It was nice to get to bed early
last night. I think that I was asleep within 30 minutes. It could have been a
bit longer than that. However, I did wake up a couple of times during the night
and the second time I couldn’t get back to sleep. When this happens, I either
work on my computer or I read until I can sleep. Last night I read.
The alarm went off early this
morning. We both wanted to know how things were going to go and this morning
was a good trial. Tomorrow, we will be sleeping in a bit more.
Breakfast was excellent. Our trip
includes all of our breakfasts and about half of our dinners. We are to look
after the remaining dinners and all of our lunches. It gives us a chance to be able
to look for the local pubs and try the food there. There is one across the
street from our hotel and the food there is good and is not expensive.
Shirley shared the breakfast table
with us. I’m not sure what Shirley or my brother had but I had eggs over easy
with back bacon, mushrooms, dark pudding, white pudding, fruit with yogurt, and
a slice of toast.
Shirley has been working on her
family history for quite a while and kind of took me under her wing today. She
has been to Dublin before. We decided that we would go to the National Archives
of Ireland today. I had printed off the family group sheets for only the
families that immigrated to Canada from Ireland. I had finally come up with a
good format that gives enough information to help the expert be able to guide
me in the right direction.
We were on our way by 9:00 am. We
used the Hop On, Hop Off bus pass to get the most of the way there and then
walked the last 15 minutes. I still had to get my reader’s ticket and then we
could get started. Shirley talked with her first and then I had my chance.
A friend of mine in the Pembroke
area had asked me to find out where she could get the information for a
marriage that she was looking for. That was sorted out first and I now have the
information to pass onto her.
I then asked about how to find
records for John Robert and Margaret. According to the information that I have,
they were married in 1822 but the catch is that they were Methodist. I was
given a set of documents to order and examine while the expert helped others. I
was able to use my camera and have a copy to be able to refer to when I get
back home. We also made the decision that I would wait until we’re in Belfast
before trying to get more information on that line.
Once I finished with those records,
I was able to speak with the specialist again. We discussed another branch of
the family which had a very popular name. His wife, however, had a name that
was not so popular. After some discussion, we decided to leave that branch
alone for a while until I was able to check out a couple of things.
We then discussed John. John had
left Ireland in 1820 and, about 1825, was able to purchase some land. He
married a French Canadian girl a year or two later. His surname is not very
popular here as well as his mother’s maiden name. The expert tried a couple of
websites but couldn’t find very much and then steered me in the direction of
the Tithe Applotment books and Griffiths’ Evaluation. I was then put to work,
but I was able to photograph all the records that pertained to this particular
search. I now have to make some digital adjustments to the records so that they
can be read. With this, I may be able to find information more readily. By the
time I finished pulling together this information, it was almost 5:00 pm.
Shirley was finished what she was doing sometime between 3:00 and 4:00. She
kept herself busy until I was ready to go and we made it out the door by two
minutes to 5 o’clock. They close at 5:00 p.m.
We decided to take the Hop On, Hop
Off as far as we could, preferably as close to the hotel that we could get. At about
the nineteenth stop, the driver announced that we would be leaving the bus at
the twenty-second stop. We were to find our own way back, either walking or
using the city bus system. He told us what bus we would have to take. Because
it was rush hour, we opted to take a taxi so that we would not have to deal
with a crowded bus and be able to travel faster. We made a good choice. We were
back to the hotel by 6:00 p.m.
My brother had done other things
during the day and was not back from his adventures yet. Shirley and I both
needed to eat so we went to the pub across the street from the hotel. We had an
enjoyable time in each other’s company and eat some good food which was
followed by an evening of getting ready for the next day and relaxing.
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