Ballykeel and Kilkeel
Well, it turns out I was able to meet our long lost Fitzpatricks afterall. I talked with mom on Sunday, and she convinced me that I should get over to Northern Ireland before I left, which I did in haste. My Spanish amiga, Laura, accompanied me for the train/bus-trip and we made it into Kilkeel on Monday afternoon. Thanks to some information I'd gotten from Theresa Milne and Nora Murphy, two ladies that have been working on genealogy, I found out that our Fitzpatricks own a B&B called the Cranmore House and owned by (this is pretty funny), Yvonne Fitzpatrick. After arriving in Kilkeel we walked about 15 minutes and found the Cranmore House and met our Fitzpatricks!
I still haven't figured out exactly how the geneaology works out between our two families, but the assumption on my end is that John Henry Fitzpatrick (Grandpa's Grandpa) was either born in Northern Ireland OR in Canada shortly after the family emmigrated. Anyway, Kilkeel was beautiful and the Bed and Breakfast was very nice. Yvonne made a great brekafst, and I also met Maura Fitzpatrick, wife to the late John Fitzpatrick (born in 1915). Maura was wonderful and gave me some useful genealogy advice. We also looked at some old pictures and found that one of John's brothers looks almost identical to Uncle Don! Crazy!
I also was able to make it to Ballykeel, which (according to a map) I thought would be about an hour trip from Kilkeel, but it turns out there are a few Ballykeels in the county, and that each parish has its own name. Ballykeel was about a 10 minute walk from the B&B and I got a picture of the old farmhouse and the view from the farmhouse. The day was beautiful, and the coast of County Down is truly amazing and very pretty. It's an agricultural and fishing area, but I have a hunch our Fitzpatricks were farmers.
Only 2 days before my 11 hour flight home.
Cheers,
-Nate
I still haven't figured out exactly how the geneaology works out between our two families, but the assumption on my end is that John Henry Fitzpatrick (Grandpa's Grandpa) was either born in Northern Ireland OR in Canada shortly after the family emmigrated. Anyway, Kilkeel was beautiful and the Bed and Breakfast was very nice. Yvonne made a great brekafst, and I also met Maura Fitzpatrick, wife to the late John Fitzpatrick (born in 1915). Maura was wonderful and gave me some useful genealogy advice. We also looked at some old pictures and found that one of John's brothers looks almost identical to Uncle Don! Crazy!
I also was able to make it to Ballykeel, which (according to a map) I thought would be about an hour trip from Kilkeel, but it turns out there are a few Ballykeels in the county, and that each parish has its own name. Ballykeel was about a 10 minute walk from the B&B and I got a picture of the old farmhouse and the view from the farmhouse. The day was beautiful, and the coast of County Down is truly amazing and very pretty. It's an agricultural and fishing area, but I have a hunch our Fitzpatricks were farmers.
Only 2 days before my 11 hour flight home.
Cheers,
-Nate
posted by Nate at
4:59 AM
2 Comments:
Nate- WOW! What an experience you've been having. I finally remembered your site after Aunt Annie gave it to me. I think the best education comes from traveling but It looks like you've discovered that first hand! Take care and safe traveling -your cousin, Nile
Nate- WOW! What an experience you've had. I finally remembered your site after Aunt Annie gave it to me. I think the best education comes from traveling but It looks like you've discovered that first hand! Take care -your cousin, Nile
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