Summoning the Ancestors

 I'm not really one for visiting castles but what better to do on a cold, rainy day in Ireland?  So that is how I stumbled upon an underground temple, the headquarters of the Fellowship of Isis, deep in the dungeon of Huntington Castle. The castle was built in1625 on the grounds of an old abbey. The IRA were last to use the dungeons as a place of confinement when they took over the castle in 1921. Ruins of the abbey Ruins of the abbey where Druid rituals are practiced Huntington castle today, still lived in by the Durdin Robertson family  Isis is the ancient Egyptian goddess of love and the Fellowship of Isis honours and celebrates the divine female. The fellowship was set up on the vernal equinox of 1976 by Olivia Durdin-Robinson, a member of an old Irish Ascendancy family who lived in the castle until her death; her brother Lawrence  (Derry) an ex Anglican clergyman; and his wife Pamela. Its purpose was to worship "Isis of 1000 names and mother of all beings." In t...

Great great great Grandma Jane Byrne was born and died in Carnew.  There are quite a few graves of more recent Byrnes and Levingston(e)s in the churchyard of the Church of Ireland All Saints. However the graveyard may not be old enough for Jane and her husband John Levingston's burial. Further research results pending! Carnew Church of Ireland There are many Byrnes around Carnew. Jim Byrnes bar in Carnew's main street  Carnew

Norman Levingstone with his grandfather's grave at St Mary's church in Bunclody  Last night Norman Levingstone (there's a story behind the spelling) showed me the farmhouse where his mother still lives which he believes was built by the very first Levingstons to come to the area from Scotland in the 1700s. That would most probably have been the parents of his ancestor William Levingston and ours John  Levingston (1754-1828). Norman had just arrived back from Donegal and it was dusk so the photos aren't the best. It's down that long narrow lane off the St Colomban way that I ventured down on my first night here.   The Levingston farmhouse about 300 years old Original farm buildings The cows were kept in the lower level, grain storage above    This morning I had a cuppa and a slice of apple pie with 90 year old Jim Rothwell, his wife Betty and Ben Rothwell, a local historian probably not much younger than the other two, in their farmhouse kitchen. Jim has lived in...

On my first morning in Bunclody in search of information about the Levingstons, I woke to a gorgeous sunrise over the fertile rolling hills of the land where the ancestors have farmed for generations. My evening exploration took me along part of the spiritual Colombian Way walked by the sixth century monk St Columbanus and many pilgrims since. Accidentally, making a short deviation off the trail down a narrow lane I arrived at a very old but inhabited farmhouse so I quickly retraced my steps back to the main trail. Now my Air b&b host tells me that that house is the original farmhouse of the Livingstons (now Levingstones) who came from Scotland in the mid 1700s. What are the chances that I would be led there? That would be a very big coincidence if there was such a thing as coincidences! Newtownbarry (Bunclody) sunrise Our great grandmother Alice Levingston was born on the 11th of January in 1821 in Carnew, Wicklow.  She was one of 10 children born to John Levingston (born 1772...

My accommodation for the last 2 nights was a "shepherd's hut" in Ballygarret. It was very peaceful and cosy with the fire going while it was "fair spillin'  a doun" outside for 2 whole days.  One of the things I miss when travelling is meaningful conversation, other than about the weather, and I certainly got my fix today. The hut's owner Angela and I spent 3 hours ranging over such diverse topics as what could have triggered the cows to moo unusually loudly last night; planetary influences and Pluto's responsibility for the unrest in the world right now; how she built a multi-million dollar business making natural hand sanitiser during covid,  how ancestral trauma manifests when passed down through DNA; to the healing properties of the herbs in her garden especially calendula, rosemary and cleavers, and many other topics in between. Now that the shining again in the clear blue Irish sky, I was able to paddle in the ocean and walk along almost desert...

For the next week I will be  staying in the Wexford/Wicklow area researching the Levingston ancestors, who descended from the McDougall clan of Scotland.  Today I drove out around the beautiful Hook peninsula.  Ireland is so physically gorgeous and the history so interesting! I can't help but be in awe of the skill and expertise, not to mention the determination and perseverance, that went into the building of structures like Tintern Abbey and the Hook lighthouse in the Middle Ages. And that they were treasured and maintained by generations since.. This medieval lighthouse built in the early thirteenth century to help sailing ships safely navigate the dangerous Wexford coastline, is one of the oldest operational lighthouses in the world. It is 4 stories high and the walls are up to 4 metres thick. It's believed that before it was built the monks of St Dubhan had kept a fire burning to warn ships. The lighthouse was commissioned by William Marshall, Lord of Leinster. (More...

The English market has been trading since 1788 so I'm sure many of our ancestors will have shopped here in the past. The covered building has architectural and heritage status. Some of the stallholders are from families who have traded there for generations. Its focus is on fresh local produce and traditional Irish food although now Ireland is part of the EU much of the food is imported.