Moytura's Irish
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We now have a chat club which I hope you will join and use. It offers the chance to share and answer questions about all things Irish. Perhaps some of you will have common roots, family connections - 

Ancestry.com has the greatest databases in the world for those in North America who are trying to trace their ancestry. 

Hit the banner to see the some of the extensive lists available and do a search from their own database search engine.

If you have enjoyed your wander through the site I'd love to hear your comments, good, bad or indifferent, perhaps you'd sign my GUEST BOOK. 
Or EMAIL me with any suggestions you might have.

My father was from County Sligo in the West of Ireland and my mother is from Monaghan, one of the border counties. People say I'm English but I have never considered myself so and have a little saying I give in response:

I am the eldest of four.......with 2 boys between my sister and I. One of my brothers is a priest in Hamilton, Ontario.and the other lives in Kent and works in London in the advertising business. My sister, 8 years younger than I, is great fun and we have some good laughs when we get together. She lives in Birmingham and recently my mother has gone to live with her and her family.

I trained as a nurse in my local hospital and continued in that profession, in a variety of roles, until October 1997. My whole life has taken a complete turn around since then. But let me tell you about my own family first.

I married in 1971 and after almost 27 years, my husband Eamon still thinks I'm worth sticking with, for another while anyway. We have 6 children............ 4 big ones and 2 little ones. I am also a grandma of a beautiful little grand daughter called Kelly. She and her folks (my second child Michelle) live outside London. My eldest son Stephen and my youngest daughter Rachel live and work in Galway city. Off-spring number 3, my son David, lives and works in Dublin. Our 2 youngest lads, Phillip and Peter, we'll have around for quite a while yet..............we call them the two maggots.
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Michelle, Phil & Kelly	Rachel
Phillip & Peter	The Gang

We live in the country in the parish of Lackagh, about 10 miles north-east of Galway city. It's a lovely village surrounded by the finest neighbours any one could wish for. Our local national school is just over the wall from us and can be seen in the right-hand corner of the photograph. So, as well as helping to keep the school open with all our crew, it was so close to home none of the guys could mitch or play hookey - so sad, look at what they missed.

West of us is an area of Ireland that is a must for any visitor. Connemara is a wild and wonderful place with an unspoiled beauty. It truly is My Place Amongst the Stones. The drive from Westport in County Mayo back into County Galway has to offer the finest scenery any where in the world. And just 30 miles south of us in County Clare is The Burren, an ecological treasure undisturbed since the ice-age.

Ireland is well-known for its heritage, particularly with its early monastic history of the 5th and 6th centuries onwards. Galway is rich in this history with places like Annaghdown, Tuam and the beautiful Cathedral of Saint Brendan the Navigator in Clonfert. Just over the border in County Offaly you will find Clonmacnoise, one of our most famous monastic settlements dating back to the 6th century.

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The Homestead

The Study My place of peace and contentment  as well as inspiration and creativity

The Study

For relaxation I read and just love my music and recently I found Edward Laxton's book to be invaluable to me while preparing my page about the Irish famine:

My musical taste is pretty catholic but lately I'm enjoying classical and celtic.

I'm a true sagittarian and get great pleasure in travelling. 1998 was a well-travelled one - I was in the UK in May and will return again in August. In June I was in Bosnia-Hercegovina and you can read a little of that experience in the Medugorje page. In September I got to make my third visit to Canada and have written up the pages of that trip.

Working on my homepage has been one delightful journey after another gathering up all the photographs and, as a result of the Canadian trip, I had the opportunity to drive up to Grosse-Île in Quebec and get photos of this final resting place for thousands of Irish emigrants to the New World.

What do I do for a living? Well I have just started my own design business doing graphic and web page design, (so needless to say if any of you out there think you might like your page designed for you by someone over here just give me a shout).

For those who have just joined me on this page why not go to the beginning of our travels and see some of the places in The Start of Our Journey through the West of Ireland. 

My Place Amongst the Stones gives the history of my company name, Moytura - a celtic heritage going back thousands of years. 

We journey to my own parish of Lackagh - a small village just 12 miles from Galway with a mighty big history. Learn all about the Battle of Knockdoe - one of Ireland's bloodiest of conflicts in the 16th century.

We move on to take a quick jaunt around Galway City; and then to the heart of Connemara - with its wild and wonderful beauty. 

From there we journey south into County Clare to see The Burren - a place that has lain undisturbed since the Ice-age and of immense botanical, ecological and archaeological importance.

Visit Ireland's finest early monastic heritage centre in Clonmacnoise, County Offaly; and to my favourite of all the early Christian Church locations - Clonfert, South County Galway, with its beautiful tiny 12th century Cathedral of Saint Brendan. Come with me around the grounds and see the 1000 year old Yew Walk and the Bishop's Palace. 

While on the Clonfert pages, you can learn a potted history of Saint Brendan the Navigator, possibly the first European to set foot in North America in the 6th. century. And join me in the celebrations when this tiny cathedral was listed in the World Monuments Watch 2000 most endangered monuments.

Join me on my 'Famine Journey' which starts in Westport, and moves to Sligo, my Dad's County and the departure port for many of the 'Coffin Ships'. This part of my journey ends in Grosse-Île on a tiny island east of Quebec City. 

On this page you will learn some of the history of our Famine Refugees from 1845 - 1849 and find the final resting place of over 6,000 of my country folk who died within sight of their first freedom in over 300 years. This is where many of the Irish roots in North America started.

Our Journey moves on to other places on that visit to Canada where we see Quebec City and some of Ontario's lovely places and then to two of Canada's famous Catholic Shrines - Saint Anne de Beaupré and to Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

Finally, join me on my pilgrimage to a peaceful haven in a war-torn country in Medugorje in Bosnia-Hercegovinia. The other areas of my Web site can be found in the drop-down box below.

I have added links pages of other places related to the places we visit, links to leisure activities in Ireland i.e. golf, fishing, horse riding, sailing in Ireland, festivals, entertainment etc. and some of my friends' home pages. 

Don't forget to bookmark this page and return to take up on more of your journeys with me. Oh .. and please sign my Guestbook if you have enjoyed your travels. Go raith míle maith agat - thanks a million

Every now and then people send me stories, poems, or URLs to other Home Pages that I find very touching or uplifting, they can be found at the links below. Some will make you smile, maybe even laugh, some may make you cry or a little sad - but all will leave a little bit of a mark, if only for the few minutes you spend reading or listening to them. Enjoy - I call this section: