Hiking in Ireland – final

The hotel helped us make informed breakfast choices.

We did some last-minute shopping in the duty-free shop.

My final snack in Ireland was an homage to the Emerald Isle.

Then we boarded, and THREE HOURS LATER we are still sitting right here at the gate.

The plane had a mechanical issue with the anti-lock brake system. Obviously, we wanted our plane to have functioning brakes, so everyone was patient while they attempted to fix the problem.

Eventually they let us get off the plane, and we helped ourselves to water and free packages of cookies.

But as afternoon turned to evening, the flight was officially cancelled. There were no other flights to the USA today, but since this was an airline issue, we were promised overnight lodging and meals.

300 disappointed, but very civilized passengers lined up for shuttle buses, taking us to several different hotels.

Welcome Aboard, Nancy, on the shuttle bus to . . . actually we have NO IDEA where we’re going. We were just herded onto the bus.

As night fell, we drove on and on and on. NINETY minutes!

Turns out, we were halfway across the country, in Thurles, County of Tipperary.

The upside was that this was a really nice hotel — very posh!

We were offered dinner in the hotel restaurant, but as it was after 9pm, I declined.

Day 2 of “Operation Get Home” began with an elegant breakfast.

I found three new birds singing in the garden, bringing my final total for Ireland to 39 species.

On the way back to the Shannon Airport we could see the charming towns and countryside that had been hidden in darkness the night before.

We had to re-check baggage and go through security again. Fortunately I had transferred my duty-free Irish whiskey marmelade into my checked suitcase–because it would’ve been confiscated!

And YAY! we made it to JFK airport in New York City.

Where we learned that both of our connecting flights had been cancelled.

Nancy decided to take a taxi to go catch a bus to Maryland.

I was able to re-book a flight leaving the next morning . . . but it was leaving out of LaGuardia, not JFK.

It took Delta over TWO HOURS to extract our luggage from wherever they put them when your flights are cancelled.

In the end, Nancy got home in the wee hours of the morning, and had a happy reunion with her family.

I took a nighttime taxi to a hotel near LaGuardia airport, and after consuming a small box of chocolates I had purchased as a gift for dinner, I caught a few hours of sleep, checking out at 3:35am to catch my 6am flight to Raleigh.

My son-in-law and grandson met me at the airport and brought me back to home, sweet, home. They even had a cup of coffee waiting for me in the car!

After recovering from travel fatigue and jetlag, I re-visited what I knew about my only known Irish ancestor, now that I had been to The Olde Country.

Elizabeth Duck is my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother on my father’s side. She emigrated from Ireland with her English husband George Harlan and their two-year-old son Aaron in 1687.

WAIT A MINUTE.

Elizabeth Duck was born in Ireland in 1660, in an area near Belfast that was completely under British control. George Harlan came from England and married Elizabeth in 1678. I learned that Elizabeth’s parents were also born in Ireland, but their parents came over from England. The Irish were seen as backward peasants–almost savages–at that time. And Elizabeth and George were QUAKERS.

So, although my ancestors came to the Pennsylvania colony from Ireland, they were most certainly English.

I’m probably not even a little bit Irish!!!!

It’s time to find out for sure.

Wish me (Irish) luck!!!