We (my family) are planning a trip to Ireland next summer. Since we have some well traveled people and a few Irish mates in this community I will open the question to anyone.

This trip is the old re-trace our family roots trip. We will end up in Shannon with a drive to Athlone. That would conclude the family roots portion of the trip. The question is where do you suggest we go from there, or what is near by that we must experience.

Remember this is a family trip. Although my kids are teens they are American, middle-class, Irish Catholic teenagers. Which means they have had everything handed to them and truly believe the rest of world is like their life on the cul-de-sac. Seeing the world is yet another benefit they enjoy but do not fully appreciate because they’re teenagers.

I wonder if I could convince my family that we have Dutch ancestry???

Talisman, that sounds like a lot of fun, bro! Your youngsters will have a blast. I was born in the U.S., and I haven't been able to go to the land of our ancestors yet. Mainly due to a fear of flying and the open ocean, but I am working on it, lol. My grandad passed down lots of stories about Donegal and the surrounding area, including Arainn Mhor, an island off of W. Donegal, where my great great...................grandad met my great great......................grandmother. I have always wanted to go there, just to see where my ancestors lived, you know? Try and get a feel for what life was like for them in a way. Plus, being a "Strawberry blonde redhead" I always felt that I would fit in there, even though, obviously, not all Irish have red hair, but I've always been told it's more common there.
I hope you guys have fun, be safe, and make sure you bring back lots of photos!

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My man is a strawberry blond Irish man also, fatman. Now he is grey but his beard and other hair is still red! His family have been here for a couple hundred years as well. Not sure what part of Ireland his family is from. Nor mine. It is good you know all that. His sister did a search so I should ask him what they found. It is interesting.

Tal, What a nice memory you are giving your kids! I hope you have the very best of times.

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j-angel

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Fatman, I went Ireland twenty years ago but it wasn't to re-trace roots. I partied my arse off. I too have the Irish look and I got to tell you I fit right in. It was like I was at a family reunion.

My wife has been talking of Ireland ever since I've known her. She has books, dvds, and a burning desire to see Ireland. She has some Irish blood, but is mostly Norweigian and French. Her grandfather said, "The only good people are Irish, or those that wish they were." Some of my ancestors were Scotch/Irish. From what I understand, they were from Scotland and kicked out and settled in Northern Ireland. Apparently, they couldn't get along with the Irish either, so they came to the U.S. They must have been hard to get along with.

Pappy, I'm sure where your from you run into a few Norweigians as well other northern europeans. My cousin did all the family research and found that the stories we were told are mostly true... I know I'm as suprised as you.

Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas (refered to herein as "heaven on earth" was a big settlement point for Irish immigrants in the 19th century. OK lets throw in Minn. as well. My uncle is from Crookston Minn. A Very Nice place.

That's awesome, man, I'm glad you had fun, I gotta say, i'm jealous!

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Yeah, it's the same for Tennessee, alot of families around here hail from Ire.

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All my life I heard stories of my great-great-great... grandfather Patrick. Patrick was known as a "hedge master" in Ireland. He taught school in the hedges (woods) to children. He taught gaelic and catholism in a time that if caught was punishable by death. Patrick escaped Ireland just steps ahead of the law. My cousin found a handbill saved by Patricks mother calling for the arrest of Patrick. I guess it's like a wanted poster but without a picture. Kind of cool.

I guess there is a little outlaw in all our family trees.

hi lads,how are you. thing is I live in Ireland but am not Irish (am from the country you Americans tell jokes about ) so maybe I shouldn`t have saying but...I used to live in Ireland 3 years ago and my luv has been living here for the past 10 years now. Ireland is changing lads....it`s not the same country it was 10 or even 3 years ago.I dont know personally any single person speaking gaelic although there`re still some villages where people use only that language. If Ireland is catholic .... well it is the same way as the rest of Europe...mostly in declarations and on the paper. The fatman_cometh ... forgive me, I know there was discussion yesterday bout stereotypes and you didn`t like that one bout Irish drinking but it`s true here. Drinking is a way of life here. It doesn`t make Irish bad people in any way.They`re honest, warm, opened and lovely folks.For example Brits also drink a lot but they are not so lovely and very much not so honest. I live opposite to 2 old pubs and they seem to never close down. But av never but never seen a drunk man in the street (maybe once or twice but that doesn`t count ) There`s a lot of emigrants in Ireland those days...a lot.I`m one of them. The country is one of the richest in Europe. It has transformed massively over last 20 years. And the most important - it`s one of the most beautiful in the whole world.I mean it.
Talisman, tell me for how long you are going to come if you want and we can give you some ideas as where to go and what to see. We travel a lot so we know a lot of interesting places.take care lads

I know that, mate, but, over here, in America, the Irish are joked about as being only drunks, eating only potatoes or having a pot of gold somewhere. My 5 yr old thought she was gonna be a "loser drunk" because of her heritage due to some kids at school repeating what they heard at home. So you see, it's not about drinking and such, but more about NEGATIVE stereotypes.

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raf, we will be in Ireland 5 days, two days in Shannon and 1 day in Athlone. This gives us a couple days to explore. We do have to leave from Shannon Airport.