Pieces of my heart

Hello again Friends,

Well it is fastly approaching 2 months since we have left the UK. I always knew that I had this "thing" for England and Ireland. That there was something about it that felt so familiar to me. I always chalked it up to just my obsession with it. But it wasnt until I was there, until I had actually stepped foot on the soil there, that I felt like I was finally........home. I instantly felt comfortable and at ease. It all seemed so familiar. And of course there was Dawn. I have always been a firm believer in past lives. And I knew years ago that Dawn and I had a special connection. I know that we were once linked to each other in a past life. There is no way to explain it that it will sound like I am sane to those of you who dont believe. But I knew years ago that Dawn and I were sisters in a past life. We knew so much about each other without having ever met. There was this familiar feel about her when I spoke to her on the phone. She was and is my sister.

So once Dan and I finally arrived in England I was eager to see if that feeling transpired over to my physically seeing her. When I actually saw her, when I was finally able to wrap my arms around her and hug her, would it still feel the same? Would that familiar feeling still be there? And it was. When we finally got off the plane and made our way thru imigrations and security. When I walked thru the airport and finally saw her standing there eagerly searching the crowd for my face. I knew everything I had been feeling was accurate. When she finally saw me and smiled, I felt like I was finally home. And when we finally embraced each other..... my world finally fell into place. This was my sister, this was the "thing" in my life that always felt out of place, the thing that was always just out of reach. She was the other half of me. As if I was a twin searching eagerly for her long lost sister. Once I hugged her and looked into her eyes filled with tears, I knew that I was home, the puzzle was finally complete. Everything just seemed to fall into place.

And I have to say that our husbands....... They too seemed to be a mirror image of each other. My husband who is usually a quiet and reserved man, came out of his shell. The two of them seemed to feed off each other. They were so comfortable around each other.....as if they had known each other for a lifetime! Coincidence? for me I think not. I think.......no....... I know that the four of us have been apart of each others lives before. We are family, and we go back a long long time.

On the day that we left Norwich it was as if part of my heart was being torn out. As the bus pulled away and I looked back at the two of them, and then looked at Dan. I knew he too felt what I feeling. That we were leaving a huge piece of our hearts in Norwich. But I am not in sorrow for that piece of my heart for I know that it is being well cared for. My sister has that piece of my heart and she is protecting and cherishing it until I return. When the 4 of us are together, to laugh and to enjoy all the wonders that Norwich hold for us. When we can all go out and exlpore the beautiful relics that await us.

Until that day comes I will hold them here.....in my heart where they will stay safe and remembered every day.

A glimpse at our time in Norwich

Hello Friends ~

Well we have been back from our amazing vacation for 3 weeks now.  Seems like it was only yesterday that we were driving thru the beautiful Irish countryside looking to see where our adventure would take us next.  Now that we are back I thought maybe I should give everyone an update on how the trip went since  didn't do a very good job of keeping up with my blog while we were gone. So lets see how well this ole brain of  mine  is at remembering everything!!

Dawn & I our first picture together

the gang finally together!

Well as you all know we spent the first 10 days of our vacation with my wonderful friend and sister across the sea Dawn and her family.  I don't know if I could find an adequate word to describe how amazing our time with them was.  Sadly it was too short. But in that short amount of time we saw and did so many things!  I quickly fell in love with Norwich!  There are quite a few ancient ruins. Old Abbeys, Churches, Monasteries. Each  more amazing then the one before!  We covered so much of Norwich and its surrounding areas. On our first night there we had a BBQ with all of Dawn and Darryl's friends. Oh my and what a fun bunch of people they were!  We had great food, and lots and lots of laughs! Towards the end of the evening we sent up some small hot air balloons. 

Getting ready to send the balloons up

away they go!

That was fun and really beautiful to watch them go and sail away. Everyday was just one fun filled adventure after the next.  With Darryl's help I quickly learned how to enjoy the taste of different Ales. I was always a Coors light drinker. But I can now proudly say that I enjoy the taste of many different types of beer! (Thanks Darryl!!!)   I also found that putting malt vinegar on your fries is REALLY yummy!

One of the many Ales I fell in love with!



While we were in Norwich we went on a Ghost hunting adventure a Weeting Castle. If you have been reading my blog then you know about Weeting Castle as I have written about it in the past. It was quite an adventure. We met up with Eddie, Jean and Steve who are folks  I had been chatting with and that live in the Norwich area and who regularly go out to Weeting and do investigations. Unfortunately I didn't get anything on camera. But, there were spots where you got some definite feelings that you were not alone. One of them was the old ice house. It is reportedly haunted by a rather ill natured spirit. I being the crazy person that I am went in to the ice house and spent a few minutes in there. And I can tell you that there is definitely something in there. I never thought I was one who was  "Sensitive" to the spirit world, but after our time in Norwich and thru out Ireland I have since changed  my mind on that.  My body felt the physical effects of being near or in a place with spirit activity.  I experienced it in several places in Norwich and in many places we stayed at and visited in Ireland. 



Feeling the effects in the Ice house

The infamous Ice house



I wish I would have been smart and keep a journal of the places we went to everyday, but alas I didn't think about that until after we got home! Oh if I were to sit here and write about all the places we went and things we did in beautiful Norwich this blog would be the size of "War and Peace"!  So, I will keep moving along. What I can tell you is that the time we spent in Norwich with Dawn and Darryl is something that  I will forever cherish. It all ended too soon. And the day we had to leave was a sad one.  I can tell you that while at the bus station just before we boarded our bus to the Airport, there were many tears shed and alot of hugs given. It was a difficult day.  I miss them and am looking forward to when we can all be together again. Hopefully next time they will be able to come here so we can show them where we live.

I think I am going to end this here.   I will pick up again next and fill you in on some of our adventures in Ireland.

Until next time my friends!

(I will include some photos here at the bottom for your enjoyment!)

White Horse pub (our first pub in Norwich!)

Bishops Bridge

The beautiful streets of Norwich



sorry for the long delay!

Hello all!

Well straight off I need to apologize to everyone, my thought before I left for this incredible trip of a lifetime, was that I would write in my blog every night. Yeah well after arriving and beginning our journey I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. I mean it was a great thought and all but it just wasnt practical! Dan and I are up every morning at about 7 am we have our amazing Irish breakfast then we hit the road. Mind you we are not in any kind of a rush to see things but things pop up along the way that we end up wanting to see so the morning that may have started with just one or two things to see may end up with 5 or 6 things in the end! And honestly we expected that during this journey. We start trying to find a place to lay our heads for the night by about 3-4:00pm. Once we accomplish that it is find some food, have a pint or two and then we are both out for the count by about 8-9pm! I know we are showing our age here! lol. But it is amazing how tired you are at the end of the day. At alot of the sights we are visiting there is ALOT of walking involved! And for me personally that has been difficult but I have made it thru! But at the end of the day I am exhausted! So I am sorry I haven't done a great job of keeping up with my blog. Let me see if I can give you a condensed version of what we have done so far.

