I made my first visit to Ireland in June of 1994. I flew from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Shannon Airport where I met up with my parents and my older brother. We hired two cars at the airport, one for the parents and one for us “kids”. Our pre-planned scheduled itinerary consisted of: Day One – Visit Bunratty Castle and have dinner there, then stay overnight at a B&B where my parents made reservations before we left. Days 2 through 5 -Follow the sun. Days 6 & 7 – Stay at a B&B in Dublin then fly home.

We drove to Bunratty Castle, County Clare for a tour & banquet….
Okay, so here is something I just discovered right now (or just remembered after 17 years)… see this sign?
See the last paragraph where it mentions Admiral Giles Penn, and his son, William? THE William Penn who was founder of the American Colony, Pennsylvania? Well Giles Penn had a sister, Hannah (William’s aunt). Hannah is my maternal great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother… A family connection to Bunratty!!!!
I have one other picture with any sort of door from this trip, and I believe I took it in the Bunratty Castle Folk Park…