Travel 13 ― My Irish Village

I have always known of my Irish ancestry.  How could I not know with the family name of McCann (Clan of Anna).  But for many years, it was possible to only know that my family had links to the city of Liverpool in England, just a short trip across the Irish Sea from Ireland.  In the past, that was it — no records showing an obvious connection with Ireland, until earlier this year, when ancestry.com found additional records showing that my great-grandfather (x4) was born in 1781 in a little village called Baltinglass, in County Wicklow (62 km SE of Dublin).

Thus, this was a good reason to make my first visit to Ireland, via Reflavik (Iceland) to Dublin.  In the past there was a local railway which, unfortunately, was got rid of, and the station building still remains today as a political statement for tourists.  Now, a comfortable coach winds its way through main roads that seem like country lanes, in a little more than one hour.

(Click to enlarge)

The next day, I awoke very early, enjoyed a good Irish breakfast, and boarded the coach to my destination.  Upon arrival, I found my way to Saint Joseph’s Church, a 15-minute walk from the bus stop (The bus, actually, couldn't drive into the village).  Walking through the entire village centre, I met a total of about five friendly nodding villagers.

“Good morning”, I would say.  “How are you?”

“Very grand”, she said.  “What are you looking for?’

“The church”, I replied.

“Is it the Protestant one you need?” she asked. (I was obviously from away).

“No”, I said, “The Catholic one”.

“Oh, that’s Saint Joseph’s”, she said.  “T’is a grand church”.

“Thank you”, I said, realizing that simply everything is ‘grand’ in Ireland.

Walking through the village, I had an interesting feeling that I had been there before.  The church seemed quite large, probably the largest building in the village … no doubt it would be described as ‘grand’.

The priest was away (But not in another country), but the church secretary was available and, now, I was to get some bad news.  The church records went back to about 1850 — 70 years after my great-grandfather was born — built upon the ruins of an earlier church.  It was noted that there are Stone Age ruins in the area.  I was advised to visit the cemetery as it contains graves older than the present church but, unfortunately, such graves were in a state of ruin and unreadable.  I met an old cemetery caretaker who told me that he remembered the McCann family who owned a hardware shop in the village … but they left about 50 years ago without any trace.  Questions at the local inn confirmed their presence there too.  Today, I guess that they would just be very distant cousins.

It was time to have lunch at the restaurant where I was persuaded to try a Guinness (One sip was enough and the bar girl agreed with me) and, then, I walked to the the other side of the village to look at a tourist attraction, the ruins of the old Cistercian Baltinglass Abbey that dates back to 1150.  It was destroyed by King Henry VIII’s campaign against the churches in 1536.  Incidentally, one can walk from one far side of the village to the other side in about 30 minutes, which was useful when the last coach back to Dublin is at 3:00 pm (Outside the village).  I had a grand day.

Trump wants Pompeo to study ‘killing of farmers’ in South Africa

OPEN LETTER

(I hope that Stephanie will excuse this publication of our personal discussion of such an important subject).

A fairly well balanced article methinks. It is a very very sensitive issue and the USA must stay out of it. S.A. does not comment on Trump's crude stupidities. 

The main problem will be that those who get land will not necessarily be farming material. Will they also take on the debt on the drought-collapsed farms? The Bantu men have never been farmers — with cattle yes, sat and drank a lot of beer and fought while the women planted, hoed and reaped.

Big trouble ahead. Some squatters have moved onto private farms already with threats … and one farmer I know of has already fled his land. 

Interesting times?  I don't  think so. 

Steph

————————————————----------------

Yes, it’s a sensitive issue but, I hope not an issue to be hidden.  You can be sure that the US government will not try to affect physical influence (Except, perhaps, within the UN) but it’s worth noting that the President isn’t always in step with the government … and he likes (non-crude) sanctions.

It’s obvious, to me, that the S.A. situation is both cultural and political, and will worsen before improving.  These kinds of problems usually take generations to overcome and, although it has existed for generations, already, today’s children (on both sides) have been indoctrinated towards a status quo.  Therefore, not within our lifetime.

Often, it's to be wise after an event, but because of the huge timeline, it was unforgivable of the white farmers to not educate the huge, majority, black population because they appeared to be unintelligent — a fallacy that still exists, although the underlying motive was to impose domination.  There can be no reason for 10% of the population to privately own 90% of the land (Widely estimated figures).

Perhaps, one unpopular answer would be for the government to permit every farmer (black and white) to be officially entitled to no more than 50 acres (A definition of a creditable small holding) of land, and other lands to become government-owned for development into co-operatives (Accessible to all South Africans).  Just an obscure thought.

Bernie

———————————————————

Politics 20 - Put Up, Shut Up, or Get Out

In today's copy of Maclean's magazine, Andrew MacDougall writes the following Opinion; “Bernier’s warning about ‘radical multiculturalism’ has outraged Canadians, including fellow Tories — and will test Scheer’s leadership of the post-Harper Conservative Party” .

In the same edition, Scott Gilmore writes; “In the long list of problems facing Canada, multiculturalism doesn’t even make the top hundred. Let’s give Bernier’s rant a pass.”

Mr. Bernier was, no doubt, referring to the PM’s statement, “Diversity is what makes Canada strong.” A statement that, on its own, may assume some merit but, which, hides a multitude of problems equal to those in Pandora’s box.

Suffice to say that I am enraged by their foolishness in the face of facts, only for political gain, especially when we are referring to a Conservative party.

It is said that, surely, Mr. Bernier would not have criticized the Ukrainians who farmed the Prairies, the Italians and Greeks in Montreal (not to mention the Irish) or the Chinese in Vancouver, but we seem to have a multiculturalism problem today, that is identified by mismanaged immigration. In my view, whether multiculturalism is a curse or not, we need managed immigration (not xenophobia) but we do not need anyone who believes that Sharia laws are inevitable. Thus, Islamophobia is not going away, because we are sensitive to the anger from our great-grandchildren who will curse our souls.

I hope that Mr. Bernier has the courage of his convictions.

Please comment

Ribs & Craft Beer Festival, Eh!

It is said that simply starring at this photo for too long will make you fat.

Victoria Park, London, Ontario

(Click to enlarge)

Food 10 - David's Bistro

This week's adventure in my search for interesting restaurant food photos took me to David's Bistro, another leading London restaurant.  Not surprisingly, and always refreshing, is a menu comprising items rarely found at other restaurants.  It is David's special touch, no doubt.  I chose the Chimichurri* glazed flat iron steak with potato, shallot and roasted pepper salad, and crispy taro root*.  The term 'flat iron steak' gave me pause and pleasantly surprised when the adequate amount of sliced steak arrived.  The term 'salad', correctly described, grammatically, as a mixture of small pieces of food was also misleading, nevertheless delicious.  Accompanied by a glass of rich Shiraz red wine.
 * Chimichurri is a South American uncooked sauce used for grilled meat.  It is made of finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and red wine vinegar.  The dominant flavours are parsley and garlic.
 * Taro root is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms.  It is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants, and very rich in vitamins, especially B₆ and E.  It failed as part of this meal, being placed in the sauce and, thus, tasteless ... and not crispy.  I would suggest the use of cooked taro leaves in future (May be toxic uncooked, but vey rich in nutrients).

Chimichurri glazed flat iron steak with potato, shallot
and roasted pepper salad, crispy taro root.