I was wondering which part of Ireland you were from-which County? You mention an airport nearby-Shannon or Dublin? I myself have thought of going over there and looking up my ancestors-who were originally from County Monaghan-and people I know have even mentioned since I am single-"How about going to Ireland,settling down and finding yourself a wife?" Good thought-for this 5th generation descendant in the USA. Some info on cities like Dublin would always be welcome-and if Northern Ireland would be as good as the Republic.
Hi Mike.
I live in Limerick City. It's on the mid west coast of Ireland, right next to Shannon airport. You should definitely come over and research your relatives. I'm sure if you head to Monaghan and ask around about the surname you won't be long tracking down someone who knows someone.. who knows someone.. etc! I've never actually been to Monaghan myself.
With regard to coming to Ireland looking for a wife.. I would highly recommend it! I for one have loads of single friends who would be more than happy to play tour-guide to a rich good-lookin' yank! (For the purposes of getting tour guide volunteers we will be playing up the rich and good-looking part).
If you were thinking of coming over I would recommend just renting a car and driving around for a couple of weeks. Ireland is so small that you could actually drive around and see most of the country quite comfortably. Dublin is a cool city, but it is pretty much like any other big European city at this stage. We have had a lot of immigration in recent years and so now Dublin (like most of the other major cities) is a very multicultural place. This is a good thing, since the Irish have had to immigrate in the past for a better life, it's nice that we now have an attractive enough economy that people would actually want to come here! I suppose the point is if you want to see the 'real' Ireland, you would need to get out of the cities and out into the countryside.
I've never really spent much time in the North. I hear Belfast is a really cool city to go out in, and has a really vibrant night-life etc. It's now an incredibly safe city, the troubles in the North are in the main a thing of the past, so it means that you could very safely travel around the six counties!
If you ever decide to take a trip let me know, and I could give you some more detail on places etc!