The Great Irish Heritage Adventure – Day One Well my dear friends, we are off on another adventure. For decades now, my Dad and I have both had a burning desire to learn more about our family history. One of the greatest gifts my Dad has given me is his good name. For 85 years he has lived an exemplary life. Always putting others first. He is quite simply the best, most moral, most caring man I know. My grandfather, Edward Farley died the year before I was born, and although I never got to know him, I have heard he was very much like my dad. And so always wanting to learn more about the people who have made us and our family who we are, when my Dad decided to retire this year, he made me promise we would go to Ireland together and find our family roots. As I write this I am on a plane over the Atlantic, with Dad and Bob Geddis, heading to the emerald isle to do just that. I once had a friend who told me that after you spend a great deal of time and energy to uncover your roots, you will then spend twice as much to cover them back up I am hopeful that will not be the case. My Dad’s dad, Edward was the tail end of a large Irish family. Born in 1888 he passed away in 1961. He had a remarkable life. He was a millionaire by 21 and lost it all in the great depression by the time he was 45. His life was marked with enormous success and enormous tragedy. After building a literal empire of clothing stores all across the nation, his wife Laura was involved in a head on collision that left her hospitalized for two years, and disabled for life. At the same time, he was thrown into involuntary bankruptcy, and lost everything, despite having assets vastly in excess of his liabilities. By all accounts however, he never complained and always had his priorities in the right place. The absolute most important thing to him was his six sons, all of which grew into fine, accomplished men. Five of six was my dad, Hugh. Edward's father, John, came to the United States as a young boy (we think around ten in 1853) John was also a very accomplished, successful man. He worked on the Erie canal, bought a canal boat, and when he got married in 1869 he sold his canal boat at his wife's insistence and bought a farm north of Utica in the tug hill plateau town of High Market. Similar to the misfortune his youngest son Ed would see 50 years later, in 1884 John and his wife Margaret would lose four of their children to a diphtheria epidemic. So broken hearted were they over the loss, they sold their farm, moved to Utica and opened a grocery store. John died 32 years later in 1916. My Dad has always told me that neither his father, nor his grandfather John would ever talk about their family history. For a time in high school, my dad lived with his father's older brother William. William, dad said, like to talk, but didn't know all that much. But here is what he told my Dad John came to this country with his father Terence and his older brother James, who was about 16. On the day after they arrived, James slipped away and upon return back to his Dad and brother, appeared heavily intoxicated. Apparently Terence, who was temperate, severely punished James with a serious beating. Uncle Will said James responded to this beating by telling Terence, "you will never see me again", and true to his word, James left, and Terence never did. Uncle Will told my dad that Terence was a bit of a man of mystery. I think he was right. We don’t know where or when Terence died, or where he was buried. Through Irish genealogy records, we have uncovered that Terence was born in Ireland around 1809 to 1816 in Cavan, Ireland. This would make him a contemporary with Abraham Lincoln who was also born around the same time. At around 20 he was married to a woman named Anne McMannus, in Killeshandra, and the couple had three sons, James, Laurence and John. Laurence died at age 6 and a few years later, in 1851, Anne died, leaving Terence alone with two young boys. Almost immediately after Anne died, Terence married a Killeshandra widow, Mary Muloy. According to Uncle Will, Mary, who had children of her own from a previous marriage, treated Terence's two boys very badly. Seeing the situation for his family go from bad to worse, in March 1853, Terence Farrelly takes his two boys, James and John and sails to New York. But the story has but another twist. Apparently, Terence did not just leave new wife Mary behind in Ireland, but also, another unknown son. For in August 1853, Mary gives birth to a new son Patrick and she lists Terrence Farrelly (different first name spelling) at the baptism as his father. And so we now go in search of this international man of mystery. To try to answer some questions. Was he simply abandoning a family in Ireland, or innocently and unknowingly leaving a son behind in a meritorious effort to protect his sons who had already sadly lost their mother. Did Terence innocently change the spelling of our last name from Farrelly to Farley as a matter of course because of immigration mistakes, or was the change more nefarious in an attempt to hide from his second wife and newborn son? We have an appointment on Tuesday with the Cavan Genealogical library to start our investigation. Even in Ireland, Dad is known as the library god he is. Tomorrow, we land in Shannon Airport and drive to the house we are staying at in Headford. We will be posting pics each day on the bobfarley.org website, and sending out a Where's Waabert email each day Follow along with us as we pursue this story (and tour and sight see all of Ireland) This will be a true adventure. My Warmest Personal Regards, Bob The Great Irish Heritage Adventure – Day Two Dear Friends Well we have arrived all and well in Ireland. After a rather warm and bumpy plane flight, we touched down at Shannon Airport at 7 am local time (2am in New York) We cleared customs, grabbed our bags and proceeded to Dan Dooley car rental. We had to wait until 9 am to get our new wheels (the Irish version of the Ford Focus in which Patty drove us to Newark Airport in). Interestingly enough, the reason we all had to wait was because so many of the cars to be rented out had come back wrecked (a true indication of our driving adventure that is this wonderful country). While waiting, we met two lovely couples from Maine who could not have been more friendly or engaging. Ireland is such a special place. It brings out the friendliness and sweetness in everyone. Our new friends offered us bunches of tips on our adventure. After picking up our car, with a very valuable GPS, and a very sketchy wifi box, we proceeded to Headford. Driving in Ireland is a true adventure. Everything is backwards for us unskilled Americans (which is why the number of wrecks and why we took maximum insurance) but the roads can present a real challenge. From driving on the left, to no shoulders bordered by stone walls, to locals who drive with skill and rapidity, it seems whoever is in the passenger seat lets out a string of gasps and prayers (perhaps that is why this is such a religious country). We had relatively nice weather although pretty cool (around 60). The hour and a half journey to Headford in County Galway from Shannon was harrowing but uneventful. We arrived in Headford and our first stop was our new favorite place, Joyce's supermarket. It is simply amazing. Supermarket, General Store, restaurant, all in one, it is filled with interesting items and delightful people. That’s one of the most special things about Ireland. Everyone is so friendly and nice. Open, gregarious, courteous, helpful, they really are the nicest people in the world. Bob Geddis walked across the street from Joyce’s to a men's clothing store to buy a cap. The young lady in the store (Margaret) could not have been more helpful. Once arriving in the town, we had a bit of a challenge finding the home that Margaret Keville has so graciously allowed us to use while we are here. We had to go door to door in the Headford countryside asking "Do you know where Frank and Margaret Keville's house is?) Everyone was so sweet and we did eventually find it Margaret and Frank have been so kind to let us use their Irish country house as our home base during this adventure. It is a lovely three bedroom ranch house with a large dinning room, kitchen and living room. Electric lights, indoor plumbing, every modern convenience a weary traveler could ask for. With a handy dandy adapter provided by my dad (I stupidly left mine home atop my bedroom dresser) I even got to plug in all my electronics. Upon arrival at this beautiful home we unpacked and all took a nap. The time change was a bit of a lag.