Hi there everyone,

Hope you are all fine? We are – Denise & David arrived on Friday  on 12.15 bus from Dublin. They really enjoyed their all around Ireland trip. Not wonderful – mostly fine but grey days. Friday afternoon we walked down to the farm little caravan park area, Mark is developing. He thinks caravanning will become more popular here. The builders were there building the sides of the amenities block.

We went into Enniskillen & ;did; the quite long main street & churches. We also went for lovely drive around the country streets & lanes nearby but the local Lace Museum wasn’t open. They are putting a new thatched capping on one end. My casserole dinner was good!

Yesterday we had a lovely day! Denise had said it would be good to see some sun – it was the most perfect autumn day – sunny & warm ALL day & blue sky ALL day! Incredible!

 We drove the 20 miles to Omagh stopping off at the quite substantial town of Drumquin where the MOOREs were from/married. Would you believe the week before I left I read a different obituary of James (Dad’s grandfather) & it said he was born in Portdown (just SW of Belfast!) in 1828. He married Jane GIVINS in Drumquin as she was from there & that’s where they were living/working at the time.

We went on to the Ulster American Theme Park just out of Omagh – O in the News because Govt here decided not to have ANOTHER inquiry into the IRA hotel bombing there in 1998. The Theme Park was wonderful – one of top 4 attractions. It is all so well done - there is a large section of rooms with explanation (dioramas, museum & personal objects of early Ireland & ALL the immigration to America. You go from what it was like in Ireland to the covered wagon & life in America. There were 113 passengers on the Titanic so that features prominently – stories, photos of survivors.

 Then there is an outside Irish town on 16 houses, churches, barns, shops you walk through (people dressed up as in the time  -late 1700’s – ‘doing’ a craft (printing (you get your shipping ticket), making corn dollies, soda bread, blacksmith etc; also grocer, tailor etc). A couple of the houses are the actual houses & others ‘copies, rebuilt. Peat fires burning the lot – wonderful!

Then you go into a mock up immigrant ship on how they would have travelled which leads onto an early American village they would have lived in & the houses, churches, shops there - so good!

Last night they took us on a 90 mins cruise of Loch Erne (still sunny & warm 6.30 – 8pm – up through waterways around Enniskillen – it’s on an island between Upper & Lower Loch Erne – past the castle, through a ‘one level type’ lock; to Devenish Island where there is a ruined monastry, abbey church; round tower etc & back to swish hotel for 3 course dinner – wonderful!!!!

We got talking to a family on the cuise, as the 11 yr old grandson wants to come to Australia – asked us all about the spiders, snakes & sharks he’d seen on documentary about Aust. I was telling them about us & grandfather asked what names I was researching, He said ‘I’m a MOORE from Portadown’!!!!!! His cousin Helen Moore has done the family tree so we have swapped emails & phone numbers & he will pass them on to Helen!!!! He came back 3 times to talk to me – told me about old cemetery where lots of Moore’s would be buried & wants me to ring him when we are there & he’ll take me to it!!!! Lovely guy! There are coincidences like that SO OFTEN in family history research!!!!

Today is cold, wet & 60 mile an hour wind gusts!!!!!!!!!!It’s 7.20am, no one else has stirred yet!

All National Trust properties are open & free this weekend so we’ll see some of them. COLEBROOKE House where COLLUMs were is open & have tours, so hope to see thatou should see this table I’m at – cameras, videos, Kindles, laptops, tablet all recharging – CORDS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!