Progress on Adain Carry's new bungalow in Ragherabeg is still going well.It is being built on the site of the old O'Brien home.
Yesterday Paddy O Brie and his two sons Dave and Dermot arrived on a visit from Middlesborough and called to see the old home and met Aidan who told them of his plans to renovate the house when he has completed building the new one. Paddy looks in great form and visited the school where John Cooney the teacher showed him where he was first enroled as a pupil.Frank Guinan and Alo Moran came along to meet them.They flew into Dublin and took the bus to Ballinasloe where they are staying and using taxis. Next time they plan to book accommodation from this website.
Paddy told us there were seven O Brien children - Martin died 1971, Ned is in Guernsey, Kieran is in Sheffield, Margaret and Brigid were last heard from in Bristol and Annie married Pat Grenham and now lives in Ahascragh.Her husband Pat died about two years ago.
They are planning on visiting Clonmacnois and visiting the burial place of Paddy's parents and also taking the Bog Train.
Yesterday Paddy brought Dave and Dermot down to the bog where as a youngster he helped cut and save the turf used for heating their home.They also plan on meeting some other people that Paddy knew as a youth.
Looking at some old photo albums we found photographs of Margaret or Maggie and Bridget taken with the late Babs Guinan when they visited some years ago.Also of Ned when he visited from Guernsey.
Dave was the one that recently came on a discovery trip and arrived in Ballinasloe and walked to Ragherabeg retracing the route that his father Paddy used when bringing their cattle to the fairs in Ballinasloe