Going to Scotland

Darce cashed in some of his frquent flier miles, so we're going to Scotland Oct 5-18! Our niece and her family live in Helensburgh, near Glasgow, so we'll stay with them. We're also making a side trip to Ireland Oct 10-13.

I knew my great-grandmother (Della - mom's dad's mom) was born in Ireland, but I wasn't sure where. I found them in MN censuses, but it only said Ireland as birthplace. Noodling around some of the genealogy chats, I saw a few postings about someone who turned out to be Della's aunt - her father's sister. I wrote to them, and voila - turns out he's my third cousin once removed! Della (called Delia there, plus Delia is a pet name for Bridget, which explains why some of the censuses sometimes said Bridget.)

Mom always called us Moi Cushle, which in Gaelic means "My Heart" - she said her dad had called her that. :-) I'll bet Della called Grandpa that, too. (He died before I was born.) I was pretty tickled when I figured out what it meant - it's a pretty nice thing to be called!

So, I know now that Great Grandma (who died in 1929, before Mom was born) was born in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, Ireland. They emigrated about 1873 :-) Another third cousin once removed owns a B and B in Knock, so we'll stay there a couple of nights, driving there from Dublin. It will be a lot of fun to meet them.

I also have ancestry from Scotland and England, but they came over in the 1600s and early 1700s, so it would be pretty difficult to find a relative. Or, maybe, pretty easy - but they'd probably be 15th cousins or something like that.