..........Gosh I don't even know where to start! I have spread Mom and Dad's Ashes in some beautiful places along our journey. The first place was in Glendalough. It is a beautiful national park area, I know in my heart they would have loved it there! I wish I could add photos here but with my Ipad I just cant, So if you have Facebook you can see all my photos from our trip there. We have also visited the Village of Cong which is where the movie "The Quiet Man" was filmed. WOW! what an AMAZING village. It is so incredible, there are no words to describe to you just how beautiful this place is. If I could I would live there. I truly didn't want to leave!! Of course we have visited most of the Castles that you think of when you think of Ireland, Trim, Bunratty, etc. We did Newgrange and Knowth, the Hills of Tara, Loughcrew Carins, Connemara. But alas no I didn't kiss the Blarney stone. Figure with my family history there is no need! LOL

However, I did visit a couple of places that were special to me personally. As anyone who knows me knows that I am into the paranormal and you also know that I am wiccan. So one of the places I wanted to visit that was off the beaten path (ok way way WAY off the beaten path!) was Biddy Early's Homestead. Biddy Early is the most famous "Witch" of Ireland. In all honesty all she was was a healer, she used herbs to heal, but because of the King and the way Christianity was taking over the country anyone who didn't follow their ways was thought to be a witch. But anyway, (don't get off course here Maureen!) parts of Biddy's cottage are still standing. It is just outside of the Village Feakle. And a few people still make the trek to find her cottage to pay their respect the the Great Biddy Early. It is said that if you go to Biddy's Place you need to leave her an offering or else you will be plauged with bad luck. usually its a coin or whiskey etc. So on the day that Dan and I went to visit we came with a coin and a small bottle of mead. It took us awhile to find the place. Had it not been for a kind older gentleman walking along the road we would have never found it! I think we passed it at least 6 times! But once we found it and made our way up to her cottage, it was a very moving moment for me. Once I stepped thru the threshold of her cottage I was overcome with a wave of emotion. I felt this great sadness yet at the same time I also felt a sense of pride. I think that is what Biddy must have felt. Sadness that she was misunderstood but pride in the fact that she was helping people. While Dan walked around the outside I took a moment to pay my respects to Biddy. I thanked her for all that she did and told her that I honored her for the woman that she was and that she was ahead of her time. I told her that I was leaving her a coin and a good taste of Mead for her to enjoy later. I placed the objects on the windowsill along with items others had left for Biddy. I again thanked her for allowing me the privilege to be in her home, A cool breeze blew around the inside of the cottage for a moment and rustled the few leaves that were on the wet muddy ground inside and then it blew past me and out the door. I took this as Biddy's fair well, I looked around one last time and I left. This was truly an experience that will live with me for the rest of my life.

The second place that ranks really high on my list is Leap Castle. Leap Castle is THE most haunted Castle in all of Ireland. It has been on many of TV shows such as "Most Haunted, "Ghost Hunters" and "Ghost Hunters International". I have read about it for years! And being into the paranormal as much as I am Leap Castle is at the top of the list of places you have to see! It wasn't until we were getting ready to head back to Dublin when I realized that we hadnt seen Leap Castle! And I thought "Oh No!! I am gonna leave Ireland and not have seen Leap Castle!" But Dan being the amazing and worlds greatest husband EVER that he is, said "Honey we still have time, see if you can figure out how to get into visit and we will go". So that set me on a mad scrabble to see about getting in to visit the Castle. Now some of you may know and some may not, But Leap Castle is privately owned and you need to contact the owner directly to inquire about visiting. The owner Sean Ryan is a musician and he travels the world playing so it is not easy to get access to the Castle especially in the off season. Which is when we are here. I searched the web trying to find the correct way to contact him. Holy cow there are so many different email addresses and Phone numbers ! But then I realized that the Book that I brought with me had a small snippet about Leap Castle in it and it gave his email and a phone number!!!! so I emailed him and asked if we could come for a visit, mind you this was a last minute request so I wasn't expecting him to be home or to even say yes, let alone that I would get a reply in a timely manner. So I sent an email that night, the next morning to my surprise I got a reply!!!! He said we were welcome to come and visit! I was over the moon excited! so Dan and I headed out that morning. As we got close to the village of Kinnitty we had to stop and ask for directions since we didn't know exactly where we were going and there are no signs. We stopped at Kinnitty Castle which is a privately owned hotel (posh to say the least! this Castle has been standing since 430 AD!!!!) We got directions but promptly got lost! Stopped at a local pub to ask directions. Dan decided he would wait in the car and he would send me in to get directions.....oh brilliant idea honey! I walked into this pub to inquire about directions and every old man in the place was like "Well hello lass" boy they were MORE then eager to help me out! LOL The younger guy behind the bar told them all to behave which got me laughing! they all started talking at once trying to tell me how to get to Leap Castle. I said "Wait I need you to write it down" of course that made them all look at me funny for a moment. You know that look of "Ahhh of course, because she is a woman" I just looked at them and say "Hey I use to be blonde so you have to write things out for me!" They all laughed and then asked me to come back for a drink after we visited the castle! LOL But of course they wanted to know why I was going there......"Its haunted ye know Lass.....Why do ye wanna go there?" I said "That is exactly why I want to go there!" Anyway, finally found Leap Castle. Met the owner Sean Ryan, he has to be the nicest man EVER! we must have sat in front of his fire for at least an hour just chatting before he told us to go have a look about. He handed us a flashlight for the bloody chapel since there is no light going up. And Dan and I were off to explore! Boy that place has quite a feel about it! on the way up to the Bloody chapel there is a room off to the left, which Sean later told me was the smoking room where they smoked the meat. That room was very oppressive. While in that room I had the definate feel that I was not alone. My chest became very heavy, I felt as if someone had their hand around my heart it was a scary feeling. Sean told me that I was not the first person to experience that in that room. Once in the bloody chapel there was a room off to the left corner that Dan and I both felt something in that room. And then there was the Obliet (not sure of spelling) that is where they would throw the prisoners. Obliet is a french word which means "To Forget" . Captures we thrown down there and just forgotten until they died. We didn't catch much on camera, just a few orbs. however while we were downstairs sitting in front of the fire chatting with Sean Dan and I both heard a females voice. She was talking although we couldn't make out what she was saying. And I was the only female in the house at the time. Neither one of us knew that the other had heard this until we were driving back to Kinnitty Castle where we were staying. We were talking about the things we had experienced at the Castle. I mentioned that while Sean was talking I had heard a females voice and Dan looked at me and said "Oh my god I heard it too! I was looking around to see where it was coming from!" So we have personal experiences but not much visual. Just a few orbs. Which for me, validate something as I know what was and wasn't there. Usually orbs dont mean anything to me as they can usually be explained, but I was there I know what I saw and what was there and what wasnt there.


