Kent Homecoming courtesy of "The Gathering 2013"

Kate with Killiney Bay and the Sugarloaf in the background. In 1975 while we were courting we climbed the Sugarloaf.

Standing at the threshold of Donore Hills graveyard in the Boyne Valley, County Meath. Kate's 6 times great grandfather Luke Connolly is interred here as can be verified by the records of Slane Historical Society. Kate's first cousin several times removed was born in Slane. He was Bishop John Connolly OP, first de facto Roman Catholic Bishop of New York.

Myself, my only surviving brother John and his wife Bernadette outside Schull, Co Cork en route to Bantry.

                         THE GATHERING TRIP APRIL 2013.

        

I must confess I did not become aware of “The Gathering” until the early Fall of 2012 when I was watching TV as my favorite college gridiron team Notre Dame duked it out with Navy at the Aviva Stadium in my hometown  Dublin. During the telecast commercials referring to “The Gathering” were being shown during breaks in the action. A day or two later when surfing the web I came across an invitation on “The Gathering” site to enter a competition with the prize being a trip for four to Ireland for the 2013 "Gathering". To enter the competition one was asked merely to pen in 300 words or so why one should be invited over for the "Gathering". I gave a brief synopsis of how and where I met the lovely lass who was to became my wife and anam cara(soulmate) and told about my interest in tracing my wife's Irish ancestors. To further elaborate,  the story begins in the late winter of 1975 outside the Bank of Ireland on College Green after an afternoon of carousing.  I was supposed to take a law exam that morning but had mistakenly thought the exam was in the afternoon and had arrived at an empty examination hall where I was informed that the test had been given that morning. Obviously I was chagrined to put it mildly and decidedly unhappy with myself for getting the exam time wrong. I had really been cramming for the test. After I left the examination venue I bumped into a family friend and his new wife. We retired to a quayside hotel bar, the name of which the march of time has eliminated from memory, and had some frothy libations which helped me forget my woes after a while. When I bid adieu to my friend and his wife I headed towards the "corner" at Leeson Street via the Bank of Ireland whereupon I first set eyes on the attractive green eyed American  girl with whom fate had ordained I was to fall in love  and to wed later that year. Our eyes met moments after I had staggered out of an alley next to the venerable Bank of Ireland edifice on College Green and I said hello. She was very friendly and we engaged in conversation. I invited her for a cup of coffee and when she accepted the invitation I  hailed a taxi with alacrity and directed the driver to drop us at a pub then known as "Brannigan's" on Parnell Street where the cup of coffee was soon forgotten and some stronger beverages were enjoyed. Kate proved to be a wonderful drinking companion and delightful company. I mentioned my first encounter with her  in my competition entry along with the fact that as a keen genealogist and amateur historian I had traced her father’s family roots back to County Roscommon. Her maiden name was Kate Conley, with Conley being one of the many Anglicized variations of the Irish name O Conghaile. At the  moment I first set eyes on her, I was as previously related, en route to O’Dwyers Pub on the renowned "corner" of Leeson Street to meet up with some of my student comrades.  The Goddess of Fate had intervened and I thank my lucky stars for that. Kate has stood by me through the rough and the smooth times for 38 years. Thankfully I had made a good recovery from severe health setbacks and two major surgeries in recent years and we felt ready for a trip back to my native land . We have been blessed with two lovely daughters Siobhán and Mary Brigid. Mary Brigid or Bridie as we call her is married to Bill Bereza, a recent law school graduate, and they live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Through them  we have a grandson Oisín who has given us great delight and we are looking forward to meeting his little sister and our  new granddaughter when she arrives on the world's stage later this merry month of May. Bridie and Bill have decided on the name Maeve for her, after the legendary Queen of Connacht  .

