The Dynasty Arrives

Once upon a time, three generations of Knowles stormed the Emerald Isle.

Day 1

Almost three weeks ago, my dad, grandma, and younger sister Laura landed in Ireland. I met them bright and early Saturday morning to begin a fun and busy week (prepare yourself for another long post). After the fiasco that is renting a car, we headed up into Northern Ireland to drop our bags off at the castle that was going to be home for the night.

Narrow Water Castle

Narrow Water Castle is a still functioning castle; the current resident has had the castle in his family for over six generations, though his uncle currently holds the title of lord. We were staying the night in an apartment in what used to be the servants' quarters. After the hour long car ride that had me nervous the entire time--my dad was driving on the left side of the road after being awake for over 24 hours...--it was a welcoming sight.

Fit for royalty

Laura immediately dropped into one of the beds, and we didn't see her again for at least three hours. My dad, grandma, and I decided to take a short walk into the enormous grounds, where we found gardens, an old treehouse, and lots of sheep. Once we got back, my dad too decided to take an hour power nap. Only my grandma remained, and she was hands down the winner in beating jet lag.

Once everyone was awake, we drove over to a small coastal town called Carlingsford so they could experience their first Irish pub of the week. After a nice dinner at a local restaurant, we headed back to the castle. With just a single episode of NCIS, all three of them passed out by 10 PM.

Day 2

The next day we woke up bright and early by Laura standards...aka around 8. After a quick breakfast of homemade brown bread and fresh coffee, we drove into Belfast to go to the Titanic museum.

A good looking bunch

The museum was fantastic. There were around nine different galleries, exploring all the way from why Belfast was the perfect location for its construction, to how the Titanic's story is represented in movies and literature today. For me, the most powerful exhibit was the gallery holding the only first-hand and real-time records about what really happened that night in 1912. On the walls of a dark blue, winding room were the exact telegraph messages exchanged between the Titanic and other ships/land stations nearby. They spanned from early messages of everything is well, all the way to one last attempt begging for rescue. It cuts off in the middle, and was the last anyone was ever to hear from the Titanic.

Afterwards, we ate lunch in a cute french inspired cafe near Queen's University, and headed back to Narrow Water.  Since the castle is still functioning, its almost always closed aside from weddings. However we were lucky enough to be there on a rare day that it was open for a few hours to host a wedding tour, so we actually got to go inside!

Inside it truly looked like something out of Downton Abbey. We headed downstairs into the basement, which had stone walls, arched door ways, and little tables of wedding photographers, caterers, dress makers, etc spread out for visitors to explore. After seeing more of the castle, I thought the coolest part was the old paintings on the walls of people who had lived in the castle over time, going back hundreds of years. The current owner's ancestors!

After packing up our bags, we said goodbye to Narrow Water and headed to our next stop: Cabra Castle. Though not a functioning castle, Cabra is still decorated with some original furniture and tons of old portraits, but also has a nice restaurant and pub inside. We were again staying in the old servants' quarters, though this time we had three separate rooms. They were incredible, and the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in! After settling in we headed to the pub for a pre-dinner drink, and then headed up to the restaurant for a delicious four course meal with after dinner tea that was legitimately fit for royalty. Laura and I adventured outside and happened to find one of the castle's two irish wolfhounds, and he was almost up to my waist! (and incredibly smelly since I think he lives mostly outside)

Cabra Castle

Day 3 (My favorite day of the trip)

After another delicious meal in the restaurant, we packed up and said goodbye to Cabra Castle. I think we all wished we had been able to stay a little longer; it is definitely my favorite place I have ever stayed. The dream: having my wedding in their fairytale giant ballroom. Anyway, today was dedicated to seeing still standing house that both my grandma and her father grew up in, as well as their little hometown of Shercock. It turned out to be a place where not only did everyone know everyone, everyone remembered the McMahon's (my grandma's family), even though they had left Ireland over 60 years ago.

Our GPS got us to the town center (consisting of maybe two restaurants, a pub, and an ice cream parlor, and one or two shops), but from there we needed to ask directions to Pat Ruxton's. Pat, who I am distantly related to in some way, bought the house from my great-grandmother and has kept it standing at her request, though it's now used as a storage shed. After an adventure that involved hailing the postman down for directions, to being at Pat Ruxton Junior's house instead of Senior's, we finally pulled into the right drive.

Pat walked out of his barn and greeted us like old friends, though he had no idea who the strangers that had randomly pulled into his backyard were. After a moment he recognized my grandma, who had been by a few times in the last thirty years. We got to go inside my grandma's childhood home, and see where the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms had once been. It even had the original roof. It was amazing to see a standing part of our family's history.

Afterwards Pat invited us in for tea, and refused to take no for an answer. With traditional Irish hospitality, he laid out biscuits, put a kettle on the stove, and called his daughter in law to bring over milk because we simply couldn't have tea without it! Once his wife got home from the store, she apologized profusely for not having freshly baked cookies or scones ready for us, even though we had dropped by unannounced.