Well, hope you all enjoyed what little I could update you all on. I will try (not going to promise mind you) and update one more time before we leave. But at the moment I am sitting in Kinnitty Castle in a beautiful grand bar and it has inspired me to write. But we have 6 days left (I think! lol) so maybe I can write again once we are in Dublin) Much love to all !!!!

Goodbye Norwich...Hello Ireland

Parting is such sweet sorrow, having to say goodbye to you Norwich and all the wonders and magic you held was a hard thing to do. With a heavy heart and tears in my eyes I said goodbye to my Soul sister and to Norwich. The times we had there will be forever engraved in my heart! We shared many of laughs over a good pint of ale in many fantastic pubs! It is funny how four people who have never met before could be so much alike! It was  a whirlwind 10 days with a lifetime of things packed into it but Dan and I loved every minute of it and wouldnt change it or trade it for that million dollar lottery ticket......well ok maybe we would! LOL

In all seriousness I cant thank Dawn and Darryl enough for all their kindness, for putting up with Dan and I, for showing us their beautiful city. Introducing us to all their wonderful friends and just including us as part of their family.  It was a joy to meet their beautiful daughter Sabrina and her boyfriend Chris. They are two great kids....well they arent kids....but ya know what I mean! LOL

Our flight to Dublin wasnt bad, it only took about an hour and it was a smooth flight, unlike the flight over from LA which was VERY bumpy! On that flight we had to fly up into Canada to Greenland and just over the tip of Iceland then down to England because of the Hurricane in the south (I cant at the moment rememberthe name I think it was Irene or something like that) So, this flight was alot better! Once we landed we did finded it to be quite windy and once we managed to get our rental car and then get to the hotel we found that Hurricane Katia was coming and that they were expecting 80 mph winds and possible tornados! Can you say "Welcome to Ireland!!!"

Dan took to driving on the wrong side rather well. Me on the other hand, well as a passenger and seeing how close he was getting to the side of the road and parked cars was well lets just say making me a bit nervous! Found it best to just close my eyes from time to time! We stayed in the airport hotel for the first 2 days as Dan wasnt feeling very well. On day 2 we ventured out on the road and headed on to our first destination - Powerscourt. It is a beautiful estate with over 42 acres of gardens. And then further up the road is a waterfall. This waterfall happens to be the largest in all of England and Ireland and let me tell you it is quite beautiful!! We had a nice walk around both places. Although we didn't stay long since the wind gust of 65+ made it a bit difficult to be out there.

From there we went on to our next desination which was Glendalough. Glendalough is the remains of a monastic settlement.  In 498 AD a young monk named Kevin came here looking for solitude and a place to be one with nature. And let me tell you he couldnt have pick a better place! It is absolutley Stunning!!! I am a deeply spiritual person and this place just screams at you!  you can feel it in every fiber of your being. There are still things here that go beyond our comprehension.

And to top off the visit, the hotel that we are staying at is litterally  100yds from the site! I can sit in my window and look down at the ruins. And when Dan and I checked into the hotel I just got a feeling that there was more to this hotel then met the eye, I had this.....ummm how do I explain this, almost like the feeling you get when someone is staring at you. Well that is the feeling i got as we walked down the empty hall to our room. So after we got settled in and had a pint in the bar, when Dan went back up to the room I went out front to take some pictures on the way back in I stopped at the front desk and asked the young lady behind the desk how old this hotel was, she said it was opened in the 1800's, so not too old. But then I asked her if they had ever had anything "strange" happen, she got this  look on her face and looked around, I said to her that I am into the paranormal and that I do investigations. That seemed to put her at ease, she leaned forward and told me that they see and hear things all the time! lights go on and off, they hear people coming down the stairs and the hallway when there isnt anyone there. And that there has been the apparition of a child seen in the halls.  She even told me that the owner has never had a night go by that he hasnt seen or heard something!  Bells and whistles went off for me! I thought Whooo Hoooo!!!! I have hit the mother load!!! Where is Carrie and Dom when I need them!  So guess what I will be doing when it gets dark?  Yep you got it, I will be roaming the halls with digital voice recorder in hand and camera seeing if I can catch anything! might be hard as there are lots of guests but doesnt hurt to try!


Well my friends, that is an update of what we are up to as of late. Will try and update you all again as soon as I can. Dont know when we will have interent again so bear with me. Again if you have facebook that is the best way to see pictures as my Ipad will not let me add pictures here which I am really bummed about.  But will keep you all up on our adventures as best I can!

Much love!!

First part of the UK journey

We have now been in Norwich for 5 days, and this is the first chance that I have had to sit down and write in my blog. There is so much to tell you all that I don't quite know where to start! I am sure that it will take me a day or two before I even finish writing this and get it posted!

So, lets begin and the beginning....The flight! Well Dan and I arrived at LAX about 4 hours before our flight was due to depart as we knew we had to go thru customs and all of that BS. So we figured that it would be best to go thru it all as soon as possible to get it over and done with. Once we did that we just kinda hung out. Had a beer in the lounge, an EXPENSIVE beer mind you! By the time our flight was ready to board we found that instead of the Boeing 777 we would be boarding a smaller plane so some of the passenger would have to take a later flight. At this point all I could think was "WHAT! oh hell no!!! so I quickly went to the counter to see if we were still on the scheduled flight which thank god we were! so all was well. Took FOREVER to finally take off but finally did. The flight its self was ok until we had to fly up into Canada I am assuming because of Hurrican Irene. That is where the flight became my worst nightmare! We hit some pretty bad turbelence. Now when I say bad, I mean the entire plane felt as if I was on a freakin bull being tossed about! And dropped a few feet! I don't think Dan realized how serious I was about the fact that I was afraid to fly until I had my hand dug into his and he looked over at me and saw the tears streaming down my face. That had to be the scariest thing I have ever been thru!!! I didn't like it at all! I prayed to every bloody saint, goddess, deities I could think of to just get me thru it and get me back on the ground in one piece. If I am gonnna die in a plane crash let it be on the way home! After I have experienced England and Ireland!