When I submitted my entry I truthfully gave it no further thought. A good friend of mine from Derry, had been hospitalized for a second time in a short span of time and passed away shortly after his admission on October 8th 2012. We had been good friends since his arrival in the United States almost 35 years ago.Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. Shortly after this very sad loss for his family and many friends I found out that I was the lucky winner of "The Gathering" competition.  I was naturally ecstatic, never having won anything of this significance in a lifetime. It was an easy decision to ask my late friend’s widow Pat to come to Ireland along with  her designated fellow traveler, her sister Eileen Malone. Pat had first met her future Irish born spouse James in Durty Nelly’s Pub in Bunratty, County Clare when she was over as a tourist in 1977. She is a native Michigander with Irish roots . Another sister of Pat’s Edna and her husband Jim, friends of ours also, booked flights on the same Aer Lingus flight from Chicago to Dublin  so we had great company for our homecoming journey. Having been pre-booked into hotels of our choosing in Dublin, Athlone, Castlebar and Inniscrone, County Sligo for the seven days generously paid for by “The Gathering” we were ready to enjoy Ireland. We had arranged to stay almost 3 weeks since Kate and I along with Pat and Eileen had relatives and in-laws to visit after the seven days taken care of by the Gathering prize. After Inniscrone Kate and I said our good byes to Pat, Eileen, Edna and Jim. During our seven days together we did pack in a lot of sightseeing highlighted by visits to Kilmainham Gaol, Joyce’s Tower in Sandycove, Clonmacnoise, Athlone Castle, the Deserted Famine Village on Achill, the Neolithic field system and soon to be UNESCO world heritage site at Ceide Fields on the coast of North Mayo as well as some delightful pubs and eating places. For our good friend Pat a sentimental side trip to Durty Nelly’s in Bunratty had to be on the agenda albeit bittersweet. Luckily the day we visited there were three dolphins cavorting in the tidal river outside Durty Nelly’s. This had drawn hundreds of onlookers to the village and I’m sure the local businesses benefited particularly Durty Nelly’s.

When Kate and I first became acquainted my father was living in Balbriggan, County Dublin and I had taken Kate down several times. The first time stands out. My father made her a boiled egg for breakfast and placed it in an egg cup as is usual in Ireland. This practice unbeknownst to myself and my father was not prevalent in Kate's home state of Michigan. She removed the egg from the cup and proceeded to crack it open with a spoon which bemused my father and amused me. My father in later years  sold the residence in Balbriggan to the Irish rugby international Johnny Fortune and moved to Naas. While we were back recently for the Gathering trip we spent a night at the Bracken Hotel in Balbriggan since we had been visiting the nearby Donore Hills graveyard looking for the gravestone of Kate's 6 times great grandfather Luke Conoly. After an evening meal in the hotel we decided to dander up to my father's old house. Kate took a photograph and since darkness had descended the camera flash drew the attention of Johnny Fortune's son-in-law who emerged from the house. I told him that I had lived in the house some years ago. He was a friendly sort and invited us both in to meet the owner Johnny Fortune, his wife, and his daughter. We had a nice time visiting with  the Fortunes, their daughter and son-in-law. We were served cups of tea and apple tart a la mode.The Fortunes were a great advertisement for Irish hospitality and if you will excuse the pun it was our good fortune to be a recipient of this hospitality. Johnny scored a famous try, as touchdowns are called in Rugby Football ,against the New Zealand All Blacks in 1963 when Ireland led 5-3 until the referee awarded the visitors a disputed penalty which unfortunately was goaled by the great Don Clarke and gave the men from the land of the long white cloud the victory 6-5. A photograph of Johnny's touchdown hangs on the wall in his home.

We worked with Amanda Kavanagh and Anne-Marie Taylor in making our "homecoming" arrangements and both have been a joy to work with and very kind. "The Gathering" are well served by these two lovely ladies. We are grateful to "The Gathering" for the prize and making all the flight and hotel arrangements. It meant the world to Kate and myself and also to our friends Pat and Eileen to visit Ireland at this particular time. Go raibh mile maith agaibh Amanda, Anne-Marie and all involved at the "Gathering".