With My Irish Family

The road from
Swinford to Charlestown
was my Grandparent's
whole world growing up.
Co. Mayo, Ireland

I flew from Newark to Gatwick Airport outside London and, after a short walk around past Buckingham Palace and a lot of red phone booths, I got a train from Euston Station up to Manchester. My Grandfather's brother, Tom Rowley, had lived in Manchester and his family was still there. One son, Brendan, was my age so I spent a week of evenings in Manchester's Irish bars and days watching the endless Cricket matches on TV before he dropped me at the ferry terminal in Liverpool for an overnight sail to Ireland.

My Grandparents, Martin & Katherine Rowley, had both come separately from the countryside around Swinford, Co. Mayo to the US. After settling in Philadelphia they married and had three daughters, the oldest of whom was my mother. I was now following the trail they had traveled in reverse.