Once upon a time...

...in a land far far away (seriously, Dowra is pretty far up there), there was beautiful young woman named Mary Eliza McGovern. She lived in a land called Tullynamoyle with her family and walked across fields and hills to go to school and church. When she about 18, in 1912, she took the journey of a lifetime and travelled across the ocean to immigrate to America. Once in the promised land of New York, she met and fell in love with Mr.Costello. Once married, they had children, one a handsome son named John Costello. He in turn met and fell in love with Ulilla. They married and had a wonderful family. Enter my father. Enter my mother. Meet Kathryn Teresa Costello. Who is also a McGovern.
(When I get home, I'm gonna have to go over some names with Nana because as of right now this story is kinda lacking on my part)

However, today I got a chance to travel back in history to meet my great aunt ( i think that's right...she's grandpa's cousin...) Margaret McGovern. Margaret's father is Joseph McGovern, who is Mary Eliza's brother.

I started my journey this morning while it was still dark. I had arranged with Margaret to have her daughter Caroline meet me in Galway so I could travel up to their home. After the long drive (about 2 hours) we arrived at her home and I met the lovely Margaret and her husband Pete. After a delightful cup of tea, Margaret Caroline and I were off to explore the wilderness of my homeland...feels weird saying that.

Our first stop was at the road leading into Mary Eliza's (and Margaret's) childhood house. Ireland has this initiative where they plant a forest, let it mature, and then cut down the trees for lumber. Sadly, the house/ruins is located in the middle of one such forest. So we couldn't walk out and see the actually stone foundation, but it looked like a lovely forest. Margaret explained to me that if I come back in about three years they will have logged the forest and I would be able to see the actual foundation. I really would like that, because after today I've uncovered my serious interest in my family history. Random fact: Did you know I could get an Irish passport because I can locate my great-grandmothers home, and name my relatives.

Our next stop was up the road at the Tullynamoyle National School, where both Mary Eliza and Margaret went to school. I heard that when Margaret was there, there were only ten students in the building, but at times there could be up to thirty. I couldn't even imagine going to school in a building like this one. A man has bought it and currently lives there so we couldn't get out and go peek inside, but his dogs gave us a lovely welcome.

The most moving place we went to visit was without a doubt Doobally church. That was the church that my family attended so long ago, and most of them are buried there today. I got to see the grave of my great great grandparents, Mary Eliza's sister, and many many more McGoverns. We went inside and got to light some candles in the name of family and remembering those we've lost. Uncle Dan has a candle burning in Tullynamoyle, Ireland for him. 

Oh! I forgot our real first stop. Driving through Dowra, we stopped at Mary McGovern's house. Mary was married to Luke McGovern, whose mother was Ellen McGovern- she was Mary Eliza's sister. Mary is in her eighties and was a delightful woman. She welcomed us in from the rain and we had a lovely chat...well Margaret and Mary had a lovely chat- I just kinda sat quietly and awkwardly. She didn't really pay any attention to me after greeting me and saying how lovely it was to meet me. We didn't get any pictures but it was a nice and unexpected addition to our trip. 

Anyways, Nana there are a million more pictures on my computer to share with you in 3 weeks when I get home, and Caroline made a video of our trip that she's going to post to me.

Next up- a trip to London during their proposed country-wide strike! Who says I don't live on the edge.

Thinking of family tonight,

K