18 June 2024
I had arrived at the last chapter of writing my book, which relates the history of my family, as well as certain events from my childhood, growing up in Ireland. I was looking for a suitable ending for the book that would bring closure on the main themes dealt with in my story. Then I hit on the idea of taking a week off to go back to Ireland and revisit the three towns which are central to my family’s past and which figure prominently in the book - Mountcharles, Enniskillen and Belfast. A kind of “back to the roots” trip. What would I find there?
Mountcharles (Co. Donegal)
My great-great-grandfather, John Boyd was born in this small, country town in County Donegal on the west coast of Ireland in 1777. He would leave the family farm and join the British Army, engaged in a long war against Napoleon, culminating in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. John and his comrades of the regiment of the Inniskilling Fusiliers covered themselves in glory on that bloody battlefield.
Together with my sister, Denise, we spent the day hunting in the town and the surrounding countryside for traces of the Boyd’s. Unfortunately, without success. The last members of the family appeared to have left there some time ago. Still, it was marvelous to visit the birthplace of John and his family, whose ancestors had probably come over to Ulster from Scotland during the 17th century. The views across Donegal Bay and the surrounding hills were magnificent.
Enniskillen (Co. Fermanagh)
Enniskillen is a town built on an island between two lakes in County Fermanagh, across the border in Northern Ireland, some 90 kilometers to the east of Mountcharles. It is the only town in the whole of the UK and Ireland to have housed two regiments of the British Army, the Inniskilling Fusiliers and the Inniskilling Dragoons. John Boyd remained in Enniskillen after leaving the army and founded a family there.
Since then, nine generations of Boyd’s have since been born and have grown up there, including my mother. Denise and I met up with some cousins in a local pub - Charlotte, Caroline and Joe - and shared a great night of reminiscing together over a pint or two of the famous black stout. No new family facts were uncovered except to learn that they had suffered from their parent’s reluctance to talk of the past as much as I had with mine. This town was where we have always truly felt a family connection that will remain with us forever.
Belfast (Co. Antrim)
The birthplace of my father, as well as that of the Titanic and the new state of Northern Ireland, following the partition of Ireland in 1921. That in turn led to a century of religious violence and bloodshed between Catholics and Protestants that I experienced first-hand myself as a child and describe in my story.
Once, Belfast was an industrial powerhouse, with the biggest shipbuilding and linen industries in the world. By the 1960’s and 70’s, it had become an unhappy and very dangerous place to be. It was the main theatre of the Troubles, that lasted for twenty years with bombings, murders, riots and kidnappings a daily occurrence there.
Today, Belfast appears to have once again risen from the dead and is a booming tourist attraction leading to much needed new investments, such as from property developers and luxury hotel chains.
The future looks brighter for my hometown and that makes me glad. Its people have suffered long enough.
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