Back to the future-my trip to the 1790s
Ok! Now that I am somewhat back to normal , heres what I did
The plan was not to kiss some stone. I knewthat the Dennings from Chelsea,Ma. werefrom Longford Leitrim area. This area was to visit Carrick On Shannon /Mohill inLeitrim-to Granard -Ardagh area of longfort.
The Itinerary was to fly to Shannon then stay over at hotel and leave next day driving to Mohill.
When I reached the B&B, lunch was calling. It was raining so we went down town . By some chance, we wound up in the a local resturaunt called the The Soup Bowl. There we talked to locals for 2 hrs . When we got to the geneology and Ballnamuck . They said you need to talk to this guy John Reynolds.They called him on the phone. We talked about the Battle, Heslins, and Dennings
He told me he could get the list of who died at Ballnamuck. I was thrilled. It did turn out to be harder then expected. Anyways, we agreed to meet that night at the B&B.That night I showed him what I printed out of just my Chelsea Dennings born in Ireland, who were conected to that area the paper was 2.5 inches thick. He was shocked at the obvious conection including his Reynolds. The names include for short McHugh, Farley,McLaughlin,Carroll, Lynch,Kiernan,Smyth and many more ,We agreed to meet again. He is someone you should look up in Mohill. He knows his stuff. By the way he owns the The Soup Bowl . Tell him I sent you so he sees the value of the internet on tourism.
The next day I went to Ardagh. It is a quaint little town .It was here that I knew James Denning married Marry Farrell and had Patrick James Denning. He was baptized there july 1793. It was this Patrick who married Mary McCann and had the brothers who came to chelsea,ma. To you on the list who know you tie up to the Chelsea Dennings This is land you need to see and walk on.
By recommendation of a fellowlongford list member I had the pleasure of the staying at Birdie Kenny's ARDKEN b&b. I would recomend you who share my blood to experiance this it was truely moving. Unfortunatly,I promissed my wife [Italian] that i would not do graveyards or real research this trip.The amount there was staggering. There are tons of Denning, Heslin ,Malones,and Farrels to chat with let alone the ones who have past.
I spent one day touring some places I needed to see when done I went to the pub. Sat at the bar laid a pound on the bar pretty much unnoticed. The kind bar lady asked what I wanted . I answereda diet coke and some infomation. She said information? Yeah i showed them all the paper whith patricks baptism on it. I told them my idea of why these chelsea people left so early. That they left to work for presbiterian lords who went there 1770ish. They agreed. Now the main name in Ardagh is Farrell .So I asked, that usually when one names abounds in a town one member keeps the record? So I asked who that was? They immediatly answered James Farrell who ran the whole farrell clan internationally. Yeah the clan is centered there.
I talked to James and exchanged info. Joined his clan. and will be sharing info from the chelsea farrell farleys farrens.
One thing I thinkwe all need to concider when we think of visiting Ireland and getting intouch with our past. That this isn't done by shopping at Shannon Airport. or some sweater factory all good for some trinket. Whatwe need to do is realize unlike Typical American Irish that we all dont come from Cork. Many of us with names mentionedabove come from Longford ,Leitrin ,Sligo ,Roscommon, Louth. These Places dont have the tourism thetourist traps do. Because of thisthey dontsee the value of places like Ballnamuck . They will when and if we visit Birdies place or John's Soup Bowl.
I can not tell you the feeling you can get when you talk to people youmost probably are related to like Bridie Kenney ,James Farrell and John Reynolds. The council in Ireland might close Ardagh center run by Bridie's brother. This is due to tours who stop to buy one post card.Let's visitthese streets walked by our forefathers and drop some cash in the meanwhile,lol
Jim
ps Birdie's brother showed me a stone in Ardagh cemetery dated 1870s or so by the Dennings who were very accomplishedstone cutters. Probably the most sort aftered in the area.