My great-great grandmother, Hanora Josephine (McDermott) Colbert (c 1854 – 1892) was a native of County Clare, Ireland.  She was the daughter of Cornelius McDermott (c 1827 – 1894) and Catherine (Breen) McDermott (c 1828 – 1909), both natives of County Clare.

So, naturally, when my husband and I visited Ireland in May 2016, we stopped in County Clare.  Hanora, pictured below, was born in the town of Cooraclare, in her parents’ house, called Clonredden.  When Hubby and I reached the town of Cooraclare, I stopped in at the post office, and said I was the 3rd-great granddaughter of Con McDermott, principal of Cooraclare National School.  One of the women there took me around the town, as well as to the local cemetery and to the house (still standing, but in ruined condition) where Hanora was born.

Where is Cooraclare?

Hanora McDermott Colbert

Clonredden, May 2016

The back of the house is shown to the right.

The main street of Cooraclare, Co. Clare, Ireland

We also visited the cemetery where Hanora’s parents are buried.   Con’s tombstone is on the left; a general shot of the cemetery itself is on the right.

While in County Clare, we also visited the Burren.  Burren is the Anglicized version of the Irish word Boireann meaning “great rock” [1].   It’s a bleak and stony landscape, created from glacial karst [2] and was possibly the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. [3]

 
[1] Wikipedia contributors, “The Burren,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, rev. 23 Oct 2019; (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Burren&oldid=922588482 : accessed 17 Nov, 2019).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Tourism Ireland, “Attractions: Historic Ireland — The Burren and Tolkien,”(https://www.ireland.com/en-us/what-is-available/attractions-built-heritage/historic-ireland/articles/burren-and-tolkien/ : accessed 17 Nov, 2019).