Comment by Danny Alexander on March 6, 2014 at 4:52pm

One of my most magnificent or poignant 'Great Irish Spots would certainly have to be finding my 7 times Great-Grandfather's homestead where he settled in America after imigrating from Ireland.  In 1755, Robert Steen of The Vow, Ireland, arrived in America and shortly thereafter settled upon a 100 acre farm near Chestnut Level, PA, where he raised his family and lived until his death around 1806.  A member of the family had his Son fly him over Robert Steen's old homeplace.  He took these pictures of the original farm as it appears today. The farmhouse is located at the northern (top) edge of the field shown below.

The two story stone house is believed to be over 200 years old and was probably built by (or for) Robert and his family.

His two daughters, who never married, lived at this place until their death about 1839.  His two living sons, Samuel and Alexander, had moved west as young men and no descendants were able to return to settle the estate.

 

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Comment by Gerry Regan on March 7, 2014 at 5:21pm

Danny, and all our fellow members, please note the following instructions to quality for the $100 gift card:

If they evoke for you the artistry, emotional power and heritage of the Irish ‘wherever green is worn,’ we want you to tell us about them, posting in The Wild Geese Blog under your member’s personal profile. The article that draws the most ‘likes’ from fellow members will receive a $100 gift voucher from TheIrishStore.com.(We are making available five additional prizes for up to five runners-up, including albums and books to be identified.) 

Deadline for submission is March 31, 2014. For inclusion in the contest, entrants (and entries) must include the words ‘One Great Irish Spot’ in the blog post’s title line, along with your own title.

We welcome electioneering, along with recruiting new members, so help get out the votes (and the readership) for your favorite!

One entry per member!

Comment by Gerry Regan on March 7, 2014 at 5:22pm

Danny, I hope you this comment into your WG blog, as required, to enter the contest.

Comment by Bill Scott on March 12, 2014 at 2:31pm

One great Irish spot to me was in a small village in Donegal. The Village of Annagry near the Town of Dungloe . My late Mother was born and brought up in this small bit well formed Village. My wife and myself try to visit every year . We rent cottages as we like the freedom . Go where we want and when we want. But always on our trip a must visit is the wee local pub Sharkeys . Run by the same family for seems like 100s years . As when I was a child the pub was adjoined to the shop loved it . Loaf of bread and a wee beer in the same shop this was like Heaven. My grand parents with others lay in the Graveyard of the most beautiful Chapel you could imagine . The reason I nominate this place as my Great Irish spot is . When we were over on Holiday 2010 it was mentioned that there was what's called Grave yard Sunday . I made enquires on what happened was the clean up of the graves by family members . Well I went along on the Sunday I could not be leave my eyes there were thousands there and all very friendly . A couple next to us kept us right on the protocol thanks for that . I have never had a more memorable Sunday in my life . The Preist had an outdoor service with the sun shining you just had to be there. On the way out after the service I was introduced to a new family member wow how. Well these people seen us standing at my grandmothers grave . When they seen us moving away they introduced them selfs as my late grandfathers Brother that I knew nothing about . Only in Ireland . We now try to make sure we always visit the same time yearly . I know my story is short but as the man in the wee pub says . We are all only here for a short time .
And to finish with as we all know it's always good to get home from your holiday in Ireland . Because it gives you time to reflect and prepare for your next visit . God Bless my best Irish spot Annagry

Comment by Ryan O'Rourke on March 12, 2014 at 2:40pm

Great, stuff, Bill.  Would you be able to click on the following link and paste that into a blog post?

http://thenewwildgeese.com/profiles/blog/new

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