When we finally landed in London and got thru customs it seemed like it took forever to get thru to where Dawn and Darryl were waiting for us. As we rounded the gate I spotted Dawn right away! I could see that she hadnt quite seen me yet so I just raised my arm and gave her a good wave and the smile that came over her face was worth the 10 hours of hell I had just been thru! As I finally let go of my bag and just got up to her and was able to finally wrap my arms around her, my sister, my long lost soul sister it all felt complete. I had come full circle. I was back where I belonged. I was home. The other part of me that I had always felt was missing was now there. And we started in with each other like we had just seen each other yesterday! The comfort was there. She is everything I knew she would be. And I love her even more then I thought I would. We are definatley alike! it is quite funny actually. On the 2nd day here Dawn and I went and got matching Tattoo's. We now have a celtic sister symbol on our right wrist. I wish I could add pictures to this blog but every time I try it wont let me. So if you dont have a facebook account you may want to consider it, as I am putting pictures on there every night of the photos I have taken that day. Since I cant do them here. So if you do get a facebook page you can find me as Maureen Hill Jensen.

Until the next time folks. Which in all honesty probably wont be until we get to Ireland! Love and miss you all!!!!

UK or Bust!

Well my friends the time has finally come! We are on our way. I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am! I'm a bit nervous too as I don't like to fly. And the thought of being cooped up in a plane for just over 10 hours is not exactly my idea of fun. But I have been working on my meditation and have some movies downloaded to my Ipad as well as some nice relaxation music.  I am keeping my eye on the prize so to speak and that will get me thru!

 I cant wait to walk off the plane and actually get to finally, after all these years see Dawn face to face and be able to hug her! It has been a long time coming. Dawn did tell me that on the 3rd we are schedule to meet up with some other friends at Weeting Castle for an nightly Ghost investigation.  I am really looking forward to that!!!  I know that some of my friends here wish they were going too. But I will be sure to write all about my adventures the next day! And  am sure I will have tons of pictures.  There are so many wonderful adventures she has planed for us. So have no fear there will be plenty of pictures to keep you all entertained.  And that is BEFORE we get to Ireland!

So, keep coming back and seeing what new and fun things we have been up too!!!!!  But now its time for Dan and I to sail off into the sunset as our adventures await!

Castle Rising

Well here we are with 22 days to go! I am getting really excited. I know that my lovely and amazing "Sister across the Sea" Dawn has all kinds of wonderful places lined up for us to see. I know that we will be going on ghost hunt at Weeting Castle while we are there. She did just recently tell me that she has Castle Rising on the agenda. I got pretty excited about that! As I have heard about Castle Rising and am very intrigued by it. It is reportedly Haunted by Queen Isabella of France. In fact Castle Rising was just on a recent episode of Ghost Hunters International.  So I hope you enjoy reading some of the history of Castle Rising! ~

Castle Rising is one of the most famous 12th century castles in England. The stone keep was built around 1140 AD, and is amongst the finest surviving examples of its kind anywhere in the country.  The magnificent keep at Castle Rising was built by William D'Albini II to celebrate his marriage to he widow of Henry I and his acqacquisition of the earldom of Sussex and was modeled on the keep at Norwich, built by Henry I. It soon became one of the most important keeps in East Anglia, boasting a large list of several Lords and Ladies, from the D'Albigny Earls of Sussex to the Howard Duke of Norfolk, with Isabella Queen of Edward II, being its most famous resident.

Queen Isabella

In fact the castle is reportedly haunted by Queen Isabella of France. She was known as the "She-wolf of France". She married Edward II in 1308, but soon found he preferred the company of men. She became the mistress of Roger Mortimer and in 1326 they took the throne from Edward II. They imprisoned him in Berkeley Castle and in 1327 had him murdered. They enjoyed a brief period in power but Isabella's son, Edward III, took control in 1330 and had Mortimer executed. They say she went mad with the loss of her lover. And you can hear her screams through out the castle.

Early in its life, at about 1140, a mint was established ad continued to produce coins for several years. Rising remained within the D'Albigny family for the next 200 years, after which, several leading families held it until it came into the hands of the Crown by its sale. A royal ownership followed lasting until he 16th Century.  This was to be the brightest period in the castle's history with Kings, Queens and Princes all staying at the Keep.

In 1337, By Charter dated October 1st and enrolled upon the Charter Rolls, Edward III altered the terms of the original Montalt conveyance of 10 years before. He granted the Castle and Manor to Edward, Black Prince of Wales, along with the newly created Duchy of Cornwall. Ownership of the Castle was to take effect after the death of Isabella, and remain, with the Duchy, to be passed on to its heirs, or in the event of no heirs, reversion to the Crown. Edward, Black Prince of Wales, added it to his vast possessions and retained it until his early death in 1376. During his ownership, and after much money was spent strengthening the fortifications in case of a landing from the French, and were several times put on a state of alert.

Over the next few years it changed hands several times whilst being held by Richard II. Its owner include John, Duke of Brittany, Husband of King's sister Joan,the Fair maid of Kent. Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, the King's uncle, and Uncle, Edmund, Duke of York. from 1403 until 1544 the Castle was again back in the hands of the Duchy of Cornwall, held by the Duke and Prince when there was one, and by the King when there was not.

In 1461 during the War of the Roses, the Castle was once more put on a state of alert, when Yorkist Edward IV was about to displace the Lancastrian Henry VI. The King' men of Norfolk were ordered to take over the Castle and hold it with sufficient Men-at-Arms. This was to be the start of the decline of Castle Rising.

Well Friends, do keep an eye on my blog as while we are on our vacation I will be keeping you up on whereabouts. I will try and post pictures and updates  as often as I can or at least as often as we can get an Internet connection.  Much love!

43 days and counting

Wow, well here we sit with 43 days before departure! GAH!!!!  I cant believe how fast the time is finally starting to fly! And I have a feeling its going to start to really fly now. I think we have finally got everything done that needs to be done for the trip. And if not i guess I will find out sooner or later...... and I am hoping for sooner rather then later! I guess my only worry now really is the flight. Since I don't like to fly and I am going to be on a plane for 10 hours! It's time to work on my upping my mediation and relaxation skills!! Its that or getting some Valium. But Dan doesn't like that idea too much since the last time I had to take Valium I had to take such a high does for it to be effective that he had to carry me home and then I slept for 2 days!!! hahahahahaha. Not how I want to start off my vacation! So, I will just have to work on lower my panic level. And Dan is always so supportive, I can just hear him next to me know...."Oh no! were gonna crash!!!" hahahahha. or  "Is that mountain getting closer??"....or  "Why are we so close to the water??"  you see he finds my fear amusing. But I guess that is my payback for all those years as kids when I tortured him. LOL

I will just have to keep in mind what the outcome of the long and torturous plane ride is for, and that is too see my wonderful Sister across the sea Dawn, and to fulfill my parent dream (and mine of course) of going to Ireland. I am looking forward to spreading some of their ashes in places that hold special meaning.  The village of Cong, where the movie "The Quiet Man" was filmed. That was one of Mom and Dad's favorite movies. Maguires Bridge which is a village that my Great Great Great Grandfather on my Mothers side is from.  And then any other little lovely places we come across.

