Why would you come here?

All my people came here from Ireland. Those that I've been able to trace so far were farmers. At least two of the strains were from the Republic and one was from the north.  We were traveling in Limerick with friends when I remembered Castleconnell so we took a bit of a side trip to see the village and perchance a distant relative.

It's a quaint little town on the banks of the River Shannon, ll clicks or so from Limerick and a short walk to the intersection of counties Clare and Tipperary.  It was pissing rain, as they say there, when we arrived at the center of town. A small general store and post office were the highlights, although the big city is creeping in around the edges of the settlement.

While Jane went into the store to buy the local painting you see above, I noticed a gentleman on the corner smoking his pipe and seemingly enjoying the rain.  I walked over to him and said hello.

"Your'e not from around here are ya," he said.  "No, but I think my people are."

"What's the name?" "McConnell," I replied.

"Well, I'm not one, but you would be right.  There are a few around town.  Where are you from?" he asked.

"Seattle, on the west coast of the States."  "I've heard of it," he says, "Pretty place in pictures.  Why would you come here?"  "Looking for roots, I guess," I said.

He took the pipe out of his mouth, looked at me sternly and said, "The roots around here are withering and dying.  If you find any of your people, they'll want to come home with you."

I'm still not sure how serious he was but I took him seriously.  I didn't find any of my people that day.  I thought a lot about Ireland, my roots and our world. Not all change is good and, right now, everyone is dealing with a whole new set of difficult challenges.  It's coming at us from every direction too.  The Irish have been known to be resilient...as are lots of other peoples of this world. We all need resilience these days, in large doses.

Your trivia for today, in case you didn't know, is that St. Patrick was not Irish.  He was a Brit but because of his work there, he became the patron saint of Ireland.  We celebrate him on March 17, the day of his death.  There is no shortage of Irish blessings but I sincerely like this one which goes out today to my acquaintance on the corner in Castleconnell, to all the roots of my family and to each of you, my friends.

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers—

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours—

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through!

Peace and good health in our world would be my additions.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Dan Mc