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January 2000, the dawn of a new Millennium (or not as the case may be) what an opportune time to do something that you've promised yourself for many a year, YES ! my new years resolution was to finally visit the lands my ancestors once walked, to seek out any posterity they may have left behind, and to find further evidence of the way they lived.
A flight of less than 1 hour from my home town of London put me in Dublin where I had just 2 days to visit various archives and repositories of genealogy information, The plan was to visit four of such places but having an Uncle who runs a Bar on Sir John Rogersons quay soon blurred the agenda ( Uncle Sean you're a terrible man ! ) I managed a look at the Ruttledge family papers in the manuscript library of Trinty College Dublin and had a browse through some land deeds and wills at the National archives before I had to hit the road for County Mayo.
Compare the Irish landscape with that of my earlier Border ancestors,Reiver country
KEY to above photos :- Abbey.jpg, a ruined Abbey next to St Muradeachs cathedral Ballina, ballinabrdg.jpg, one of two bridges over the river Moy in Ballina, BallinaStr.jpg, a typical street scene in Ballina, bankofI and BankofIrl.jpg two views of the Bank of Ireland, Central Dublin, brknJug.jpg, a popular pub in Ballina, building.jpg an unidentified architectual delight opposite St Patricks Cathedral in Dublin, castle2.jpg, a ruined fort or Castle near Derrygullinaun Co. mayo, Cemy01.jpg, Graves to the East of Knockmore, cemygate.jpg a view of the entrance to the same cemetry, chch.jpg, Methodist chapel Ballina, derrygullinaun.jpg & Dgunnaun2.jpg, possibly the land my ancestors farmed in Derrygullinaun near Knockmore Co. Mayo, dubcast01, dubcas3 & DubCas02.jpg's different views of Dublin castle, fabishLough.jpg & fabishLough3.jpg My wife and daughter standing by Lough Conn at the southern entrance to Knockmore, falls.jpg, waterfall near Ballina, FoxFord.jpg, R.C. Church in Foxford Co. Mayo, Garda.jpg, 2 policemen near the bank of Ireland Dublin, Graves.jpg & MyoBrdrch.jpg, a church & graveyard in Mayo but very near the Roscommon border, heffernan.jpg, a Butchers shop in Ballina,
KnockmoreRCch.jpg, R.C. church in Knockmore,
KnockmoreSth.jpg, The southern entrance to Knockmore, loughconn.jpg & loughConn01.jpg Views of Lough conn taken near Knockmore, moy01.jpg, The river Moy Ballina,
Muradaechs.jpg, St Muradaechs cathedral, nephinbg.jpg Nephin Beg (mountain) taken just south of Ballina on the road to Knockmore, StPats01.jpg, St Patrricks Cathedral Dublin, terrace.jpg A typical row of terraced houses in Ballina, Trinity01.jpg The fascade of Trinity college Dublin.
My goals in County Mayo were many, Ballina was the logical place to stay as most places of interest to me were situated around it, Ballina is quite a large town by Co. Mayo standards, It's built around the estuary of the river Moy which boasts some of the best Salmon fishing in the world, maybe I'm biassed slightly but I found Ballina to be a charming little place, the locals were all friendly and the overall atmosphere was one of a happy, thriving community.
We were fortunate to find "Moy House bed and breakfast" on Station Road at the entrance to the town, a small cheap and very cosy place to stay, our hosts Finola and Jim Lenehan made us very welcome and kept our daughter, who's not yet a two year old, highly amused.
My agenda in Mayo consisted mainly of locating 4 old cemeteries in the hope of finding Ruttledge headstones, after the first two graveyards were found I was stunned by the lack of any "proper" memorial stones, most were just simple rough stones with no inscription or forged Iron crosses plunged into the earth, Perhaps this was an indicator of the poverty here during the lean years of the 19th century, nevertheless it was both humbling and moving to witness.
Moving on I headed for the tiny townland of Derrygullinaun, located a few miles south of Ballina and a mile or so West of Knockmore, I was again stunned when I got there, In Griffiths valuation of tenements 1856 there are a total of ten houses, one cottage and three offices listed here, an area which totals 160 acres 3 roods and 25 perches, today 4 occupied farmhouses which looked very modern and one old ruin were all that remained, It was here that my GGGreat Grandfather John Rutledge lived in the early & mid 1800's .
Knockmore is truly a pretty little village with the beauty of Lough Conn and Nephin beg quite breathtaking, also a must for visitors to North Mayo would have to be the area around Kilalla bay, again stunning natural scenery (unfortunately no photographs as it was dusk when I got there)In neighbouring County Sligo, Innishcrone (Enniscrone) had one of the best beaches I've seen in Northern Europe, although this is not in Mayo its literaly a 9 minute drive from Ballina .
Sean J. Ruttledge 18th January 2000 AD