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Following the award ceremony we all sat
down to a buffet dinner. A tour of the tables revealed
some faces from the last time I had been in Ferns in 2000
but most of the attendees were new to me. One of the new
faces I was delighted to meet was Michael Cavanaugh from
Cincinnati, Ohio. Michael's ancestors originally hailed
from Wexford but he had no information as to which parish
they had left when they embarked on the long and dangerous
journey to America. The family established farming roots
in Indiana and he has spent many hours on the road and
going through local records to determine the exact
location and extent of their homestead. I enjoyed the time
I spent with Michael; I found him to be warm and easygoing
and I do hope that he makes a breakthrough soon. Around
midnight I was flagging a little and decided to call it a
day, luckily I had managed to avoid the alcohol so there
was no need to stowaway in German Jim's car boot.
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Welcome one and all
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Fergus ensures his surname is okay
on his
certificate
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They don't expect us to do all that in one
weekend do they?
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I awoke around seven thirty on Saturday
morning to the sound of cows in the field outside my
window. It brought back pleasant memories of summers spent
on my grandmother's farm in Wicklow. A peek through the
curtains revealed another splendid morning as the sun rose
steadily above the horizon. A light mist was draped across
the ground and a herd of cows moved lazily towards some
favourite corner of the field or perhaps to the gate ready
for milking. I closed my eyes and tried to get back to
sleep but the thought of the countryside springing into
life just behind my head was too much to resist. I had a
quick shower, dressed in some warm clothes and went for a
walk. It was truly magical to be back on a farm again at
daybreak. Well, I say daybreak but any self-respecting
farmer would have already been up two or three hours by
the time I had raised my head from the pillow. Breakfast
was a mighty instalment of sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes
and brown bread. To ensure I didn't go too far overboard I
took great care to balance all of that with a healthy
glass of orange juice.
Early morning at Clone House
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