As we chatted, it came up that we were also looking to visit a man named PJ O'Hanlon, who used to own a store in the next town over. It was no longer there, so we weren't sure how to find him, and
neither were the Ruxtons. So Pat spent at least half an hour calling the entire town looking for PJ. He rang a neighbor, who suggested another neighbor, who thought maybe this man would know, and so on.

Burns Pub

The mission ended in success, and we had an address to find PJ. However our short visit had turned into a few hours, so we decided to save it for another day. Before leaving Shercock, we continued our adventure by stopping to visit an old family friend who had just turned 102 (also involved tea and brown bread, we almost couldn't take anymore hospitality!), and the town's church where my grandma's 11 year old brother had been buried. Another example of Irish kindness was when we couldn't find his grave in the pouring rain and freezing wind, and a random older gentleman braved the weather to help us find it. Before saying goodbye to Shercock and driving back to Dublin for the night, we went to Burns Pub. When my dad and grandma visited in the late 90's, not only did they have a fun afternoon there but actually stumbled upon another distant relative!

Today was one of my favorites in my stay, because over and over again we experienced true Irish hospitality. My sister and I also got to see a real piece of my grandma's childhood and our family history, which (not to be cliche) was priceless.

Day 4

Day 4 was dedicated to Dublin. We headed to breakfast at a local cafe, where my dad was to become a short term regular. Afterwards we walked to Trinity College, so my family could get a tour of where I have been studying this semester.

Main Square and the Library

Though shopping was my grandma's idea, Laura and I were more than happy to go along! So we headed down Grafton Street, a bustling pedestrian street lined with shops and performers in Dublin center. Laura and I both ended up with Trinity sweatshirts from my dad, and jewelry from my grandma was was sweet of them both. The weather was again not great--the five days they were here were not joking or exaggerating five of the worst I have experienced in Dublin--so we decided to drive to Howth for lunch, a seaside town 20 miles outside of the city.

After eating at yet another pub, my grandma took refuge in the car while my dad, Laura, and I braved the weather. We climbed a wall overlooking the ocean, and getting almost knocked over by wind was worth the view. We walked along the pier, and actually saw some wild seals in the harbor! Finally we ran laughing back to the car once the wind turned the rain into little needles. It was a great afternoon, that continued with a stop at the Guinness Storehouse for a tasting and tour.

After a break int the apartment, we headed to the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin. A late night dinner was well worth it, because we got out own table in the room that filled up quickly, because live music is played every night. Advertised to begin at 9:30, following with the relaxed Irish culture the band started a little after 10. It was maybe six or seven men, all ranging in age and instruments, performing traditional and lively music. I think that this was everyone's favorite night, and I am proud to say that my grandma outlasted me in a pub.

Day 5

On the last day of their Ireland vacation, we drove out the Carrick Macross, the town where my great-grandmother grew up. It is also the home of PJ O'Hanlon, my second cousin twice removed, who still owns the house she grew up in along with his grandfather.

PJ and the house

We dropped by his house unannounced on a workday, and were lucky enough to catch him at home. Then PJ apologized to us for having to go to a meeting, but was able to make time for us in the afternoon. After grabbing lunch at the Fiddler's Elbow, we met back up with him. We made a pitstop
at his mother's house--who keeping up with Irish hospitality offered us a drop of brandy--and then drove up to the house of my great-great-grandparents. It was in great condition, and had a large open kitchen, a bedroom for my great-great-grandparents, and two bedrooms shared among nine kids. It was amazing to see, and you could almost picture growing up there with plenty of land for horses, cows, and sheep, a well across the road to get water, and miles to the nearest town.

Childhood home of my great-grandmother

PJ then took us to the graveyard where my great-great grandparents are buried. My grandma had never been there before, and was definitely moved.

One of many

Following our routine, we drove back to Dublin and took a break at the apartment. For our final night out, we headed into Temple Bar, a few square touristy blocks filled with pubs. My grandma's birthday was only a few days away, so we surprised her with a brownie and candle, as well as a new charm for her pandora bracelet of a little castle. We went to a few more pubs before calling it a night.


Day 6

With a flight at 11:30, we headed to breakfast at my dad's favorite cafe for one more Irish meal. Now I have been in and out of Dublin airport plenty of times, and the longest it has ever taken me to get through security was maybe 25 minutes. So I told them that leaving at 9 would give them plenty of time...not thinking about how they had to go through a second round of security known as Customs. They barely made their flight, and my poor grandma had to literally run through the airport. A fitting ending, because the week took of running and we never had a dull moment.

Overall the week with my dad, grandma, and Laura was one of my favorite in Ireland. We met relatives, saw places where my ancestors and even grandma grew up, stayed at gorgeous castles, traveled through beautiful areas of Ireland, and went to 12 pubs in 5 days. Definitely a success.

As always, thanks for reading :)