the whole point of my trip to Belfast was to meet the good people of rootschat, i decided to make a weekend of it and arrived in Belfast on the Thursday. thanks to Christopher i had somewhere to live for the 5 days that i was there. Christopher took time out to take me around Belfast on Thursday, my first stop was proni, i did not like the idea of looking at microfiche for hours and hours, so as you can imagine i left disappointed. Christopher then took me to the central library which was wonderful and has great resources. my next stop was the ulster historical foundation on the Friday, can i just say that it was the best money i have ever spent. if i sit at home and type in the names of family members it will cost me £6 each time, i walked out of there with 15 different names after an hour and only paid £15, at home that would have cost £90!! i could then start to put my family together, i spent the rest of the day back in central library looking at the street directories. the central library have so many directories covering most years. then it was Saturday.
as you can see 2 days just flew past. Saturday was wonderful, as everyone is aware we all met had tea and went on walkabout round Belfast. it thought the day was well planned, thank you Christopher.
it was amazing to hear the sucess stories of others and also the pitfalls! and the tips and advice from the more experienced.
i have taken lots of photos as Christopher says, i will not post them on this thread as everyone is entitled to be anonymous in rootschat.
i felt that there was a bond between members of rootschat and the Belfast meet has helped to concrete that bond, it was unforgettable.
yes gill, Collette and everyone else it would be great to meet in Glasgow, wonder how many members in Glasgow there is? maybe someone will start a thread?
sunday was spent with a special friend of mine, i regarded him as a friend before the meet but after the meet he became a special friend, his name is Anthony.
Anthony kindly took time out to drive me around Belfast(i also got a guided tour too) i had to retrace my family's footsteps, as you have read on other posts the weather was not to good.
Monday was my last day!!! boo hoo, i went straight to Belfast and met with Anthony and he took me to where my family was married christened and buried from, the holy cross church, what a feeling meeting the famous father troy, what a privilege to be allowed to photograph inside the church, unforgettable experience.
i could rabbit on here but no doubt you are fed up reading this already, so i will finish by saying, i discovered my old family and met a new family, a new family of friends, you know who you are, thank you for your friendship as it means a lot to me.
