Friday, 15th August                BALLINAMORE

Robyn writes: A big family history research today - we had a late start to the day and when we went down to breakfast around 9.15, we thought we'd be the last, but there was a crowd there! Apparently everyone wants to sleep in. Neither of us slept particularly well as we were either freezing cold or boiling hot. The British Isles thing is to give you a snow rated quilt, no matter that it's summer! At least here in Ireland most places have given us a sheet as well - in England no-one does. As it's really quite cool here at night, you aren't warm enough with just a sheet, but you boil with the quilt on. It  makes for a lot of waking up and throwing covers on, off, back on again, etc etc! We have resolved to try turning the radiator on tonight to see if we can warm the room up a bit. There was a big wedding on in town today so lots of people are staying here because of that and the festival.

After breakfast, I talked to Sandy on Skype and had a nice catchup while Lex checked various sources online then we headed down the road to the library where Mary, the very competent local studies research head, helped us with lots of sources. Unfortunately it was one of those days where the more you research, the more confused you become and the less you are actually sure you know! We found several sources which clashed greatly, but at the end of the day, all we really know for sure from the primary sources about Brigid McQueeney (and that's NOT the local spelling!) are that her father was John and her mother was Mary Kenny, not Kelly as several sources list. And it's likely they came from near Drumshanbo. Lex spent ages trawling through the newspapers and I spent ages reading the minutes book of the Carrick-on-Shannon workhouse Brigid and her sister Mary were in, but no real joy from either of those. Rather frustrating! The workhouse book was very interesting and very harrowing reading, when you see the number of deaths every week and the number that they turned away. And the diet was so restricted as to be a surefire way to malnutrition, anyway, I would have said.

Horrific diet for the workhouse inmates.

The library closes every day from 1.30 to 2.30 for lunch, so we headed up the road to The Commercial hotel where we had a nice lunch - I had the soup (vegetable, as usual!) and Lex had a beef panini and salad. Then we headed back to the joy of research at the library.

I left Lex to it just after 3 and managed to catch the wedding party's appearance in the main street (half the town was at the wedding; the other half was there checking it out.) Then I headed off to the local hairdresser's, where I'd been lucky enough to get an appointment this afternoon. Recent photos will testify to the need for this! I had a lovely time chatting to all of the ladies there and have banished the greys for the time being and had a good trim, so feel sooo much better after that! It cost 50 Euros ($75 AUD) which gave Lex heart failure, but as I told him a colour, cut and blow dry in Australia would probably cost me more than that! It took a while and it was just after 5.30 by the time I was finished.



New Irish haircut - about time!

Lex went for a walk this afternoon down alongside the canal when he'd finished at the library, then around 7 we headed out in search of a meal. Tonight we patronised Smyth's pub in the main street, where Lex had an excellent crumbed haddock and chips and salad, and I had a nice lasagna followed by Banoffee pie. The festival is rocking outside as I type - tonight's band is "Divine Invention" and they are marginally better than last night's act, at least. Sadly, we will miss the Garth Brooks Tribute act on Sunday night as we'll be gone by then....