October 16 & 17

Yesterday we departed Cushendall, and our friends, Anne, Jack and Jess. The drive to Belfast took us cross country, driving through a few of the villages where Deb's research had shown there to be a 'Todd' (family) connection, but no revelations worthy of note, just beautiful, rolling, Irish scenery, and again, flawless weather!

Finally, we find the area!

Ancestral Lands

More Irish countryside of the Todd's

Saintfield Church where William & Agnes married

Inside Saintfield Presbyterian Church

Our stay in Belfast is at the Malone Lodge Hotel, close to Queens University and the home of an ancestor Walter Todd who lived on University Rd.

Malone Lodge part of old townhomes

Nice size bedroom looking out on Eglantine St

Bathroom of Malone

Today we ventured out, Deb going to the PRONI (Public Records Organization of Northern Ireland) to research family history, while I walked around the corner and spent the day at the Titanic Centre. This is a very comprehensive display of the history of ship building here in Dublin, the design and building of the Titanic, the labour and skills involved, the sourcing of materials required, the outfitting of the boat, sea trials, passenger information, and of course, the tragic sinking and inquiries, etc that followed from that. It was a day-long event, and could have been longer and all tremendously interesting.

Deb's day at PRONI was a steep learning curve but she managed to secure a copy of a marriage certificate that she wanted and learned about all their archives and how to see the original documents. In particular was able to see the church records of ancestors.

In the late afternoon, Jonathan ventured out for a walk down to the River Lagan for an hour or so, just to explore the local environs. One street was named 'Chlorine Gardens'....there has to be a story behind a name like that!

Saturday's breakfast was a bowl of porridge, quite different texture from what I am accustomed to. Deb had one of her stand-by favourites...Eggs Benedict. Then it was off to visit towns and villages south of Belfast, searching for familiar names, grave sites, etc  that Deb has documented in her genealogy searches.  Towns like Ballynahinch and The Spa near Ballynahinch, with lots of photos to show family at home. Then in Saintfield I was able to enter the church where my ancestors were married.  The town even had a Todd's Hill, Todd being our ancestors,  then we were off to search for the Coopers which were found as suspected by Deb, in a small cemetery in Rademon. Two family gravestones with a lot of Cooper family names, and a Cooper mausoleum.

Saintfield Church ( William Cooper & Agnes Todd married)

Inside Saintfield Church

William Cooper Sr. family headstone

Cooper Mausoleum at Rademon Church

'The Spa' previously owned by Coopers for 70 yrs

The last part of the afternoon was spent back in Belfast walking into the town centre and back to the hotel. The objective was to try to find a store that sold Irish linen, something of a specialty item. We were not successful, but we did pass a few interesting sights along the way.

Lounging & writing the blog in lobby