In 2000, as my Dad was having his final conversation with my daughter, Laura, he said, “My only regret is that I never traveled to Ireland to find my roots.” My Dad was 100 percent Irish and he had always wanted to visit Ireland. And just like most of us something always gets in the way, or time just slips by and he never made it to Ireland.

A few years ago Mary and I started planning for our trip to Ireland to discover our Shea ancestry. In August we made the pilgrimage to our homeland. We tracked down our ancestors back to 1791 and discovered our 9th generation family lived in Cork, Ireland, in the diocese of Kerry, Parish of Dromtariffe, and townlands of Curragraigue. We found the actual land that our Great (8th) Grandmother farmed and lived on in 1810. We located the church where she married and the cemetery she and my Great (8th) Grandfather were buried. We also completed the branch of the tree that included them, their children and all the way to today. Most of the family left Cork, going to Liverpool and then New York; finally settling in Minnesota in 1860. We spent the whole day in Cork with a local driver explaining the history of Cork and showing us the sights and landmarks. It was an incredible experience.

We then traveled to Dublin, Belfast and all the way to the beautiful, breath-taking North Coast!

This was truly the trip of a lifetime. See a few of our best shots (4 out of 528)!

St John’s Church - where the records discovered leading to all our family tree - 3 years of searching; not so easy.

The actual piece of land my Great (8th) Grandmother farmed and lived on. So beautiful, quiet and peaceful. This is what Heaven must look like.

The cemetery my ancestors were buried in starting at early as 1797, with a view of the valley we came from.

Mary and me at Blarney Castle