Finding Big Jim Ryan

The Cliffs of Moher

I guess they would have called him "Big Jim".  From the pictures I've seen, he looks a lot like President William Howard Taft--you know, 'big-boned'.  

James Ryan was my great grandfather on my paternal grandmother's side.  I wish now that I had paid more attention when grandma Copper spoke of her father. I remember that he emigrated from the Killarney area of Ireland sometime in the mid eighteen-hundreds and became an entrepreneur in the small village of New Holland, Illinois.  He had a hardware store and also sold Banner Buggies in the days before Henry Ford's marvelous invention.  But, that's all I know.  When you're a kid it never occurs to you that your own family's history might be important and now I'm full of questions.

Ryan's Pub in Cobh (a relative? a discount?)

The "walls" are everywhere.  Here a workman toils in Cork.

We are wrapping up our first time visit  to the Emerald Isle and there is much that surprises me.  The beauty I expected; the diversity of the landscape and the people I did not.  It's amazing how critical the destiny and personality of a country are tied to both.   

The Irish people have overcome conquest, starvation, and a climate that gives new meaning to the adjective mercurial.  Some saw a better future in America.  My great grandfather was one of those hardy souls.  Now I want to know how he came to leave Killarney and why he chose central Illinois to start anew in the United States.  With the Internet at my disposal I aim to find out more as soon as I unpack.

"The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change and the realist adjusts his sails."  (unknown)

It seems that many Irish realists found a home in America.

Surfing cows?  Agriculture is Ireland's number one industry; tourism is second.