From the graveyard we headed back to Silvermines, as Nora knew where the Cuddihys had lived. We walked up the road, and then up a farm lane, well used by the local farmer's cows, to a point where we could see across the fields to where the house had been. A nice setting but no house visible. But it is great to be able to identify exactly where these ancestral families lived, and hypothesize on how they may have met one another.
The afternoon was spent cleaning up and getting our bags packed in preparation for the trip home, with some last emails and phone calls home.
In the evening we attended the "Month's Mind" for my cousins' maternal aunt who died recently. The Month's Mind is an ancient practice, still observed in Ireland, and is a mass celebrated about a month after a person dies, with a meal afterwards for all the family. I had not heard the term before, but Nora's husband, Liam, filled me in (thanks Liam). We got to see even more cousins, some that we had never met, and others that were but small children the last time we visited. It was wonderful to be able to participate in this celebration.
Tomorrow we leave Ireland, and start the journey home. After all our walks on farm lanes we will certainly be taking a little bit of Ireland home on our boots, but much more in our hearts. The relatives were all very good to us, but special thanks must go to Nora, who gave us so much of her time and expertise, and made the visit excellent in so many ways. We are so glad that we made Ireland part of our trip.
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