Well, do check back as i am sure I will post something again before we leave and of course I will be posting during our trip :-)

Blessed Be all.

Connemara National Park

Well we are finally down to just 90 days. Cant believe it! I think the next 90 days will go by pretty quickly. Just have to finish getting the last of the things on our list together before the trip and we are all set! So let me tell you about another place I have on the list of places to see. Connemara National Park from everything I have seen in photos is just gorgeous. And I am looking forward to seeing it in person. So let me get on to telling you about it.


Connemara National Park- County Galway

Situated in the West of Ireland in County Galway, Connemara National Park covers some 2,957 hectares ( 7306 acres) of scenic mountains, expanses of bogs, heaths, grasslands and woodlands. Some of the Park's mountains, namely Benbaun, Bencullagh, Benbrack and Muckanaght, are part of the famous Twelve Bens or Beanna Beola range. Connemara National Park was established and opened to the public in 1980.  Much of the present park lands were part of the Kylemore Abbey Estate and the Letterfrack Industrial School, the remainder having been owned by private individuals. Many remains of human presence can be seen in the Park. The oldest are megalithic court tombs some 4,000 years old.There is also an early 19th century graveyard about which little is known. Also of that period is Tobar Mweelin, a well which was tapped to supply water to Kylemore Castle around 1870 and is still in use today. Stretches of the old Galway road, in use over a century ago, may still be seen in the northern sections of the Park, but other stretches are obscured by vegetation. Ruined houses, a disused lime kiln, old sheep pens, an ice house, drainage systems and old walls in various parts of the Park, are all evidence of a greater population and more extensive use of these lands in the past.

Western blanket bog and heathland are the predominant vegetation types to be found in the Park. The boglands, situated in the lowlying areas, are normally very wet, while higher up the mountains, a drier community of mountain blanket bog develops. Heather covers the mountain sides, with ling, cross-leaved heath and bell heather all very common. Probably the most common and most abundant plant in the Park is purple moor grass, responsible for the colour of much of the landscape throughout the year.

  The birdlife of the Park is varied. The most common song birds would be Meadow pipits, skylarks, stonechats, chaffinches, robins and wrens. Birds of prey are sometimes seen, usually Kestrel, Merlin or a Peregrine Falcon. The largest mammal in the park is the famous Connemara Pony. Although a domestic animal this pony is very much part of the Connemara countryside.

I am really looking forward to taking a lovely long hike thru Connemara Park. I am sure I will have a million photos to share after our day there. Since nature shots are my favorite photos to take and I have no doubt that I will not be disappointed! Well I will have to start doing some research on what I want to share with you next.  I do hope that you enjoy reading the things that I write. Please do leave me a message, I sometimes wonder if anyone even reads these :-)

Bright blessings!

Charleville Castle

Charleville Castle is also at the top of the list of Most Haunted Castle of Ireland right along with Leap Castle. I am hoping to work it into our list of places to see while we are in Ireland. I mean coming from a paranormal investigator stand point it would be an really great to get a chance to check it out! So let me get on to giving you some of the history of Charleville Castle as well as some of the reported paranormal activity.

History of Charleville Castle, Tullamore, Ireland

The Castle is situated in Ireland's most ancient primordial oak woodlands, once the haunting grounds of Ireland's druids thousands of years ago. The Castle grounds were once the site of an ancient burial ground inhabited by Druid Celtic priests in the 6th century.  The Oak was the Sacred tree of the Druids and in the grounds of the Castle is a Druids initiation Circle a constant reminder that this was a Sacred Ritual site. When the plague hit Ireland it was widespread during the middle ages, many of the local sick people were buried alive to prevent the sickness from spreading. Many believe that their spirits continue to haunt the Castle grounds.

 in 1577 1,700 acres of this land became a gift to the Moore family from Queen Elizabeth I. A member of the Moore family was raised to the Earldom of Charleville, but the title lapsed in 1764 due to the lack of heirs in the direct male line. The land, however was eventually inherited back by 6 month old infant Charles William Bury, born into the  Co. Limerick land-owning family, who was importantly, also a grand-nephew of the last Earl.

Charles William Bury was created Baron Tullamoore in 1797, and as a man of considerable wealth joined into building a Castle  by engaging the services of the renowned architect Francis Johnston in the planning of the Castle to be built near Tullamoore. The construction of Charleville Castle commenced in 1798 and it took the next 14 years to complete what many considered the finest Neo-Gothic Castle in all of Ireland. The wonderful craftsmanship involved being mainly due to the skill  the Irish people. Charles William Bury was raised to the restored Earldom of Charleville in 1806.

There are many rumors that Charles William Bury practiced devil worship and chose the site for the Castle because it reportedly lies on ancient electro magnetic ley lines, which would allow him to take advantage of the natural magnetic energies that are prevelant there. Two of the Earls of Charleville were Grandmasters in the Freemasons of Ireland. This is why the towers were designed with the 8 point star construction. Free masonry was a family tradition with the Burys. Could this have anything to do with the plethora of ghostly phenomenon reported at their family home? Who can say?

Ghosts of Charleville Castle

The most famous ghost of Charleville Castle is perhaps the most tragic, due to her tender age. In April of 1961, Harriet the youngest daughter of the 3rd Earl of Charleville, tragically died while playfully sliding down the banister of the grand staircase when she lost her balance and fell to her death on the cold stone floor below, She was just 8 years old. Her presence in the Castle has been reported many times by many different people. Many people have sensed movement of cold air when traversing the stairway. Others have seen a girl in a blue and white dress with golden curls and blue ribbons in her hair standing on the staircase.

There are two main areas in the Castle where the paranormal activity seems to be focused, the old dungeon and the library. The dungeon, a dark damp place, is said to be the haunting grounds of the entity of a sadist. over the centuries many prisoners are said to have died down there through torture, some of these torture devices are still present. Paranormal investigations that have taken place down there have often had to be cut short due t members having their faces scratched and in one case a cameraman was dragged halfway down a corridor.

