Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  

A repeat post from 2016:

On my father’s side: my grandmother was born in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland, and my grandfather grew up near Ballymena and the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland.  A real mixed marriage!

They met and married in Philadelphia, and vacationed in Stone Harbor each summer while raising 6 children (pictured in front of their local rental cottage).

In the 1950s, my grandparents built a year round home in Avalon.  A family business brought the sons and daughters (including spouses and young children) from Philadelphia to Avalon shortly thereafter.

After visiting the beautiful windswept coast of Northern Ireland, I can totally understand my grandfather’s love of the shore.

Sand in our shoes… and salt air in our lungs 😉

Sláinte!

P.S.  According to family legend, my grandfather arrived to the United States through Canada. And my grandmother used her older sister’s ID to travel from Ireland to the US. Her grown children didn’t know her real name/age until she applied for Social Security. It’s important and relevant to consider that our family’s immigration history may be softened by nostalgia. 

Pictures from our 2008 trip to Northern Ireland.