Home on the Fourth of July

George M. Cohan (Keohane) was the famous Irish American singer, songwriter and performer who gave us Yankee Doodle Dandy and Grand Old Flag.

Sitting in the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis, Ireland as I write this, I feel a bit of the emigrant, returning home on the fourth of July.

This trip provided a sense of home, in that I discovered ancestry (Fitsimons) that had eluded discovery by my American cousins for decades.  And not a single person pronounced my last name incorrectly, while in the US nearly everyone gets it wrong (for the record, it's mick-yone).

I discovered that although Ireland is considered the "Emerald Isle," and indeed, the green fields run from the main roads to each horizon, it is more an isle of stone.  From the ancient mounds, tombs and dolmens, to the miles of stone walls and towering churches, and ruins of churches, this is a people who have moved stone from place to place for centuries.  It's as forbidding an island, as it is beautiful.

I had pub discussions about Ireland's fiery political past, and met Council members from the Galway City Council, and learned that civil war, and local disputes are not something any one country has a corner on.

Ireland is now suffering from a horrible recession, coupled with an underdog's relationship with the European Union.  And surfing is the hot sport, though hurling and Gaelic football still incite huge county-based passions.

It'll be great to get back to hot dogs and fireworks, but a part of me will forever long for a pudding for breakfast, a pint of the black after dinner, and the sound of Uillean pipes.  It's been a great trip, and it will be good to be home.