Velda and Joe: A(nother) Grand Adventure

About two hundred years ago James Doherty rented some land in the southeast of Ireland and farmed it. His son John bought the land from the landlord, while John’s brother Edmond sailed to America. John’s descendants still run the farm (and others live and farm nearby) while Ed’s descendants sometimes visit from Los Angeles. It’s always a happy reunion.

The original one-room building stands at one end of a courtyard of similar buildings. Unoccupied for generations, used for lambing or storage, it’s in rough shape, as are the other buildings in the small complex. The family lives in an adjacent house, and the milking barn and other buildings are nearby. These particular buildings don’t belong to the family anymore, and the owners aren’t currently interested in selling them, so they are falling into disrepair.

Nearby is the village of Glenmore, and the Catholic church contains the family history. It’s a beautiful building. The pews, the stained glass windows, and other places in the chapel bear the names of towns and families who have supported the parish over the decades. In the 1970s an effort to modernize the place nearly covered the mosaic behind the altar, but that was halted by the community. It is perched on a hill, and there is a magnificent view from the cemetery.

We’re also visiting Mary and Tom, and their daughter Jacqui and her husband John. But that’s a different post.