The Dingle Peninsula

I have had many strange and wonderful experiences in assisting my travelling companions with their search for ancestral roots. Yesterday i was to have another. The other day, Pam, the mother in my present group, had produced a photo of a lady standing beside one of the ancient beehive huts on the Dingle peninsula. She told me that this photo of her grand-cousin had been taken 37 years ago when this lady visited the area. Eventhough the photo showed just the lady and the beehive hut with very little background, i instantly felt that i recognised this particular beehive hut. The only thing that bothered me was that it showed the gable end of a shed to one side. This i did not recall and it left me with some doubt. Bearing in mind that there are hundreds of these huts in the Dingle area the chances of me being presented with a photo of one that i immediately recognised were slim but i told her that i felt maybe i could bring her to the exact spot. Needless to say this was a stroke of unbelievable luck for this lady, or was it just luck?
The sun broke through as we left Killarney on our way to Dingle. I felt excited myself but the lingering doubt about the gable end of that shed was still on my mind. Inch strand was magnificent in the sunshine and Dingle town with its wonderful harbour was also at its loveliest. We were all focused on what lay ahead at Slea Head where my beehive hut was situated. There are various groups of beehive huts along this route to Slea Head but my favourite ones are on the land owned by Maire Houlihan, a native Irish speaking lady. She owns the ones closest to Slea Head. She is a lovely lady and charges just Euro 2:00 for a tour of her huts and they are well worth a visit. She uses the money she collects every year to visit her family in New York. When we finally arrived at our destination i asked Pam for the photo and i made my way to the hut that i believed was the same as the one in the photo. It matched perfectly ....except for that gable end to one side. There had to be an explanation and when Maire appeared i handed her the photo and she was amazed as we explained our predicament. She laughed as she confirmed that this indeed was the exact hut and that the old shed had been knocked down many years ago.We had found our beehive. Pam of course was all excited and we got her to stand in the exact same spot for a photo shoot. Then looking at the two images, the real photo and the one on view on the digital camera, was amazing. Jessica, Pam's daughter, then stood in the same spot and we took her picture so now we had three generations all at the same beehive hut. They are to send me copies of the photos which i hope to put on my Blog at a later date.
Through a series of coincidences Pam had found what she was looking for and in a very strange and roundabout way. When her husband Bill contacted me first it was just to enquire about a transfer from Killarney to Galway....a one day job. I got back to him and made a few suggestions which he then discussed with Pam and a new plan emerged. I was now to look after them for four days and this included the day on the Dingle peninsula. There was still no talk of the photo or of the link with the beehive hut. Then the photo appeared and if that had been shown to a million other tour guides or chauffeurs i think they would not have known where it was. I am not claiming any special powers here...i am just suggesting that maybe this was no coincidence. I was the right man for the job, and just a tool, but i really do love to be used in this way.
I cannot help but feel that a times there are forces guiding us back to places that are a part of our history, places that our ancestors had longed to return to themselves but never got the chance.I know that Pam believes it now, and what a wonderful day we had in Dingle. I know that this will live in the memories of Pam and family for a long time to come.