Keogh's in Denver

We arrived in Denver Thursday afternoon under cloudy overcast skies. Tim picked us up at the airport and drove us to his and Teah's house on Hooker St. Friday morning we got up and Tim, Ellen & I headed to the cemeteries to locate my relatives. Anthony Keogh, my great grandfather and his family came west from Windsor Locks, CT. in 1887. They took the train from Hartford, changing in Chicago and then getting off in Denver. There were three cemeteries that I was interested in going to. However we found out that Mount Calvary cemetery had been closed and turned into a park. The Americans were re-intured in Mt. Olvivet and the Chinese were returned to China. This was around 1910. 

The Cemetery we went to was the Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery where I knew that Anthony was buried. We stopped in the office and were given a map and directions. A short time later we found the tombstone pictured above. Anthony Keogh, his Wife Margaret E. (Ryan) Keogh and 2 of their children Edward C. Keogh and Elizabeth A. Keogh. We also found Edward's wife Ellen Ida,( I do not have her surname) and a baby that died at birth.

Then onto Mt. Olivet cemetery. Here we were looking for my  Keogh and Callahan grandparents and two of my grandfather's brothers who had previously been buried in Mt. Calvary. There were no stones for the brothers who had been reintered but a only a general monument, but we found everyone else. The Callahan's were a real bonus as I have been unable to find much about them. So I got dates for the 2 daughters , Ida & Lena and Lena's husbnd and both of their parents.

Cemetery research is always good when you find everyone you are looking for. I have spent lots of time wandering around and not finding anyone. So we said hello to all. 

While doing the cemetery research I also looked into where everyone lived. What's really neat, is that Tim and Teah picked an area in Denver that actually is where the Keogh's lived, totally unaware at the time. Then we go one step further and find that on the first night in their new abode on Hooker st. Tim goes out for dinner in the Federal Blvd. Bar and Grill. This building turns out to have been the home of Anthony & Margaret Keogh. When they lived there it was a house and next door was their grocery store. The house, we found out was converted to a bar in 1933.

Kilfenora

 Tour Buses outside of Dublin, on the road thru the Burren and at the Cliffs of Moher were the first times that we really encountered tour buses in force. They just barrel along and they have right of way, so you really have to move over to avoid them. On the other hand they were great to follow on the narrow roads  because they moved everyone else off to the side of the road and we just rolled on behind them.

 After leaving the cliffs we headed to Kilfenora where the Burren Center was located. We had plans on doing a hike in the Burren the next day and wanted to see what the options were. Along the way we passed another of these block tower castles. Built in the 14th and 15th centuries to protect wealthy chieftains they are located thru out Ireland. Some have actually been restored and are used as guest houses. We learned that inside the stair case went up counterclockwise around the outside walls so that the defenders when coming down from the top floors would have the advantage with their swords free.
We got to Kilfenora late in the afternoon, and after visiting the Burren Visitor Center, decided that we would not do any of their hikes. Next door to the center is the Kilfenora Cathedral. Our guidebook said that the church next door to the Visitor Center had a couple of crosses but wasn't much to see,
 but looking over I saw the the church had what looked like a  plexiglass roof over one section, so we ambled over and had to walk over some gravestone to find the entrance.

We found that a lot of work had been done inside the cathedral and that a new exhibit had been just completed inside with lot's of graphics and descriptions. We found that originally their was a monastery built here around 540 AD and later around 1189 the Cathedral had been built. The glass roof has been added to help preserve the interior and to cover the crosses. Of the seven high crosses that were originally in the area 3 remain well intact. They were carved out of limestone about the same time that the Cathedral was built and are quite ornate. The crosses had been located outside on the intersections of the roads leading into Kilfenora.  The Doorty cross above has a bishop with a staff

The cross above is the North Cross with ornate carvings and below one of the windows with a Bishop's head. It was all quite impressive and we were glad we had discovered it.

the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher

We were in the area of the Burren for 2 days. The first passing through to the cliffs of Moher.  the Burren is an area of limestone hills. 6000 years ago there were trees and grass covering the underlying rock, but the first settlers cut down the trees and their cattle ate the fragile grass, so that now all the rock is exposed. Over the years a combination of water n the limestone has eroded the Burren so that there the rock is cracked and drilled. Holes an cracks everywhere. Gricks and Gracks they are called. Wildflowers abound in the holes that have accumulated a little dirt. 

This area is along the coast so the winds and salt spray from the Atlantic continue to effect the area. We headed inland a bit and found a castle set back from the road.

This one looked like it might have been in recent use as there was glass in the windows.  And in the distance we see the Cliffs of Moher

These cliffs are 800 feet high  and extend 8 km along the coast south of Doolin and are now home to countless birds including puffins, gannets, kitiwakes, gulls. We saw the cliffs from the ocean and then on top. We had a boat ride scheduled at noon and although it was a sunny day the winds were nice and strong and the seas running 4 to 5 feet. A rocky ride out and back to the cliffs.

I went to the top of O'Brien's castle but the ramparts blocked some of the view from the top. nice circular staircase going up. O'Brien's castle was built as a lookout tower in 1835.