Last night, the group that stayed
for the late hours at PRONI were back about 8:30 – 9:00 and had their supper at
that time. I’m glad that I didn’t stay as I would not have been able to go so
long without food.
This morning, we left the hotel
shortly after 9:00 am and headed towards the Ulster Historical Foundation.
Fenton, Gillian, and Michael each did a presentation for us and provided a
small snack at mid morning. One of their board members also spoke for a couple
minutes and thanked us for going to their facility. They then spent some time
one on one for anyone who wanted to ask about researching in Ireland.
As I am not at the point where I
could do anything, a thought came into my mind. I then asked about the origin
of two of the surnames that I am researching. I was taken upstairs into their
office and Fenton provided me with two books regarding surnames. I found some
interesting information on one of the surnames, but not much on the other.
While looking them up, I realized that this was a good chance to look up two
other Irish names. I will write about the information that I learned at a later
date.
About noon, we loaded onto the bus
and travelled to the North of Ireland Family History Society’s library. We had
access to their books and the expertise of two of their members. Because of the
status of my research right now, I worked on a computer to see if I could find
a list of their library holdings. I found their publications and ended up making
a purchase of five of their booklets. I know that these will help me after
getting home.
My brother was not interested in
going to these places, so he stayed in the vicinity of the hotel and wandered
around with the company of two other members of the group.
After we arrived back at the hotel,
my brother and I decided to go look for a pub to have supper. The first one was
not to the liking of either of us. We then wandered over to The Bridge House
which is a Wetherspoons restaurant. They had a special on fish and chips and
our meals were both under £10 each. It was good. I couldn’t finish my meal
because it was too much for me.
After dinner, I wanted to wander
around to get some pictures. My brother took me around some of the areas that
he explored over the past couple of days and I took some good pictures. I will
have to download them from my phone as I was expecting to go back to the hotel
before going for the wander. In some respects, I was glad that he was with me. There
were one or two areas that I probably would have avoided if I had been alone.
I’m hoping to be in bed early
tonight as we have an early start in the morning and it will be a long day. We
will be visiting Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, followed by a
trip to Ballymoney. Tomorrow evening, we will be having dinner at the Crumlin
Road Gaol.
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