Macca's Meanderings

No 5 - UK, AYLESBURY, STONE and DINTON - Rolfe Country We had a smooth early morning flight from Dublin to London - Luton Airport. After picking up our hire car we headed south west to Aylesbury (near Oxford). Why Aylesbury? Bryan's maternal great grandfather came from near here, emigrating to Queensland in 1888.  We had been communicating with a local genealogist who had been making some interesting discoveries. Read on to find out what. Below - Sunrise as we fly from Dublin, Ireland to the UK. Nancy snapped this 'interesting' photo just before we touch down on the hard stuff at London - Luton Airport. Cathy, the genealogist mentioned above had located three places where the Rolfes had lived. At least one of these is still standing and she was able to gain access to it. And..... it is still called Rolfes Hollow (see sign on the gate below). The current owners have done a lot of work renovating this 17th century thatch roof house. The walls are made o...

No 4 IRELAND - COUNTY TYRONE and More Family History From the north of Ireland we headed to County Tyrone where the Kemptons came from (Bryan's mum's father). The day before we left Darwin, while waiting at Gapuwiyak airstrip Bryan met a new Mission Aviation Fellowship couple who had just arrived in Arnhem Land, Jason and Ally. It turned out that Jason grew up in the Cookstown in County Tyrone. He arranged for us to meet with his parents. We enjoyed a great evening with Archie and Ruby. Bryan's research of Irish record via the internet had not been very successful in 'digging up' useful information on the Irish Kemptons. The Cookstown Information Centre connected us with Vincent of Tyrone Roots. He has been very helpful.  Mum's father's birth certificate listed his father's name as Isaac Kempton and his birth place as Dunmore, Cookstown, County Tyrone. Dunmore is a short drive northern west of Cookstown towards the Sperrin Mountains. Below is...

IRELAND No3 - COUNTY CLARE and BEYOND Hi From County Kerry we travelled north to County Clare. Ireland's most popular natural tourist attraction is the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare however they would have to wait as we headed for a small place called Ogonelloe. This is where Bryan's great grandmother Mary McNamara came from. She emigrated to Australia is 1888 as a single 17 year old. We visited the Ogonelloe Catholic Church where we met some McNamara people. Even though they had no useful information were able to direct us to a Michael McNamara. He is not closely related however he had access to a lot of old church records. In the process we visited another church and an old,  no longer used cemetery and learned some church history. It appears that Mary's family left this area as no death or burial records can be found. One of her younger brothers may have emigrated to Australia. So ......  some more research is needed.  Below the Ogonelloe Catholic Church. ...

IRELAND No 2 - WATERFORD to CORK Hello again Wednesday morning we pickup our hire car only to return it a short time later with over heating alarms going off. We were upgraded to a Renault Kadjar SUV and headed off to the south for Waterford. Nancy was keen to check out a certain crystal factory. The Vikings established a trading town at present day Waterford way back around 950 AD. Their leader was fellow named Reginald after whom the tower and the pub below are named. We did a guided tour of the Waterford Crystal factory (and show rooms). Crystal has more lead in it compared to glass which makes it more durable and workable (and more expensive).  Nancy got to handle a crystal football. At this factory they do mostly 'one off' pieces like sporting trophies etc. It takes eight years to complete the crystal master tradesperson's training. Each piece is hand blown just like the man below is doing.  Each pattern is memorised and done by hand. One ...