Day 9 Dungiven Northern Ireland Saturday 7th July 2012

This photo is of us leaving Mowbray House, the Victorian B&B we stayed at - how fantastic is the original tiled entrance hall.

We left a very foggy Sunderland this morning at 8.30am driving to Newcastle International Airport for our flight to Belfast. We flew with Flybe.com on a small plane with propellors which was a first for me but the flight went quickly as we chatted about all the wonderful things that have happened so far on this incredible journey. I was feeling pretty excited as today was the day when I would finally see the area where my ancestors lived and worked going back to the late 1700's. On collecting Mary's car we headed north west for about an hour towards Maghera. The scenery was VERY green with hills, trees and beautiful stone fences dotted along the way and before I knew it we were at the entrance to the town of  Maghera. I tried to imagine what it would have been like back in the 1820's when Henry and his brothers were small lads. Some of the buildings in Main street looked like they dated from this period and I was thrilled to finally be here. Mary showed me Walsh's Hotel where our reunion is to be held, St. Patricks College where she teaches and then she took me to St Patricks Glen Church. What a beautiful church and the cemetery beside it is one of the nicest I have ever seen. The church is so much bigger than I thought it would be and because there was a wedding in progress we could not have a look inside. I was able to spot Micheal and Mary's Headstone in the cemetery straight away as it stood out magnificently given it has been recently rejuvinated by the family here.

The inscription reads:

Erected by Henry McGuigan of Melbourne In memory of his father Michael who died 18th May 1855 aged 58 years, His mother Mary who died 20th Feb 1836 aged 38 years. Harry McGuigan who died in the 87th year of his age was respected for Honesty, Learning and Piety"

The Harry McGuigan referred to on the headstone is Henry's grandfather. Harry McGuigan was a local historian of the area and contributed stories to the published 1836 memoirs of Maghera. I was absolutely thrilled to discover that there was someone in our family who was interested in recording history all those years ago. Now 178 years later I can read all about the history of this area thanks to people like my great great great great grandfather Harry McGuigan - good on you Harry for  understanding the importance of handing this knowledge on to future generations!

It was then a 10 minute drive to Dungiven to Mary's house to meet her mother Bridie which was great. We had a lovely dinner and chat with Bridie telling her all about our adventures so far and tonight has been very relaxing watching the tennis. Tomorrow morning we are going to Mass in Dungiven then its onto one of Mary's favourite places to eat for lunch, Browns Restaurant in Derry City which is about 30 minutes from here to meet Bridie's two sisters.