Intuition and remembering the land of our ancestors

Namara Tours

+353 85 181 9691

Remembering the lands of our forefathers

What are the joys when we follow our intuition while travelling

There is always a beauty that exists when visiting new places. Discovering new sights, from landscapes and buildings, to new people and new ways of life. Along with that,new flavours and fragrances we try for the first time fill our memories forever.

In many of these moments each and every one of us have have this wonderful thing called intuition that guides us. It's that gut feeling inside telling us that this is great.Whether it be trying a new dish,singing along or dancing along with the locals. Our intuition, always tells us to enjoy that situation and it is always with reason. As sometimes those moments in which we go forward and discover something new, eventually in many cases, changes our lives forever.

Being a tour guide has given me the chance to let people discover and enjoy many different experiences across the world. In many trips, my clients have had their lives have changed forever.

One of these wonderful experiences was when I was guiding a lovely group from New Hampshire. On this group there was a couple, their names were Matt and Janice.

Janice knew that she was of Irish descent and that her great grandparents emigrated to the United States, sometime around the beginning of the 1900s. Her family originated from West Cork in the south west of Ireland. A beautiful and scenic region in Ireland filled with rolling hills amd amazing coastlines. However, limited with opportunities as was the case in the early 1900s. Like many back in the day, Janice´s ancestors left in search for a better life halfway across the world on the other side of the Atlantic.

While on tour in the scenic town of Baltimore, in West Cork, our group had a chance to enjoy some free time for some wondering around. Janice and Matt decided to go for a walk around the surrounding houses and cottages. After coming back to the bus before leaving, Janice came back with Matt with her eyes filled with delight. I asked her what was going on. She told us that as she was walking across the streets she passed through a house with a lovely front garden. Filled with flowers and plants and saw a elderly lady working on the garden. At first it was just curiosity, and a general love for garden flowers what Janice had. She came over to the lady and asked whether she could take a few pictures of her garden.The lady quite delighted at the fact that her work on the garden gave such interest to an american tourist obviously said yes.

As they were talking Janice mentioned that she knew her ancestors were from West Cork but could not pin point from where exactly .The lady said she was from Dublin and moved here to Baltimore, along with her husband after retirement. Each of them exchanged their thoughts on the beauty of the area and after some heartfilled conversation the lady invited Janice and Matt inside for a cup of tea.

As if she was stricken by some sort of spell.

While on the bus after finishing our tour for the evening. Most people were shutting their eyes after a great day of excursions. Matt was telling me that, a sort of heartfilling glow was coming from Janice during this whole time in Baltimore. As if she was stricken by some sort of spell. I mentioned to him that this could have been her intuition telling her something. He looked at me after saying that and being a College lecturer and an individual who´s logic governs over heart, looked a bit astonished but at the same time questioning his reasoning.

He saw Janice continuously looking around the house as if it were trying to tell her something. Although it was recently renovated the elderly lady said that the house was almost derelict when they bought it but they still wanted to keep its classic charm. Therefore it was modern with a hint of early 20th century designs here and there.

Matt then said that before leaving Janice stood outside of the front door of the house and took a few steps around the garden.

As we continued the tour Janice was still left mesmerized by the house and before our group departed back to the United States I vowed to help Matt discover the history of the house and whatever I could do from my end.

A few weeks later I contacted Matt and advised him that I found out who the owners of the property were. It was a house that previously belonged to a family called the Walsh who were wealthy merchants. Thomas Walsh, who was the head of the family and the owner of a handful ships, was the descendant of the family who prospered by importing wine, fruits and spices from Portugal and Spain. During the last quarter of the 19th Century when Thomas inherited ownership of the business he saw it crumbling before his very eyes.

This was in part due to the awfull years that followed the Irish famine with mass emigration by locals of the region, in search of a better life abroad, along with fierce competition from other merchants from other upper coastal towns like Kinsale.The final straw however, was when two of his ships sank in a storm off the coast of northern Spain. It was then, when he decided to make the hardest choice of his life and sell his remaining ship and buy tickets for his family to move to America.

Matt, amazed by the history and information I had found, was delighted. He himself went into the records in the United States and discovered that Janice´s great great grandmother was Evelyn Walsh. One of Thomas´s eldest daughters who married an associate fellow merchant´s son who was from Cornwall, in the southwest of England.

A few weeks later Matt contacted me again. This time it was to tell me that they had been in touch with distant relatives who lived on the coast in Connecticut. Janice was filled with joy ever since Matt told her the surprise. However the bigger surprise was yet to come.

Janice´s 4th cousin Mary had a few books and documents dating back to the family´s early years in the United States. Mary gave Janice a selection of different books that seemed like scripts. She herself had never looked into it, however she told Janice to take them and see what she might find.

Over the next few days and evenings after work and doing the daily chores of life, Janice would sit down and read through the various books. At first they seemed like accounting books, then school books. But as she continued reading, she discovered that hidden inside what was apparently a school book filled with english essays a diary. One with the dates of the years that just followed of the Walsh´s supposed emigration to the US.

As she was reading a line appeared which caught her eye.

´As the beacon glares across the bay, and those primrose flowers filled with the scent of honey and bloom at the sight of spring. So does my heart bloom with the hope of one day, returning to my enchanted garden of Baltimore Bay from which my joy misses everyday´

Reading those lines gave Janice tears,she was reading the lines of Elanor. Who from previous notes said she never wished to move to America but did so because the whole family was moving. Janice then realized it was her intuition that told her that she was fullfilling a prophecy and a dream of her ancestor to one day return to see that beautiful garden and lovely house.

Over the following month I stayed in touch with Janice and Matt. They had mentioned that they were in touch with the elderly couple and that the latter had invited them to visit Baltimore whenever they please.

And so they do.Matt and Janice have been visiting Ireland every 6 months ever since,and she always gazes out that garden towards the beautiful Baltimore bay.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Phone: +353 85 181 9691
E-mail: gabriel@namaratours.com

Cork, Ireland