Baaack to Ireland

During my second week in Scotland, I decided to change (and extend) my travel itinerary to accommodate a return trip to Ireland. I needed to secure some more family information during regular business hours of some government and church offices that I had missed on my first trip through Dublin. (FYI - don't trust that the out-of-country, toll-free customer support number that Expedia provides will actually work overseas!)

I had one day, traveling by a "Rambler" bus pass from my airport complex hotel to visit the General Register House and the Representative Church Body Library; in addition to return trips to the National Library and the National Archives in Dublin. I found birth records for Sophia (and her brothers), her older sister's death and burial records, and her youngest brother's baptismal record. I'd have to say that the most amazing records have been preserved by Ireland's RCB, with parish records I consulted (for Clonsilla) dating back to 1830! The information gleaned from civil and church records was most useful to me in terms of establishing addresses and the father's occupation. Sophia's father was, indeed, a jack of all trades.

On my first visit to the National Library I had not searched the Dublin reference resource, Thom's Directory back far enough in time (because I was unsure how long the family lived in Ireland). This time I hit pay dirt! All in all - even though a whirlwind tour back through Dublin, a much more successful one. It's a good thing I knew where some of the government offices were - otherwise I might have run out of time (and had to stay longer)! Awww...