Ireland 2026, Day 3

On Day 3 we went to Navan, which was one of the highlights of the trip. It's a bus ride away from Dublin.

Here we are downtown, wondering what to do next. 

I had looked up a few books in their library catalog before we went. The librarians pointed us to the local history books. I took lots of photos of various articles in the local history publication. This one helped explain how land ownership changed in the town over time. Being able to have specific information is amazing!

I asked for a specific book, and the librarians let us know that it was in the local history room. OMG. I was so excited to hear that this existed, and that there was a local history librarian, as well. Fabulous man. Generous with his time. Asked me if I had thought of writing something up about my family that would add to what people know about Navan. I was thrilled by this suggestion. It's kinda what I want to do with some of my time coming up.

Here's the book / paper I requested. Pretty obscure.

I got to touch actual board of governor's minute books. I've only seen the microfilm copies. The pages are slightly blue. Due to annoying technical problems I was not able to access my digital files, otherwise I could have asked for one of the specific books in which my great great grandfather appeared as a provisioner of grain and barrels.

We had a bowl of chowder in downtown Navan. It was super cool to see that there was a fishmonger and a few other types of businesses that would have existed in the 1860s when my family lived there. The waitress was so nice, and was among the first truly Irish people we spoke with on our trip.

We took a Lyft to our next destination, a Kilcarne cemetery. I wrote about that adventure earlier, here.

We got back to Dublin before dark.

From our hotel room I spied Oscar Wilde who was still apparently obsessed with me. I see you, Oscar Wilde!

We had dinner at J.L. O'Neil's pub. Excellent choice, since it was my O'Neil family we had been looking into in Navan. The pub was super crowded and we landed at the bar, but later got a table. My mussels were so delicious, and they were served with a scattering of what my mom would have called "pickleweed". She used to be a marsh docent back in the day. "Sea beans" is what they seem to call them now. They're a salty succulent plant that grows in marshes. And they are delicious. Excellent callback to childhood.

 Gratuitous photo of a cool storefront. So ends Day 3.