During our time with Ed and Jane, we have been soaking up Irish history. I knew very little about how the Republic of Ireland evolved and why Ireland is divided into north and south, and have little understanding of the religious and political tensions that have created the Ireland of today. A couple of nights ago we watched the film "Michael Collins" about one of the leaders of the uprising and eventual civil war during the 1920s. I was intrigued. Earlier this week, Ed and Jane took us to where the Battle of the Boyne took place in 1690 - a different period of time, but equally significant.
I have also learnt about the potato famine which almost halved the population in size and despite pleas to the English for help, none was received. We found out that most of the trees of Ireland were removed centuries ago by the English to build Naval ships - ships such as those we saw at Portsmouth several weeks ago - the Victory, the Mary Rose and the Warrior. Poverty, hunger and cold were the bleak reality for most Irish people.
Ed's father grew up about six kilometres from the Cliffs of Moher during the 1920s and never visited them. The expression "you can't eat a view" was the reality of their life. Most of the children had no shoes and having felt the cold you would have permanent frozen ice blocks for feet and would not choose to walk anywhere.
Ed's grandfather's name was John O'Halloran and he grew up in Tulla - east Clare. Keith has just discovered that one of his distant ancestors was John Halloran who grew up in Dooniss - not far from there! The O was often dropped off in Irish names. Keith's ancestor made his way to Australia during the potato famine in 1855. What an amazing coincidence. There is a genealogical centre in Clare and if we had known this information before going, we might have been able to trace these two John's to see if there was any connection. Next time.
As it was, we had plenty to keep us busy. We were keen to visit the place where Niall Williams has settled with his wife Chris Breen in 1985. I have been reading their delightful book "O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our first year in County Clare" during our time here and enjoyed it immensely. They settled in a place called Kiltumper which is not on the map but is close to the village of Kilmihil. On arriving there, Jane went into the post office to ask for directions to Kiltumper. "And who would you be looking for there?" she was asked. On explaining that we were Australians and just wanted to go there, she was asked "would you be looking for the Williamses?" She was given very Irish directions "well you see this road? you go down this road a while and you go past the school and then you go and you come to a bend in the road to the left. At the point of the bend there is a road and this is where you go. You will then go past a house, then another house and then there is a lull and then you are there."
We followed these directions and found their house, but didn't want to intrude - we just peeked over the hedge. Their first summer had been very wet I felt like I had been there with them as they adjusted to their new life away from New York. It is an insightful look at Irish life and the friendliness and warmth of the people as well as the harsh realities of the land and making ends meet.
They had described a monument in Kilmihil erected in the 1920s commemorating Sean Brean who had been shot during the uprising. So we returned to Kilmihil to find it. Nothing jumped out at us and we found ourselves in the Catholic cemetery when a woman walked in, who we stopped to ask if she could tell us where it could be found. In the way of the Irish, we engaged in a delightful conversation with her and found out all sorts of things but nothing about any monument, as she is fairly new to the area - her late husband was from here and was now buried in this cemetery and she daily visited him.
She suggested we ask at the post office, which we were reluctant to do, as we had already been there. We could already imagine the gossip of the village - these four Australian's looking for the Williamses and a monument. Fortunately, we stumbled across it by accident - in the book, it was outside the community hall which is now the public library. It is a beautiful celtic cross and diagonally across the road is a stone marking the place where he was shot. Sean Breen had been involved in attempting to shoot the police as they left church one Sunday morning. The police then started shooting and threw grenades towards civilians also leaving the church, so Sean ran forward in an attempt to divert them from killing innocent people and in the process was shot himself. In the book is a letter his mother Catherine writes to her sister living in Australia expressing her angst but also pride in her son's actions. A tiny village and a tiny snippet of history, but somehow it seemed to make the reality of the uprising and civil war more real to each of us.
We had a most untypical Irish day - clear blue skies without cloud. We headed for the coast - a place called Spanish Point. We walked along a flat beach in the brisk cold and enjoyed the sun and sea. Again, this place has a history - this time of a Spanish ship retreating during the Spanish Amarda that hit the rocks and sank. The crew survived and spent the remainder of their lives here - thus explaining the dark skin and hair of some of the locals.
After driving along a part of the coast that was spectacular, we had lunch in a village at a pub - another vegetable soup which was green this time - so Jane and I had fun identifying the vegetables, we headed back for Dublin. A long drive without snow and with wonderful views of the countryside clothed with autumn splendour that turned golden in the setting sun.
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