The House!

Uncle Paul found this gorgeous house that is big enough to house us all! Its a total of 8,000 square feet and has 8 bedrooms, 9.5 bathroom, two family rooms and two full kitchens! The house is on Fripp Island, which is a private community island that has an preservation of wildlife. On our afternoon there we saw half a dozen deer and bucks!

Here is the spectacular view from the back porches!

To the left of the house is a view of the golf course!

On each level of the house is great room with a family room, kitchen and dining areas..... two of everything must make housing 30 Rahills A LOT easier!

The house also has an elevator, a media room, regulation Billiards table, "rustic" ping pong table, and we are crossing our fingers for WiFi!!!!

And onto the bedrooms!!!!

Girls Community Room

Trundle Room

Pops and Betty's Room

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Boys Community Room

Twin Room

Bedroom 3 with nursery

Excited to have us all under one roof for a spectacular week!

Plan B..... Beaufort, South Carolina!

After trying to make Ireland, the financing and the logistics work.... we decided to abandon ship and go south. Deep South that is. The Rahill Family spent most of their Marine Corp life in Beaufort, South Carolina. This charming Southern town is home to Parris Island, sprawling low-countryside, and fantastic comfort food.

Our trip begins Father's Day 2012, June17 - 24th.

More on all the details later, but for now just wanted to share our new sweet, homey, Southern destination: Beaufort.

Project: Roster

1.) Jim (Pops) Rahill, Betty (Nana) Rahill

2.) Peter Rahill, Glenda Rahill

3.) Jeremy Rahill

4.) Jennyfer Mancino, Tony Mancino, Amelia Mancino

5.) Mike Rahill, Jan Rahill

6.) Paul Rahill, Marcia Rahill

7.) Mary Beth Bridges, Tim Bridges, Asa Bridges

8.) Jim Rahill, Kim Rahill, Brendan Rahill, Leah Rahill, Rachel Rahill

The lodging is still TBD (to be determined) however we can start planning some room assignments at The Coach House Cottages. In Ballyhaus, the cabins have 3 bedrooms, one with a king sized bed, one with a double bed, and another with two twin beds.

Ireland Along the Way

This is a photo montage of Uncle Paul's recent trip to Ireland. While there he visited two potential places we can stay, in a following post I will highlight his findings.... but for now lets just sit back and enjoy the view.....

Project: Destinations

Hello Rahill's!

We are gearing up for our trip next year and its time to start collectively researching some of the destinations we are headed to! Here is a list of places Pops and Betty have visited. All the Rahills will research one destination and collect some interesting information about the site. We will make a blog post for each destination to learn more and "comment" on each place. Take a look at the destinations, and "comment" below on which ones you would like to research.

Famous Places of Interest
Rock of Cashel
Cliffs of Moher
Ennis
The Burren
Galway
Blarney Castle
Ring of Kerry
Kinsale on South Coast

Dublin Places of Interest
The River Liffey/Trinity College - Ireland's oldest college

Durty Nelly's - adjacent to Blarney Castle
Books of Kells - library with some manuscripts from the 8th century
Grafton Street - lively pedestrian mall
St. Stephens Green - Medieval commons
Merrion Square - Public Park
Guiness Storehouse - 200 year old brewery
Kilmainham Gaol - historical jail for political prisoners
O'Connell Street - Dublin's grandest promenade
O'Donahues Pub - (A possible descendant, Gram's grandfather was O'Donahue)
Temple Bar - 18th century pub in the "art zone" of Dublin
The Stags Head - a "must see watering hole"
St. Patricks Cathedral - ancient cathedral founded by St. Patrick

Other Destinations:

Cork - ballyhauss Lakeview - the place we are considering staying in Southern Ireland

Athlone - Shannon Holiday - The place we are staying in Athlone

** we need more information on the surrounding areas of both these destinations, including grocery stores, restaurants, and local areas of interest.

Ancestry Research:
Mahoney Castle (possibly our ancestors castle)

Longford (city we are from)

**This area we need help researching. Aunt Marcia has some resources and friends with experience researching ancestry, and she can help other "researchers" get started in their own areas of interest. Also, Pops has a lot of information and research partial and complete.
Pops has mentioned one of our ancestors having been exiled from Ireland for illegally translating the bible into Gaelic during the 19th century (one of the ways we got to America). Just an example of our fascinating history that we could visit and experience together. It just takes a little digging!

Also, please feel free to add your own destinations. At some points we will get into smaller groups, so more destinations are a plus!

Please note that this blog post will be updated and edited (not re-posted). Upon the first update, I will post a link on the top right of the blog for easy access.

Destination: Cliffs of Moher

The first destination Pops and Betty suggested was The Cliffs of Moher. Its a destination they never fail to visit on all THREE trips they've take to Ireland. The Cliffs of Moher is an area of coastline on the Western coast of Ireland facing the Atlantic Ocean.

This would be a beautiful spot for a family photo!

Going "Home"

The banner to the blog is from a photo handing in Pops and Betty's home. It was a thank you present Betty received for helping a friend plan her honeymoon to Ireland. Betty has a knack for planning trips and lives to plan her next adventure! Luckily for me, I have a research partner in this endeavor (looking for more researchers btw!).

The research and the trip is about more than googling popular tourist spots (although there are some spectacular spots we plan to see). This trip is about going "home" to where WE are from, walking in the steps of our ancestors and listening to their stories.
This blog is about the journey of planning that trip and what history and destinations we find along the way.This picture is of a cross-stitch hanging in the home of Pops and Betty. Although right now, it looks just like a map, over the next year and half it will come to life as little dots on a map transform into significant and meaningful destinations.