UK & Ireland - day 30 (2015-10-09) - Mucklin

This morning we went into Nenagh and visited a few stores, but no big purchases.  

Nora had arranged for us to meet a second cousin from my Mother's Father's family, so at 12:30 pm the 3 of us met Michael Sherlock outside a local cafe.  We had a good chat about the Sherlocks of yore, and Michael confirmed where the Sherlock house was in Curryquin.  Michael's brother in law, Donal, joined us a little later with some photographs, and so the chat continued.

There is a theory that everyone in the world is 6 or less steps apart (six steps of separation).  In New Zealand, being a small country, it is said that there is maybe only 4 steps of separation between everyone.  I think that in this part of Ireland there may be only 2 or 3 degrees of separation.  e.g. Michael Sherlock's brother in law, Donal, is a brother of Nora's neighbour, and he also went to school with Nora's husband, Liam.  A small world indeed,

In the afternoon, Nora, Marlene and myself walked back up to Sherlock Lane in search of the old family house.  Once we got beyond the gate at the bottom of the lane, it got very muddy, but we perserved, walked over the stream, and just beyond the stream on the right, we came across a stone wall and one remaining gate post.  This was an obvious entry point, so we climbed through the rudimentary fence that was keeping the animals out of the property and explored some more.  The land had been sold off some time ago for forestry use, so the area was covered with mature trees, but a series of stone walls remained, marking out the area around the house.  As Tom Hickey had told us, the house had been demolished to prevent squatters using it, and was just a pile of stones.  It was a beautiful location, with a large flat area around where the house had been.  One area was particularly wet, which Nora suggested was probably due to a spring, the water supply for the house.

                         Jim and Nora at the entrance to the Sherlock property

                              Marlene trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid the mud

In the evening, Nora, Brendan, Mags and their mother, Nellie, came over for a few hours, and we talked and looked at family photos.  We also took lots of photos, but they are trapped in Marlene's camera until we get home, so none to post.

Another great day, but our visit to Ireland is rapidly drawing to a close.  Tomorrow is our only full day, as we leave on Sunday morning.