A Brush With The Past

One of the last adventures that we had planned for our year is happening now. When we returned to Glasgow, Dorian was able to take a week off and we booked ourselves into a self-catering flat in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland.

On a sunny Saturday morning we caught a bus out of Glasgow to Stranraer on the west coast of Scotland, passing by the tiny Ailsa Craig where the best curling stones in the world come from, and then on the Stena Lines Ferry to Belfast. Sheelagh and I had always wanted to go across the Mull of Kintyre, but that ferry doesn't run anymore. We all enjoyed the ride across as it was smooth and Dorian could sit and watch some of the World Cup matches as we went. The crossing was about 2 hours. Belfast looks to be a clean busy city and we will be spending a day there before we go back.

We picked up a rental car and set off north for Ballymoney. The country is a beautiful green farming area that looks just as you would expect Ireland to look. We passed small, by Alberta standards, fields, and very neat homes along the way. It took about an hour to find our place and get a few groceries.

On Sunday we went to the tiny village of Stranocum where my Mom was born. I had discovered that she lived in house #14 in 1911. It was gone. That was a disappointment. We did find the church where she and her family attended and people there showed us where my Grandfather had his flax mill and where he lived at the end of his life. I saw an uncle's grave. To worship where my Mom worshipped as a little girl, with my son on Fathers' Day was a special treat.

Later we explored along the Causeway Coastal Road visiting Port Stewart, Port Rush and Dunluce Castle ruins before stopping at the Giant's Causeway. The MacDonald family stopped living at Dunluce after a storm caused a wall of the great kitchen hall to crash into the sea, sending several servants to their death. Subsequent homes have burnt to the ground as a result of a Servant's Curse (so they say). A great day.