Friday August 30

When we went to breakfast Friday morning, the very first person we met was Ultano Kindelan from Madrid, the spitting image of our father, so we knew we were in the right place. We went off by bus to visit the site of the Battle of the Boyne, where the Kindelans were on the losing side and as a consequence were invited to depart Ireland in 1690. Those who left went to either Spain or Cuba; the Spanish line died out after some time while the Cuban contingent prospered, mostly in the military, and some of them then emigrated to Spain. Most of the Kindelans at this reunion are from either the Cuban or the Cuban/Spanish line.

We are a product of the great exception to the 1690 exodus. At least one Kindelan stayed in Ireland and at some point during the potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s Bernard left Ireland for New England.  Bernard begat Stephen Edwin, and Stephen begat ten children, one of whom was Stephen Jr, father of those of us who are here celebrating with cousins we never knew we had.

St. Ultano's Church, County Meath

We  have traveled here and there for two days together, and several of us wish we knew Spanish. While we are on the "English" bus, there's a whole lot of Spanish being spoken on the English bus. We have resolved to learn Spanish before the next reunion.

After the Battle site, we went to an ancient family church, Saint Ultano, and a spring-fed well on the grounds of a lovely large mansion recently purchased by an American family who plan to restore the tiny church in the coming years.

Ballinakill House, County Meath

Farewell from O'Malley Family

We were then treated to lunch at Ballinakill House in County Meath by Mary O'Malley, the current owner of what was once the family home. There were 93 of us, if you can imagine that many strangers large dropping by for lunch. The host family were lovely, turning their 150-year old house and gardens over to us for several hours while we dined and roamed and thanked them profusely for their hospitality. We learned more about our ancient family from several people from the neighborhood interested in their local history. One produced a map with the Kindelan property noted and another had photographed a page in a county register showing Edward Kindelan as the 94th name.

Back to City West Hotel to freshen up for dinner, dancing, and presentations by each family sector (there are 6 such sectors in attendance, 4 from Spain and 2 from the US giving a short history of its part of the family. Terry represented us well with a nice slide show about the 8 children of Bernard (who emigrated from Ireland), the 10 children of Stephen, down to the 5 children of Stephen Jr., Dad. The evening was fun and funny and went on beyond midnight.

Walked 4409 steps, just over 2 miles.

Wednesday August 28/Thursday August 29

This has been an eventful few days, beginning with a flight to Boston early Wednesday morning, water taxi to the Faneuil Hall area, long walk to Haru --the restaurant where nephew Tim works -- on Huntington Avenue. Lunch/visit with Tim followed by water taxi (which is a fun way to get to the airport from downtown Boston) back to Logan.

Met Terry in time for our flight to JFK and then that evening to Heathrow. These flights were not without their own excitement, including a missed flight to London, but we got the next one, not without more excitement, and arrived in London just one hour late.

Steve and Sue were waiting with the car, and off we went to Holyhead in Wales, there to catch the ferry to Dublin, where we were due for the beginning of the Kindelan family gathering. Suffice it to say that thanks to Steve's heroic driving efforts we made it. We were exhausted and glad to finally be at the City West Hotel outside Dublin, and we all slept very well.

Walked 14,608 steps today, about 7 miles.

It is time for a new walkabout. This time, across the pond: Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales. This time, with company: sister Terry, brother Steve, sister-in-law Sue. Daily posts and photos as before, just from a different perspective.

We will start with a Kindelan family reunion in Dublin, part of Ireland's The Gathering, an open invitation to anyone ever Irish, however remotely, to come back to the old sod and visit with family members from around the globe. It turns out that the Kindelans left Ireland in the mid-1840s to go either to the United States or to Spain. Most of those attending this reunion are from Madrid. We will be interested in seeing whether they have the clear blue eyes, fair skin, possibly red hair, and perhaps the Roman nose of our father and several of his 9 siblings.

We will meet them Thursday, August 29, in Dublin. And that will be the start of our new adventure.