A wedding invitation in Hanover was the perfect time to make my third visit to Canada, which is one of my favourite places, and it afforded me the opportunity to go to Grosse-Île. While reading up on the famine stories for the Westport and Sligo pages I was intrigued by occasional references to this tiny island in the St. Lawrence River just east of Quebec City. In 1847 alone this island turned out to be the final resting place for over 5,000 Irish immigrants to the New World and to many others in its history as a quarantine island from 
1832 - 1937.
 

Vieux Quebec

St.Anne-de-Beaupré

Grosse-Ile

Cap-de-la-Madeleine

Grey Bruce County,  Ontario.

I had a two week vacation, the first of which was spent travelling from Hamilton to east of Quebec City. That journey was amazing, leading me to places where I never intended going and yet was meant to be. I call it the journey with my guardian angels. For me it was the culmination of a spiritual journey started earlier in the year to Medugorje in Bosnia. The seeds sown on that trip were nurtured and fed by all that happened on this Canadian trip.

And so, here I am - back home in my own parish of Lackagh in the West of Ireland and putting into practice all that I gained and all that I saw on my Canadian trip. I continue on this amazing journey of mine where equilibrium of body, mind and spirit has focused me on the true meaning of life and not on all its frills and flounces.

I continue to live in 'suaimhneas',a wonderful Irish word with a great depth of meaning encompassing peace, joy, tranquillity and serenity. But enough - let us move on now and see the various beautiful spots I was lucky enough to visit, and hear some of my stories and a bit of the history from these places.

Our Canadian Journey starts with my drive from Hamilton to Quebec and a visit to one of Canada's famous Catholic Shrines - Saint Anne de Beaupré. The rest of that day was spent enjoyably wandering aound 
Quebec City

The main reason for my visit to Canada came about on the Wednesday and Grosse-Île, a tiny island east of Quebec City and the final resting place of over 6,000 of my country folk. It turned out to be facinating, poignant and yet enjoyable - a visit I will never forget and one I hope to repeat with some of my own family someday. 

Heading for 'home' that night I got lost and somehow ended up in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, which has the most famous of Canada's Catholic Shrines - Notre Dame du Cap. What a grand day I spent there! 

Finally back to Ontario and a week of relaxation, renewed friendships, joy and tranquillity before heading back home to Galway in Ireland.

For those who have just joined me on this page why not go to the beginning and see some of the earlier 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. 

Back to our Irish journey and to my own parish of Lackagh - a small village just 12 miles from Galway with a mighty big history  telling a story of one of Ireland's bloodiest conflicts in the 16th century - The Battle of Knockdoe. 

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

Our journey goes 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.

We visit Ireland's finest early monastic heritage centre in Clonmacnoise in County Offaly and to my favourite of all the early Christian Church locations - Clonfert, with its beautiful tiny 12th century Cathedral of Saint Brendan. Come with me around the grounds of this lovely tiny cathedral and see the 1000 year old Yew Walk. While there, 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. See how we celebrated a most historic announcement when Clonfert Cathedral was listed in the World Monuments Watch 2000 as one of the world's most endangered buildings.

Join me on my 'Famine Journey' which starts in Westport, moves to Sligo and ends up in Grosse-Île.

Finally, come with 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.

If you are interested in Irish history or anything to do with Ireland why not visit our new additions where you will find a large selection of Irish material!:

I have added links pages of other places related to each location on our journey; links to leisure activities in Ireland such as golf, fishing, horse riding, sailing, festivals, entertainment etc. and finally 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, so I have decided to make a new section on my site to house them all and share them with you too. 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: