A Roller Coaster Ride

The last ten weeks or so have been rather hectic in the GeniAus household so genealogy and geneablogging have been put on the back burner.

We put our home of 25 years on the market in August and it sold within two days, something we were not prepared for. As we were to go overseas at the beginning of September we had to pack up in haste and move to the new home we had already purchased. A week after moving and leaving many boxes upacked we took off on our eight week adventure.

First stop was Ireland where we visited Limerick and Clare to see if we could find any dirt on my convict ancestors Patrick Curry and Ellen Moore. I was lucky to find on microfilm a newspaper paragraph giving details of Ellen's crime in the Limerick City Library.

Digging up the dirt on Ellen at Limerick Local Studies

It's not all online

 Unfortunately I was unable to find mention of my ancestors at The Clare County Library.

The charming Local Studies building in Clare County Library

The archivist we consulted at the Genealogy Centre in Nenagh, Tipperary was very pleasant and helpful but also quite blunt. She reinforced that I would probably not find any further information from the late 18th and early 19th century on my Tipperary ancestors as the records just don't exist. Hers was a realistic approach but I believe in miracles! This centre, housed in an old gaol is worth a visit. There is a free audiovisual presentation about the history of the building as well as a small display of artefacts.

The Genealogy Centre and Museum in Nenagh

The purpose of this trip was touristing so I removed my genealogy hat as we returned to Dublin where we set out on a Backroads Tour. I really enjoyed our small group tour with an informative and laid back guide who taught us so much about Ireland's history as we explored the backroads of this beautiful country. It was much less stressful than those self drive holidays where I am the navigator.

Towards the end of our Irish tour my children were in constant contact as my mother had taken ill.  We decided to forgo our time in London and trip to the Channel Islands and travel back to Australia to be with Mum. Mum's condition deteriorated after we arrived home and she passed away on the 25th September. I am an only child so the responsibility of making arrangements fell to me (with the super support of Mr GeniAus). Although Mum had been suffering from dementia for a few years her passing was still quite  a wrench.

We had to wait a week to hold the funeral so in the interim we packed Mum's possessions up (and took them to our new home) and I devoted quite some time to preparing my eulogy and the order of service. I was so proud of the sendoff the family gave Mum, all of her grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren over ten took an active role in the service.

When we came home we had not intended returning to our holiday but as things had moved so swiftly we decided to fly to Montreal after the funeral to join our cruise to New York followed by our tour to Cuba. The cruise provided some quiet time for relaxation and reflection prior to our hectic time in Cuba.

Autumn colours in Acadia National Par

We had a wonderful holiday and  came home exhausted just over a week ago. We have discovered that there are five op shops in our new area and we have already made the acquaintance of three of these as we go through our stuff and Mum's and pass on clothes and household goods to others who may make use of them.

Although I am a little lacking in motivation I intend to get back into genealogy and blogging over the next few weeks.