Anyone that enters the Castle is asked by the owner not to go near the balcony that over looks the Library. As he has been told by a medium that there is an powerful "Elemental" (Elemental = is a spirit that by nature is chaotic and destructive, but is also clever and capable of reasoning. Not totally evil, but certainly not good). He advised the owner to never let anyone up there as this Element would not hesitate to do harm to someone. And that he should never to try and banish it, just to leave it be. Taking caution to heart, the owner has kept the balcony locked ever since.

Finally, the legend of Charleville Castle "King Oak". The "King Oak" is a huge ancient tree that had a special relationship to the Bury family. It was said that if one of the branches fell from the tree, a member of the family would pass away shortly. In 1963 the oak was hit by a devastating lightning strike. The tree managed to survive, but within a matter of days Colonel Charles Howard-Bury, the head of the Bury family and last of the family to own the castle, died unexpectedly.


Well there ya go my friends, that is the history of Charleville Castle. Sounds interesting doesn't it???  Again I tell ya I wish I could pack Dom, Carrie and Julie in my suitcases as I know how much they would love to go and investigate these places with me!! What fun we would have!

As of today we are down to 100 days!!!! almost double digits! So excited. Just cant get her fast enough I tell ya. Well until the next time my friends.

Blessed Be

Thetford Priory

Thetford Priory is a beautiful old ruin in Norfolk, I am not sure if it is on Dawn's list of places to see or not but I found it to be very interesting. There are so many beautiful places in Norwich I don't know how we are going to have time to see them all!!!! I am so excited about our adventures tho. But most importantly I am looking forward to seeing my soul sister and getting to spend time with her :-) I don't know how much blogging I will get done while I am with her but I will try and keep you all up on our wild and crazy adventures! Hope you enjoy reading about Thetford Priory!

Thetford is traditionally thought of as the royal residence of Boudica Queen of the Iceni. The Iceni were a Celtic tribe living in Norfolk and parts of Cambridgeshire. Archaeological evidence suggests that Thetford was an important tribal center during the late Iron Age and early Roman period. A ceremonial "grove" was uncovered there during excavation. In 1979 a hoard of Roman-British metalwork known as the "Thetford Treasure" was located just outside of Thetford. Dating from the Mid 4th century AD, this hoard is a collection of 33 inscribed spoons, 20 gold finger rings, 4 pendants, several necklaces and a 2" gold buckle depicting a dancing satyr.

The town of Thetfords importance as a religious center started when the East Anglian bishopric moved there in 1071. 22 medieval churches were located in Thetford during its heyday. It resulted in the building of 12 other religious houses. The Priory of Our Lady of Thetford was established by Roger Bigod. Roger Bigod was a friend of William the Conqueror and had accompanied him throughout the Norman invasion of 1066, but his community of Cluniac monks in a remote Norfolk village were a more peaceful affair altogether. It was Bigod, who by now was an old man who founded Thetford Priory and who laid the foundation stone of the new church in September 1107 before he died the following week.

12 Cluniac monks, who came from Lewes priory in Sussex staffed it. Originally it was located south of the River Thet and took in the church of St. Mary (once the diocese cathedral). In 1107 a site North of the river was chosen by Prior Stephen due to overcrowding. By this time 20 monks lived at the priory. In 1114 the new church was completed while construction of the other buildings and cloister continued throughout the 12 century.

A Lady Chapel was built in the early 13th century on the North side of the church. The legend surrounding the building of the chapel states that the Virgin Mary appeared to a local craftsman to say he would be cured of illness if he told the monks to build this chapel. Pilgrims wanting to be rid of their illnesses put the priory on their visitation list after the building of the chapel. The money they brought paid for a rebuilding of the priory church in the late 13th century.

The priory was dissolved in 1540 when the King Henry VIII's Commissioners took it from the prior and 16 monks. The site was robbed of much of its carved stone and flint. Today the priory site is in ruins. On the grounds can be seen the remains of the early 12th century church and its Nave, side aisles, the quire, the transepts, and the Lady Chapel. Parts of the cloister, domestic buildings, and chapter house are visible. To the Southeast are the ruins of the infirmary and two story priors lodgings. The gatehouse is Northwest on the grounds of Abbey House. It is faced with knapped flint. Also surviving as ruins is the priory of the Holy Sepulchre and the remains of a Dominican Friary on the grounds of Thetford school, and the Benedictine church of St. George's Nunnery south of Nunn's Bridges.


Well I hope you enjoyed today's history lesson. Until next time kiddies!!!

Planes, Trains, Buses, or taxi's??

Hello Friends!

Ok, so here we sit with 115 days to go and I am sure that to some of you that may sound like a long time and well yes it is relatively still a good amount of time. But for me, being the person who wants to have her travel plans run as smoothly as possible there are still alot of things that I still have yet to do. One of the things that I have been dealing with is how Dan and I are going to get from London to Norwich. You see when we booked our flight we wanted to take a flight that would be as direct a flight as possible. Alot of the flights that we looked at had long layovers and multiple stops. It would have taken us almost 2 days to reach Norwich. Sounds insane doesn't it? That is what we thought. I couldn't believe that we couldn't find a direct flight. So after searching the best we could find was a non-stop flight from Los Angeles to London. its a 9 hour flight and I am sure most of you think "oh that isn't that bad. Well lets see......first of all, I hate to fly and second I am claustrophobic. yeah so I am not exactly looking forward to spending 9 hours on a plane! However, the upside to all of this is that we leave at 6pm and don't arrive in London until 12:30 the next day (due to the time difference) so I am hoping that I can get my Doctor to give me something to make the trip bearable and maybe make me sleep. 

 Anyway, back to the story Dawn and her husband Daz live in Norwich (Duh you should have got that by now) which is about 4 hours from London. So Dan and I have been trying to figure out the fastest and cheapest way to get from London to Norwich. Holy Cow! who knew that would turn out to be such a mess. Trying to figure it out was complicated to say the least. Not only because of the currency difference but we have NO idea what train to take to get from the airport to get to Norwich  or what Bus to take. And let me tell you, its not like you can just jump on 1 train that takes you to your destination. Oh no that would be too easy!  Lets see the train,  you would have to take from the airport ( oh and that is depending on what terminal you arrive in since apparently Heathrow is a HUGE airport I am guessing it makes LAX look like some airport in some little hicktown!) then it goes into London, then you change trains once or twice, then it finally takes you to Norwich but its a 3 hour trip. Oh and by bus, well at least by bus you can catch it directly from the airport but its a 4-5 hour bus ride. And the cost...yikes yeah it was pretty steep. However, Dawn and Daz came to our rescue!!!  They will be picking us up from the airport in London and then the 4 of us will be driving back to Norwich.

