Touring Ireland with Chauffeurdriven/ own driver and guide

This morning, i set out from lovely Kinvara, on the southern shores of Galway Bay, (pictured above in glorious sunshine), on my way to Westport to collect my latest party, Alison and Andy, They had been celebrating, the "gathering of the Feerick Clan" in Westport as part of this our year of the Gathering in Ireland. They had a great time, despite the fact that both of them had contracted a sore throat bug and a bit of a flu type bug. This was not going to spoil our day today as we began our exploratory adventure  to the lands of the McNulty Clan in north Mayo.

Our journey began in the Swinford area and at the church of Killasser.  In the picture above we have Alison standing outside the Killasser church, one of two churches that would have been close to Cullen, where Alison's family came from. The other church was at Callow, which was not far from here.

Above, we have Andy and Alison, standing beside what was once upon a time a baptismal font, and now is left as a souvenir outside the front door of the church. It is quiet possible that members of Alison's family, or relatives, were baptised in this particular font.

This old bell, with the date 1874 stamped on it, was obviously the old church bell at Killasser church, and was taken down in later years when this church was renovated. It stands in the grounds of the church as a memorial to the old church.

We knew we were near where we were looking for when we found Killasser, and, after winding our way around the narrow country roads, and stopping to talk to some very helpful locals, we struck it rich when we met a local couple who knew, not only where we were looking for, but also had the information regarding Alison's family, and where they had been located.
This led us to the house pictured below, which we believe was more than likely the home of Alison's family. Alison knew, from previous information gathered, that the home was one of a group of nine old homesteads in Cullen, and from the information we have gained from the family who directed us to Cullen, this was the actual house site.

This newer house,which was on the same piece of ground, was the home of the Melvin family, who inhabited the Mc Nulty property after when the older Mc Nultys passed on. This information we had been given by the couple who had directed us here, and had known the Melvins, before they too moved on. Eventhough this house was right beside the older one in the first picture, it certainly would not have been built until long after the one we believe was the original home, and therefore was unlikely to have been ever inhabited by the McNulty's.

The two ruins below are the remains of two of the other homes in this small settlement. We had no information on who the occupants of these houses were, but these homes were definitely famine time homes.Two of the other homes here were occupied by the Thomsons and the Barron families. We were also able to identify them from the information we had received from our local informants.

This really was a great day, and i believe we can feel that our mission was accomplished. I know that both Alison and Andy was well satisfied with our findings, and lets hope that we get as lucky tomorrow when we go looking for the other side of the family in the Ballinasloe area.

Feel free to travel along with us.