Irish Shamrock

Finally I have arrived in Nenagh, Tipperary, Ireland.

The man at customs stamped my passport and said 'not everyone has a town named after them.'

We have arrived here for the Draper family reunion which is the main purpose of this trip. We went to the Templederry church where my great grandparents are buried. We then went to various Irish rellies for morning tea and then onto the rugby clubs for lunch and a bigger gathering.




The house we are staying in is a huge mansion called Clanna Rince. Its a 5 bedroom home, only a year or two old. The man who owns it lives in it by himself so with the 7 of us in it we are putting his new house to the test. So far we have discovered a couple of leaks, one of which was the upstairs shower leaking onto the kitchen bench. Nevertheless, the house is beautiful and so is the view. Its semi-rural so we are surrounded by cattle and sheep.

The Irish rellies have given us their car to use which has proved useful but also nerve racking. Driving in these tiny country roads where the hedge rows are so high you can't see anything. There is only enough room for one car so we go slow! The streets of Nenagh are tiny and cars park on the side of the road facing both ways. The roads are very primative but thats the character of Ireland.

Nenagh town has its own castle (and so it should!), which stands over the town. You can just about see it from every angle.
Nenagh Castle

We have spent the week travelling around Ireland. We visited the Cliffs of Mohir, Rock of Cashel and Cahir Castle. There are so many castle ruins in Ireland. Its amazing to think of the poeple who would have lived in them and the battles that would have taken place. Its a shame to see most of them falling down.




Cliffs of Mohir

We were going to travel to Cork but the time to travel across country is decieving as it takes hours to travel not very far at all. Its slow because the small roads are very primative so you can't go fast at all. Then we get lost so we have to turn around.......often!

We went to Ciamalta (sp?) which was the house that my grandfather grew up in. Unfortunately it's run down now and in desperate need of doing up but it was still amazing to go there and walk around outside. Its just down the road from Killascully Pub so no wonder there were 13 children. Maureen the bar-maid new the Draper family. Everyone in Nenagh is asking us if we are here for the reunion. They must have heard about the reunion and picked up on our accent.

Tonight is the final dinner for the reunion. I think there are just short of 70 people here, which consist of four generations. There is a 70 year age gap ranging from the youngest to the oldest.

I have taken loads of photos (and Megan this time I'm in some) so when I get a chance to post them I will. Haven't found a shop in Nenagh yet that can download digital photos.

Tomorrow we head back to England for a few days and then head to Europe. A bit concerned about getting out as there are strikes and bomb threats at the airports.