Leinster, Ireland

When I woke up a little before 7:00 a.m. our tiny and tall room (which Bon described as like being on an operating table), surprisingly had heat! After packing, we headed down to a very cold breakfast. The windows and doors of the dining room of the hostel were open and it was a chilly morning. After a quick breakfast we walked back into Dublin.

As none of the other sites I wanted to visit was open yet, we decided to go into St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was a unusual mixture of secular and ecclesiastic exhibits. The church itself dated back to the 12th and 13th centuries and was early Gothic. Inside, two early stones with crosses inscribed on them that had been excavated on the grounds were displayed. It also had a large exhibit on Jonathan Swift, a leader of the church and town as well as an author. He is buried in the cathedral. While we visited, a young people's service was held with an all boys� choir.

From the cathedral, we headed for the National Archives on Bishop Street, which we had some trouble locating. As we were signing in for reader cards, a knowledgeable archivist came by and discussed how we might approach finding records about Phalen. He suggested that an archives project to be completed over the next couple of years might contain some information. The project involves the cataloging of the records of Graves & Company, timber merchants, who also carried passengers aboard their ships. Graves operated out of New Ross and Waterford and one of their ships was the Dunbrody (a replica of which has been built in New Ross). He indicated that some ship's lists might be documented and that there were also letters of application for work on the ships, etc. Otherwise he thought the Kilkenny document, which I showed him, covered the available leads. So rather than further researching the archives, we decided to go to the National Library.

On our way we walked up Grafton Street, the main shopping district. We then visited the Bank of Ireland � the old Parliament House. However, we were promptly ushered out of the Upper House as a security precaution for a private luncheon. We crossed the street and walked through the main campus of Trinity College, which also houses the Book of Kells and the Natural History Museum. Then we walked around Leinster House, where the Irish Parliament sits � security was not enthused with our carrying backpacks onto the campus!

So we went around the corner to the National Library, and into the genealogy room. Here a woman named Mary � I neglected to get her last name � was extremely helpful trying to assist me with how I might proceed. She recommended that I look through the remnants of the 1841 census, listed in a publication called "Irish Ancestry." Before pursuing this, I looked up Patrick Phelan (note spelling, as there are no Phalens) in the Griffith's valuation index. It turned up 114 entries with about 37 in Kilkenny! I think without narrowing the search to a town or parish in Kilkenny, it will be hard to find Phalen�s family if indeed they were listed at all.

Upstairs in a ornate reading room, we requested Volume 9 of Irish Ancestors for the remnants of the 1841 and 1851 censuses for Aglish and Port Nascully, towns in southern Kilkenny. In the 1841 listing there was one Patrick Phalen with a son Patrick: unfortunately the same father and son appeared in the 1851 (which was after my Patrick had emigrated). The interesting thing was that the 1851 census had a second Patrick Phalen. In 1841 this same family was listed with a Patrick Whalen as the head of household. The Phalen and Whalen names really do seem interchangeable � another variation to be considered! I did find an apt quote from a James Phelan that had come to the US and been very successful, but had never found his own birth date or location. He said, "Starting points are unimportant, it is destinations that matter."

Leaving the library, we headed towards a bookstore which had been recommended in Kilkenny, which had a luncheon shop where we had a bowl of soup.

We next visited the National Gallery � adjacent to National Library. We checked our packs and had a leisurely visit. The museum had a interesting new wing and housed a collection including Titian, Caravaggio, a Gilbert Stuart of Bernard Shaw and a John Singer Sargent of Woodrow Wilson. As it had begun raining, we decided to have a drink in the cafeteria, after which we walked down Grafton Street again to our bus to Glendalough. There was a good crowd getting on the bus, so I suggested to Bon that she grab two seats as I put our packs in the �boot�. As I did this, I again met the young Australian woman we had encountered on the path the prior day.

We decided to stay in Laragh � a mile from Gendalough. The bus ride was mostly in the dark. When we got to Laragh, we walked up the street towards Glendalough looking for a B&B. We found a comfortable one, then we headed to the main pub in town for dinner. Walking back to the room we saw a few stars � a good omen for tomorrow.