c the Catholic Church would not allow them to be buried in the church cemetery since they hadn't been baptized into the church yet. There are hundreds of babies buried in the Fairy Cemetery. They’re all marked w/ stones (no writing at all as you’d expect, just stones). It’s absolutely unreal! Again here's a quick pic of the Fairy Cemetary:

After having a look around the property, loving on the horses and settling in, my cousins Sue, Liam and Bernie (& her hubby Daragh) arrived w/ my Great Aunt Jenny & her husband, my Great Uncle Tom whom I was meeting for the first time. It took about 2 seconds to see the relation and family connection. It was so cool to finally meet them. We immediately loaded up and headed to a pub in Kilrush (The Haven Arms) for drinks and jibber jabber. This was followed up with dinner & drinks @ Fanny O’Dea’s. We then brought the party back to the house where we proceeded to drink and create havoc til nearly 4am.