From Iowa to Ireland: Day 4- Sep.6- Sea View, Dungarvan, Waterford co.

Day 4 found us on our way to Dungarvan. Our first stop that morning was at the "petrol" station down the road from Frank and Sheila's for "petrol" (gas or diesel) and air for our "tyres". :)

It took us a little over an hour to get from Kilkenny to Dungarvan. We were doing ancestry research in a small parish near Dungarvan called Kilgobnet. Google maps barely showed the road leading to it, so we were a little apprehensive as to what the road condition would be like.

Just a little history, Gram's great-great grandma, Margaret Dalton (her husband was John) was married and buried in the Kilgobnet parish. Margaret's daughter, Mary, Gram's great grandma, was baptized in that church, too. She was the one who came across the ocean to America in 1881 when she was 20-21.

Hopefully that will make it a little more clear why we wanted to visit Dungarvan and Kilgobnet.

120... km... not mph...

This would be around 75 mph.

Modern Bridge

These touches of modern architecture sort of clashed with the beauty of the landscape.

Tollbooth

It looks like we're headed for the tollbooth second from the left. All the tollbooths accepted only exact change. We were always scrounging around in our money pouches for all our spare change.

Waterford

We're headed out south on R710 to Waterford. That means we're almost there!

On the road!

Dungarvan Bay

Dungarvan Bay was so beautiful! There were all kinds of small boats anchored in the harbor. Everything looked so European, with the houses right on the water front and all so tightly packed together.

Gram

It was so special watching Gram walk the same streets as her great-great grandmother walked years ago.

Epitome of Ireland

This cute, little old man walked across the street as we were waiting for Gram while she was in the Bank of Ireland getting more euros. We thought that he captured the spirit of Celtic Ireland perfectly.

Kilgobnet Parish Church

After winding up a two lane, paved road (it really should have been a one lane road), we made it to the Kilgobnet church!

Sanctuary

At Last!

After more than a century has passed, the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of Dalton ancestors have returned.

Celtic

Young Among Old

TJ. and I spent the entire time we were there searching for John and Margaret Dalton's grave. We did find a grave with those names on it, but the date on the head stone was the 1700s, which was too early for the Daltons we were looking for. There were so many head stones that had been completely chipped away and effaced. We figured that the Dalton's grave must have been one of those.

Hill

The Kilgobnet cemetery was up a steep hill, with the church at the top. the oldest grave that we could decipher was from 1704!

Forgotten

There were so many ancient, effaced head stones there, so many people forgotten.

Golden Arches!

After wandering around in a cemetery, we needed some refreshments. McDonald's happened to be right at hand! :)

Sea View B&B

Gram has arranged for us to meet our next B&B owner that afternoon.

What a View!

This was a lighthouse way out there. Our camera was zoomed in almost 30x!

Waiting...

We were waiting for Gram, Mom, and Aunt Carol to check us in at Sea View. Meanwhile, TJ., Abi and I were waiting in the van. Abi started snapping pictures. :)

Sitting Room

This is the lovely sitting room for the guests. The view out the window was outstanding!

Aw...

"Sisters, sisters..."

Bay Window

This is how it looked out of the huge sitting room window. The ocean was just down in the valley below us!

"Waiting till the cows come home"

You can just barely see the farmer at the end of the line of the cows. He has a red shirt on.

Beached

This small boat was beached when the tide went out. We went back to Dungarvan to try to do some shopping and just to see the sites. But, we came into town about the time school let out and everyone and his uncle was getting off work. :)

Aunt Carol!

This picture is just for you, Aunt Carol! Haha! :)

Church

I'm not sure what church this was. After turning down a side street to avoid all the traffic, we got lost and ended up by the ocean, so we stopped and got out.

Gazebo

This was a gazebo right outside that church's walls. I love this picture (if I do say so myself)! :)

Shop Fronts of Dungarvan

Dungarvan Castle

As we were driving around Dungarvan, we got lost again, came around a corner and there was Dungarvan castle! Every time we got lost, we always found something very interesting.

Inside the Castle

Abi, in the courtyard. Notice the remains of a red brick fireplace over toward the right?

Old Map

This is a drawing of how the castle looked before it fell into disrepair.

Irish Police

This showed the stages of the Irish police man through the centuries. There was one more on the far right, but I didn't get it in the picture and can't remember what they were called. Starting on the right, 18th C Redcoat, RIC Constable, IRA Soldier, Garda. The Garda is Ireland's policeman as of right now.

Soldier's Bed

This was a replica of a soldier's bed in the castle.

Musket

This musket was almost as tall as Abi! She's 5' 4"!

Surgeon Poole's Report, 12 November 1801

This was an old report written by a surgeon who was stationed at Dungarvan Castle. From what I could make out, it didn't seem like conditions were very nice there.

Burned Out

The castle burned out at one point. They are still working on restoring it.

Maxims For Constables

Danger- Work in Progress

Like I said before, there was a lot of construction going on, so it wasn't all that interesting, but we still enjoyed it! :)

Good-bye Dungarvan Castle!

Stone Bridge

Picture perfect!

Stairs

I really liked how untouristy (I made that word up!) the town of Dungarvan was. These stairs weren't blocked off at all, so if we'd wanted to go down to the water, we could've! We walked right along that cement wall toward the left. Also, over on the left is the library that a man at the castle directed us to. He told us that that would be a good place to do ancestry research. But, they were closing, so we had to go back the next day.