This makes me so happy. As I was a bit sad at the thought of not seeing her face when we walked off the plane. Since that was one of the things that I had pictured in my mind when I had thought about my seeing her for the first time. So now I am happy at knowing that she will be there when I walk off that plane. She will be a sight for sore eyes!! I am sure there will lots of tears,laughter and hugs! And I have already told Dan that he will need to video the entire thing! And I am sure that Daz will be recording it from their end too!  I am so excited about all the things that we will be doing and seeing while we are with them, but most of all I am just excited about having the chance to sit and talk with her look in her eyes, hold her hand and just be able to talk to her face to face. She is my soul sister we have been on this earth many times before she and I, in many different places in many different bodies. But I think we have always managed to find our way back to each other one way or another. there is something that we still have yet to learn from each other and until that has been accomplished our lives on this earth will not be complete.

Ok well enough for today my friends...until the next time. Be well and Blessed Be.

Weeting Castle

Weeting Castle is in South Norfolk and it is actually not a castle but more of a Manor house. And it is one of the places that Dawn and her husband Darryl (or Daz which is his nickname) will be taking Dan and I. I am really looking forward to visiting Weeting Castle not only for the historical aspect but also for the paranormal. It is said to be quite haunted. I only wish that I could pack Carrie and Dom in my suitcase and take them along with me!! As I am sure they would love to investigate it just as much as I will. But maybe I will get lucky and get some good evidence to bring back for them!

So lets get down to some history on Weeting Castle-

In the 1130's Hugh De Plais, a tenant of William De Warenne, Earl of Surrey, started the construction of his family home. It was a good time to be building in Norfolk. Warenne's own state-of-the-art construction at Castle Acre was well underway in these years, as was the magnificent Castle Rising, built by the powerful D'Albinis on the North-West coast of the County near Lynn. Over in Suffolk Hugh Bigod was rebuilding his family's castle at Framlingham of stone. Weeting was a less grand affair, but it presents us with a rare surviving example of a 12th century Manor house. Weeting Castle is an example of how the lesser gentry lived as opposed to the great magnates of state, the tenants in chief of the King. By the mid-12th century the Norman elite who had conquered along with King William were well established in England.  They were stamping their authority and growing wealth with series of grand buildings.

Recent excavations have unearthed evidence of a Saxon settlement dating from at least the 10th century. Ditches, burnt daub, post-holes and pottery and a coin have been dated from this era. This should not come as a surprise, the area had been a hive of industry since prehistoric times, with the mysterious Grimes Graves flint mines having been worked since at least 3,000 BC. Norfolk was a well settled county before the Normans came, with Great East Anglian landowners like Archbishop of Canterbury Stigand owning many Manors. The new feudal owners often just demolished what was there already and built on top of it. Weeting is listed in the Domesday Book, spelt Wetynge meaning "wet fields".

What was the house like?  Made of mortared flint rubble with stone dressings, it was originally designed as a free-standing, two story building with a lesser hall and chamber above. Its design was copied essentially  from Warennes Castle Acre. Later in the 1100's the halls were combined to create a more impressive aisled hall open to a timbered roof.  The hall was the most important room, hosting guests and the scene for important events. Each side of the hall supported benches with a dais and tables at the far end. Next to the hall was a service area, complete with pantry and buttery. On the other side of the open courtyard a free standing kitchen was later built for preparing animal and other food items. This no doubt smelly and messy part of the house was hidden from view by a wall, so genteel visitors crossing the moat to come into the hall wouldn't have to see it.

Historians think the moat, added in the 13th century was less a defensive device than it was an ornamental status symbol. The De Plais family were living the good life in this part of Norfolk and they wanted friends and neighbors to think well of them by displaying their wealth. The moat, which survives today but is now dry, is about 6ft deep and up to 30 ft wide. The family had their own private chamber beyond the hall. Divided into three story's, with a central fireplace it had its own latrine block which was the last word in the luxury hygiene of its day, three cubicles drained into the room at ground level. They were cleaned through a small door near the moat.

During the late 14th century the house came into the possession of the Howard family. This ambitious clan eventually captured the title of Dukes of Norfolk, coming to national prominence during the rule of Henry VIII. With great many properties making up their portfolio. Weeting had low priority and was abandoned by about 1390. In time it was incorporated into the grounds of the now demolished Weeting Hall, and became an ornamental, romantic ruin for the owners to show off. A domed ice house was built during the later 18th century. These buildings were used to store ice throughout the year.

Well my friends there you have it, that is the history on Weeting Castle. I hope you enjoyed it and found it to be as interesting as I have.

Until next time......

Apes and Ashes oh my........

Well I am sure that title has you scratching your head a bit.  So let me explain.  If you have been following my blog from the beginning you know that one of the main reasons for Dan and I taking this trip is to pay tribute to my parents and to make their wish of going to Ireland come true (even if it is not in their physical body).  Originally I was just going to sneak some of their ashes in my makeup bag, but I had a friend/co-worker bring up a good point to which I hadn't really thought about. And that is what are they gonna say when they x-ray my luggage and see bits of bone? So I decided if I am gonna do this Mom and Dad would want me to do this the proper way. So I went thru the proper channels and got the paperwork needed to transport their ashes with us to Ireland.  So Mom and Dad now have all their legal documents and are ready for travel!  I know that they will be with us on our journey as we leave a little of them in each of the beautiful places we visit in their honor.  I will be sure to add pictures of each of the places as we go to share with you all.

And now to explain the Apes..........

Dawn had asked if there was anything in particular that Dan and/or I wanted to do while we are in Norwich.  For me its all about seeing the ancient ruins, haunted locations, and just the history of where they live. But Dan........yeah well leave it to my husband to have to go and find the one thing that would be the last thing I would choose to do!!!!  Now if you know me you know that I am claustrophobic and afraid of heights. So, with that said.....yep you guessed it! My adoring husband has to go and pick the one activity that involves Heights!!!!  It is a park called "Go Ape" and it is full of zip lines thru the trees, rope ladders, and swings etc.

