The morning started with beautiful sunny weather. Our first outing was to the annual meeting of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, but on the way we stopped off at the Coffee House for a quick breakfast. It's the nearest place to get food, but we hadn’t gone in before saving it for when we might be rushed or too tired to go farther. As it turned out, the coffee and croissants were delicious. We should have tried it sooner. The conference took...

This morning Philip left early again for the conference. He had a lunch meeting scheduled with one of the professional genealogists for one-on-one discussion and help with his research so we didn't plan to meet up until late in the afternoon. I did laundry again then went exploring the old city some more. I bought some t-shirts—one at the English market and 2 at the UCC student bookshop. I was able to visit the Boole Library, too, although Lorna had said t...

Yesterday, Phil went to class in the morning then we both went on the group field trip in the afternoon. The trip was to Cobh (pronounced Cove) and Midleton. We started with a thirty-minute drive to the Cobh Heritage Centre, and there received a welcome from the centre's administrator who gave us a brief orientation to the centre and some historical background on the town. Cobh was the last port of the Titanic and the exhibition does a good job of describing what...

Phil went back to class early and I slept in. When I was up, I found two of the maids working downstairs and asked them about using the washing machine. The one I saw and talked to first didn't understand English, but the other one stepped in and explained how to use the machines. The dryer was pretty simple and like the ones at home, but the controls on the washer were very different. I was almost finished with the laundry by the time Phil got home for lunch. We...

Philip and I both went to the workshop today. Registration was the first item on the agenda and I wanted to be there for it. I sat through the morning lectures, too, although it was often hard to understand the speakers. I haven't acclimated to the Irish lilt yet. It looks like there are thirty to forty participants in the workshop, and Lorna who is the coordinator also introduced some of the speakers and a few volunteers who will help throughout the week. She ma...