McColgan Homestead - Part Two

This painting was begun back in early October.  It was the first Ireland painting since returning from our epic trip in September.  See my post entitled, Magical Ireland if you are interested in reading "Part One."   We travelled to the Isle of Doagh, the northernmost region of County Donegal, Ireland, and it made a deep impression on me.   I have worked on this painting from photos off and on for a few weeks now.  The dimensions are 24" by 36" and it depicts the ancestral home of my paternal great grandparents.  

McColgan Homestead - Stage Two

I mentioned in my first post of this painting that I would share the story of finding this farm.   Using a combination of Ireland's Griffiths Land Valuation from 1864, assorted family vital records, and the help of my cousin, we knew we were looking for "Cuill, Isle of Doagh, County Donegal, Ireland."   We used an overlay of the 1864 map with a modern map to locate the earliest plot of land, which according to historical records was farmed by my Great, Great Grandfather Denis McColgan and my GGGM Sarah Bradley.  They farmed the land, but didn't own the land, according to records. That's how things worked back then.  We thought that this was the same land that subsequent ancestors owned but we found out later that we were mistaken. This land had a modern looking yellow stucco house on it, not a farmhouse as we had expected.

McColgan Ancestral Land - Isle of Doagh

Overgrown Ruins of GGF Edward McColgan Farmhouse

We drove and hiked around the area, through green pastures of sheep corralled by stone walls with an occasional farmhouse.  It wasn't all that big an area that the Cuill farmhouse should have been so hard to find.    It wasn't until we finally stopped our vehicle to ask three farmers who were talking at the side of the road that we got the best guidance of all.

They couldn't have been more gracious and helpful when we told them who had last lived at the farmhouse.   Yes, they knew him and remembered him fondly - Second Cousin Margaret McColgan's husband Danny McGonigle who had passed away just this year.  Not only did they tell us, they in fact show us where it was. The "senior" farmer in the group directed his son-in-law (with kidding, as you can imagine, as to who was the boss) to take us to the farmhouse.  The son-in-law jumped in his car and we followed him in our car, and never would we have spotted the somewhat hidden entrance if it hadn't been for their kindness.   We asked him if he thought it was okay to look around.  "Of course," he said.   "...after all, you've come all this way, and no one is living here right now."   The farmhouse had a beautiful thatched roof and the exterior walls were painted white with bright red trim. He drove off and we lingered, not bothered in the least by the heavier rain.

It was easy to imagine that this scene looked just about the same as it did 150 years ago  It was surreal walking through the property and even more exciting to discover the ruins of the next farmhouse, which belonged to my GGF Edward McColgan.

McColgan Homestead - Final

So this painting is a personal favorite, and not one I'd ever part with.  The photograph that I'm working from, taken in the rain and the fog, was taken looking uphill from a road along the water below. The land that goes with the remaining farmhouse slopes down from the thick trees to the right.  It belonged to John McColgan, the brother of my GGF Edward McColgan.  The land of GGF Edward, is the next plot to the left, toward the middle of the painting, shown with sheep. The farmhouse that had stood on that land is now in ruins (see photo). (We later learned that GGGF Denis and Sarah Bradley moved onto this different 23 acre parcel on a west facing slope less than a mile away from our initial land discovery.   This was the 23 acre parcel where Denis and Sarah's sons, John and Edward farmed and the land was then split between the two brothers.

There is a part three to the story.   And that is the real tale of how the magic dust surrounded us and resulted in our coincidental meeting with my third cousin who owns the remaining farmhouse!

 Video bonus: Even if we had never found the actual land and farmhouse, it would have not been hugely disappointing.  We knew that this was the incredibly spectacular, but rugged area inhabited by my ancestors. I have included (yet another) video - arriving at the top of the crest above what turned out to be the land we were searching for.