After I went to the website and watch just the short opening video my heart was racing, my hands were shaking and I looked and him and simply said " Are you F*&king Crazy?!?!?! I am NOT doing that!!!!!! You must me out of your ever loving mind if you think your getting me to do that!!! "   But of course I love my husband and this is something he really wants to do, that and I cant resist that look that he gives me when he really wants something.  So, I am going to TRY and do this. I told him I am not making any promises I may chicken out. Dawn and her husband Daryl will be going with us but they will be going as spectator as Dawn is like me and scared of heights. So they will be on the ground taking pictures and video. So I am sure there will  be pictures and maybe video to post of me screaming! But, I have a back up plan........if I chicken out (which is very likely!) Daryl can take my place!!! LOL Since he is crazy like my husband I figure the two boys can go have some play time!  They would be like a couple of 6 year old!   But I am going to do my best to suck it up and do this because I know Dan really wants me to do it with him and he is always such a trooper doing things I want to do, So it time for me to return the favor, despite my fear.  Isn't that what love is about? Doing things you wouldn't normally do, or things that frighten you? But having faith in the person you love know they would never let anything hurt you.  I have 134 days to work up the courage!!!!   If you want to check out the Go Ape website to see what its all about go to http://www.goape.co.uk/

Well my friends until next time.....Blessed Be.

Irish Blessings and sayings

So today I thought I would go off my usual protocol of giving you information on places we will be seeing or want to see. I thought today I would just share with you some good ole fashion Irish blessings, proverbs and sayings. The Irish definitely have a way with words! I hope you enjoy these!

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you

(This one has always been my favorite)

Now sweetly lies old Ireland
Emerald green beyond the foam,
Awakening sweet memories,
Calling the heart back home

May your heart be warm and happy
With the lilt of Irish laughter
Every day in every way
And forever and ever after.

Ireland is where strange tales begin
and happy endings are possible.

The Legend of Ireland's Magic Harp  In the misty hills of Ireland
A long, long time ago,
There lived a lovely Irish lass
Who loved her father so. One day he went to fetch some wood,
But he did not soon return,
And so his loving daughter's heart
Was filled with great concern. She searched for him throughout the day,
And when a fog came in
She wept, for she was fearful
They would never meet again. Then suddenly, a little band
Of leprechauns came by.
They all were very saddened.
To hear the lovely maiden cry. They asked if they might have a lock
Of her long and golden hair,
Then tied the silken strands across
A crooked limb with care. 'Twas a magic harp they'd made,
And when the maiden touched each strand,
The music led her father home
Across the misty land. And to this day the harp remains
A cherished symbol of
The blessings of the hearth and home
The Irish dearly love.

Bless you and yours
As well as the cottage you live in.
May the roof overhead be well thatched

May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.
And those inside be well matched.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

I hope that you have enjoyed some of these great little diddies as My father would say. Until the next time!

C'ead Mile Failte (Gaelic for "A hundred thousand welcomes")

Scattery Island

Scattery Island

Scattery Island is one of the most fascinating places in all of Ireland to visit, and relatively few tourist make it there. The tiny island is on the Shannon River and was inhabited from 534 when St. Senan established a monastery there, until the last Islander left in 1978.

Even before St. Senan arrived, Scattery was a place famed in legend. Local people believed it was home to a terrifying monster called "The Cata" a sort of evil sea serpent, which may have given the Island its unusual name. Another theory is that the names derives from the Norse word Scatty, which means treasure, and dates to the time when the Vikings raided and ransacked the Monastery there.

On his arrival St. Senen established his credentials early by banishing the serpent without delay and commencing the building of a monastery. Several of the buildings on the Island date back to St. Senan's time, including the round tower - at 120 ft one of the highest in Ireland -  but perhaps his most famous legacy is the name of the great river on which his monastery stood: The Shannon is named after him.

He died in 544 and was buried on the Island at a place now known as St. Senan's Bed. However his monastery continued to thrive for almost 3 centuries, becoming widely renowned for the austerity of the lives led by the monks there.

In 816 the Vikings raided Scattery, killing many monks and plundering the Monastery. they returned on several occasions afterwards, eventually establishing a settlement there. The location of the Island gave them easy river access to as far away as Limerick, where they held power on and off until the early 1100's, retreating to their Island when the local people periodically gained the upper hand.

By the 15th century the Normans had arrived in Ireland, and the Vikings had long departed. The O"Cahane family had taken possession of the Island and commenced work on a a small castle or tower house. Today this castle appears to be in ruins, but in fact it is an unfinished building, for reasons unknown work on it was never completed. However the O'Cahanes remained as one of the foremost families on the Island until the 20th century.

In 1588 Seven Spanish Armada ships sail into the Shannon and anchored in the harbour at Scattery. They were battered and wounded from battle and sought to repair and seek reprovisions for their vessels, but were not greeted with open arms. The island by this time housed a garrison of Queen Elizabeth's army and though the Spaniards offered locals a ships in return for help with repairs, they were refused, presumably because of fear of the potential repercussions. During their seven day stay, the Spaniard's were forced to abandon a particularly badly damaged ship, burning and then sinking it in the river.

The Shannon was always an artery of travel and with its easily navigable channel also a place where invaders could potential gain access to huge swathes of English held territory. It was this risk that led to the building of a series of coastal batteries, or defences, in the 18th century.

The remains of the battery stands still on the southern end of the Island, protected by a block house which also accommodated soldiers. The battery itself is a D shaped building surrounded by a moat and provided mounts for six large cannons pointing towards the rivers estuary. They were ready for an invasion -  but it never came.

From the 15th century until it was finally abandoned in 1978, only 9 families lived on Scattery. Their lives always centered around the river and they traditionally provided river pilots who guided ships and boats on their journeys.

The Island is almost unique in Ireland as one of the few places where the population actually increased during the years of the famine, rising to a high of 141 people by 1881. Most of them lived at an area known simply as "The Street", of which only a few ruined houses now remain.

The islanders were a close knit people and had their own unique custom and culture. Best known is their unique approach to burying their dead. Most Irish graveyards are, and have always been, very well tended by local people and visited regularly, but this was not the case on Scattery. The jumble of disorganized gravestones still visible in and around Teampeall Na Marbh (The Church of the Dead) exists because the islanders only ever entered burials areas twice for each death. The first occasion was for the burial, after which the grave digger left their shovels lying crossed on the grave. The second visit was a month later, on an occasion known as "Flagging day" when the shovels were removed and a gravestone was erected.

It was believed that in the intervening time the departing soul resided in Purgatory. After the stone was erected, a bottle was broken over the grave and holy water scattered on it releasing its occupant to heaven. The grave was then never visited again.



I think that Scattery Island will be an interesting place to visit. I am hoping that we will get a chance to visit there. Looks like it will make for a great photo opportunity!!  It seems as if the time is going so slowly. As I sit here today writting this we still have 155 days to go!!! UGH.... Seems like it will never get here. But I am sure that when it finally does it will go by quickly! lol wont that just figure! Well gonna have to start doing some research on what to write about next. If anyone has an idea or suggestion on something you would like ot hear about let me know and I would be happy to write about it! Heck, I would be happy to even add it to our list of places to see :-)

Well kiddies....until the next time!