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My husband and I will be doing a driving tour of parts of Ireland visiting places that our ancestors came from. One of the areas we will be visiting is the Fedamore area and some of the smaller settlements that my ancestors came from. I would be very grateful for any local knowledge and answers to my questions below:

Am I correct in understanding that Cloughadoolarty North is a very small village? When I look on google maps I see only a handful of houses. Am I right in guessing that most of the original homes are no longer standing?  

Can anyone tell me what the roads are like in this area please? My husband has a lot of experience driving in other countries so the actual driving side is not a worry but I am more concerned about the condition of the roads as we will have a hire car.

Is Bruff the best place to stay in this area?  Is it necessary to pre book accommodation? We are trying to stay a bit flexible with our itinerary.

Is the Lough Gur Heritage centre worth a visit? Is there anything more in the immediate area that we shouldn't miss seeing?

We will also be visiting Ballybricken and Caherconlish and Fedamore itself, mainly visiting churces and cemeteries. Is spending 2 days in this area enough to do all this? 

My grandmother told me stories that her  own grandmother who came from this area told her about  'Ballinagarde or Ballynegarde Castle' . Does anyone know where this would be?  I'm not sure if it was one of those tall 'watch tower' type structures or perhaps a stately house? Does anyone have any ideas please?

Thank you so much for any help with my questions. 

Jennifer [Brisbane Australia]

 

 

Lintywhite

Sunday 10th Nov 2019, 02:28AM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Jennifer,
    First of all, your ancestors names, approx. years of birth and when they went to Australia.
    There are so many sites to search, but, it depends on the years.
     Cheers
    Margot
     

    Margot

    Sunday 10th Nov 2019, 10:09AM
  • Thank you both Miriam and Margot. 

    Miriam, this is most helpful, especially about making Limerick city our base and travelling out from there.  It's hard to know the size of places and what they can offer. 

    Margot, at this stage I don't need any help with locating ancestors. I have been researching for over 20 years and have their places of origin identified as well as who went where when it came to immigrating. Like many Australian's we both have nurmerous Irish ancestors in our trees, from many different counties, hence the driving holiday to visit as many of these as we can and visit the churches where they were baptised and married and the cemeteries where they were buried.

    Thank again for your help Margot and Miriam. It is much appreciated. 

    Jennifer

     

    Lintywhite

    Monday 11th Nov 2019, 11:41PM
  • Dear Jennifer:

    Thank you for your post to the message board and the information that you have given.  As Miriam suggested, you may find that it is better to stay in Limerick City and travel around, although as you have so much work done on your family tree, it may be worthwhile to stay locally.  We have a very good Caherconlish volunteer and I'm going to alert him to this post as he may be able to assist you.  In addition, we have other Limerick volunteers, and I will also forward this post to them.  You can expect a reply within a week or two. 

    Please keep us updated as to your travel plans,and if there is anything that we can do, please let us know.

    Kind regards,

     

    Jane

    Jane Halloran Ryan

    Tuesday 26th Nov 2019, 09:08PM
  • Hi Jennifer,

    I will try to answer your questions. I am one of the Limerick volunteers

    Am I correct in understanding that Cloughadoolarty North is a very small village? When I look on google maps I see only a handful of houses. Am I right in guessing that most of the original homes are no longer standing?  

    Cloughhadoolarty is a rural townland of farmland within Fedamore Parish. The chances of finding the original homestread are very low.

    Can anyone tell me what the roads are like in this area please? My husband has a lot of experience driving in other countries so the actual driving side is not a worry but I am more concerned about the condition of the roads as we will have a hire car.

    The roads are fine. No need to worry. They may be narrow but generaally will be in good condition. 

    Is Bruff the best place to stay in this area?  Is it necessary to pre book accommodation? We are trying to stay a bit flexible with our itinerary.

    It depends on what you are looking for in accommodation.There is  lovely B&Bs in Bruff. but as Mirian said Limerick City is approx  a half an hour drive from Fedamore. (20km). So you have the choice. I would definately pre book.

    Is the Lough Gur Heritage centre worth a visit? Is there anything more in the immediate area that we shouldn't miss seeing?

    Lough Gur is lovely and definately worth a visit. I would also consider Adare, King Johns Castle and The Hunt Museum in Limerick City. Bunratty Castle is only 15Km from Limerick City.

    We will also be visiting Ballybricken, Caherconlish and Fedamore itself, mainly visiting churches and cemeteries. Is spending 2 days in this area enough to do all this? 

    Yes two days is plenty. Ballybricken, Caherconlish and Fedamore are all in close proximity to one another. Get a sat nav in the car you will be able to travel easily.

    Ballinagarde

    Ballinagarde House was an estate owned by the Croker Family. The house is now in ruins but can be view from the road in Grange, Numerous families would have worked there.

    If you need any more information, please feel to ask. my email is croom@irelandxo.com.

     

    Croom Parish Liasion, IrelandXO Volunteer

    Wednesday 27th Nov 2019, 10:18PM
  • Thank you so much for your reply and your advice. It is very helpful. I will certainly email you if I have more questions as I continue to plan our trip.

    Kind regards,

    Jenny

    Lintywhite

    Thursday 28th Nov 2019, 08:27PM

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