We took "The West Road," as the locals call it, out from Westport to the "Prendergast Stronghold" of Accony. We wound along the south side of Clew Bay, past Croagh Patrick ("Croagh" as in "rogue") and on to the Atlantic Ocean---hilly country with mostly pastureland for cattle and sheep, but a very pretty countryside with plenty of flowers still in bloom.
We went through the town of Louisburgh where the family church of St. Patrick's is located. (And please note the nice wide streets that make it easier for us rookie drivers to make it through town without losing a side mirror on the rental car.
After Louisburgh, it was on to the "one lane" roads, but at least there was new tarmac (blacktop) and drivers were very good about pulling over to let another oncoming car get through.
Then we reached Accony (usually spelled Aghany or Aughany on the maps). It is just a rural community with no shops or pubs anymore, but several, lovely, new homes are being built in the area.
Of course, we had to stop in at the Scott's and say hello to Tommie, the postal carrier for this area, and his mother, Margaret. Tommie's grandmother was another of the Prendergasts. This is the family our Fleming cousins visited in the 1970's and 80's. Dick Scott, Margaret's husband, and another cousin, Richie Prendergast have since passed away in the 1990's.
Margaret Scott was looking very well for all the health problems she has had over the last several years. And the cane you see by her side is due to the fact that, once finally home from the hospital, she fell and broke her hip and had to spend another spell in hospital. But she was looking very "hail and hearty" on this day which she attributes to "the power of prayer."
We also stopped by one of the old Prendergast homestead's, probably soon to be replaced by one of those lovely, new homes.
And then we went down the road just a little farther to Roonah Point where the ferry takes you out to Clare Island which you can see in the distance. Tommie has to deliver the mail out there as well to several dozen families that still live on the island.
And if you want to guess how those people survive on that tiny island out in the Atlantic Ocean, we think it might have something to do with those silver barrels about to be delivered to the one pub on the island that you see in the photo below of the pier at Roonah Point.
Once I figured out what I was doing wrong when trying to call Michael and Bridie on our cell phone over a period of several days, we finally got in touch with them in hopes of a short visit to thank them for getting us in touch with Deirdre whose Prendergast family had done a lot of work on this family's history.
Well, we didn't get to take them out to lunch or buy them a drink---instead, they picked us up at our hotel and took us out to dinner and then on to a drive out to Louisburgh and Accony. And this time we got much more of a history lesson on the area and were given the names and location of Prendergast's still living in the area.
We even met another Prendergast at the restaurant where we dined.
Talk about your "Irish Hospitality." Even though Michael and Bridie are busy with their business, they took all that time and energy to take us out to dinner and tell us more about this lovely corner of western Ireland. It was wonderful to hear so much more about the Prendergast families and the areas where they lived.
Michael and Bridie even provided us with another packet of information about the earliest arrival of the Prendergast's into the area and about those early Prendergast families.
And don't they just look like the nicest couple in the photo below?
We are sorry that you didn't get to meet Tommie and Margaret and Michael and Bridie, but that's what happens when you are "...Left Behind In America."
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