We left Tramore this morning and headed to Michelstown via the Dungarvan coast road. That road is still narrow and twisty! We stopped at the Clongibbon House Hotel in Michelstown as we heard that Alan’s cousin, Louise McCarthy, was working there. Unfortunately it was her day off! We enjoyed a cup of coffee in the hotel which looked like something out of the 1930s.

From Michelstown we headed for Ballylanders which is where Alan’s Mum was from. We got directions to “Anagura” , the family home, from the post mistress in Ballylanders. On the way to the house we stopped at the Griston Bog Nature Reserve. This was the peat bog used by Alan’s mother and her family to dig peat as their only source of fuel. The bog is not worked any more and is used by schools to teach children some Irish history.

The lane on which Anagura is located was too narrow for the motorhome so we had to resorts to bikes for the last 1.5 miles. Anagura now looks live a lived-in house and is well kept and tidy. Unfortunately, Alan’s cousin Louise was not at home.

We then headed for the Galty Mountains in search of Alan’s distant cousins, Dan and Davey Cooke. It was a bit of a challenge with lanes too narrow for the motorhome and steep 1 in 3 climbs. We again had to resort to bikes but eventually found farmhouse Carhur set on the side of the Galty Mountains. We were greeted by cattle dog Rocky and shortly afterwards by Davey Cooke. Unfortunately Dan Cooke was having to spend the night in Cork hospital for ongoing throat cancer treatment. Had a great chat with Davey who told us they still have 14 beef cattle but the rest of the land has been planted with pine trees. it was good to see the old barn in the farmyard which must have stood for hundreds of years. We said our goodbyes and cycled down the steep track back to the motorhome before setting off for our next campsite- Ballinacourty in the Glen of Aherlow.