While Bob was impressed by the archaeological discoveries at the Loughcrew Megalithic Complex, his most memorable experience involved a local tradition—and a coincidence.
By Bob Brady, 19-time traveler from Braintree, MA
Occasionally on O.A.T. trips, I’ve experienced an unanticipated memorable interaction with a local individual. Another such fortuitous happening took place on the Dublin post-trip extension of my Irish Adventure.
On the third day of the post-trip extension, three of us elected to take the optional Loughcrew Megalithic Complex tour while our other comrades spent their day at leisure in Dublin. The primary attraction of this offering was the chance to visit the ancient burial grounds in County Meath, with its numerous cairns and remains of “passage tombs” that feature unusual rock carvings. A passage tomb is a structure originally covered in earth and stone with a narrow entry into burial chambers. The highlight of our visit would be entering the dark depths of an intact tomb.
Before tackling the hill walk to the top of the Mountain of the Witch, the highest point in the Boyne Valley, we stopped at the Megalithic Centre that was comprised of the restored white-washed thatched-roofed structures of Nelly Heaney that dated back to the 1700s. Seeking fortification for our long trek to the site, we visited Nelly’s Kitchen Cafe for a cup of strong Irish tea and homemade scones.
It was there that we met Malachy Hand, a farmer-turned-licensed local guide and author of historic publications. As we snacked, Malachy regaled us with tales of the legendary witch, whose stone throne would be an included stop on our trek.
Malachy informed us that on June 9, the Moylagh JFK 50 Mile Challenge would commence over a route that covered parts of Meath, Cavan, and Westmeath, including trails passing through the Loughcrew Cairns. The event was designed as a fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society. The “challenge” is to complete the course in under 20 hours, but all are encouraged to participate at whatever their personal distance goal may be, and to enlist donations from sponsors. The local event traces its origins back to the United States, and a call in 1963 by President John Fitzgerald Kennedy to his military officers to attain a standard of physical fitness that once had been set by a predecessor, Teddy Roosevelt, as a requirement to maintain a commission. Kennedy’s edict would spread beyond the military and be adopted by segments of the general population reflecting the chief executive’s encouragement of healthy lifestyle programs. Even JFK’s brother, Bobby, accepted the invitation and completed a 50-mile journey in 17 hours and 50 minutes, trekking the distance in a pair of dress shoes! Sadly, President Kennedy’s assassination ended the staging of many of these challenges or transformed the activity into a memorial event. In the U.S., the JFK 50 Mile continues to be held in Washington County, Maryland, and is deemed “America’s Oldest Ultramarathon.”
My first O.A.T. trip, taken some 20 years ago, was its Celtic Walkways adventure that focused on the west and southern portions of the Republic of Ireland. At that time, I observed the pride that the Irish people had in America’s first Irish-Catholic president and their preservation of his memory after his demise. He’d received a warm welcome in the Emerald Isle when he toured the country and visited his family’s ancestral home in Dungstown, County Wexford in 1963. A further reflection of this can be found during the current Irish Adventure at its stop in Eyre Square (also known as John F. Kennedy Memorial Park) in Galway where a portrait bust of the late president commemorates his visit and speech at the site. As soon as O.A.T. announced the dates for its new adventure travel program in Ireland that included the republic’s northwest counties and visits to Derry and Belfast in Northern Ireland (regions inhabited by my paternal ancestors), I quickly signed on. Reflecting upon my past experiences in Éire, I decided to bring along with me a few Kennedy 50-cent coins as potential conversation pieces during local encounters.
I asked Malachy if he was aware that the duration (50 miles) of the upcoming Moylah Challenge unintentionally coincided with the denomination (50 cents) of the U.S. half dollar honoring President Kennedy. He stared blankly at me at first but his expression changed to amazement when I produced a specimen from my pocket. Malachy inquired as to how it’s presently used and whether he might acquire one. I explained that while the coin remains in circulation in America, it’s rarely found in day-to-day transactions. Most coin-operated machines don’t accept the piece and our cash registers lack a storage compartment for its interchange. When they infrequently appear, the half dollars are either set aside and kept as mementos or quickly recirculated to a bank. Having lost family members to cancer, I gladly handed the JFK half dollar to him for whatever benefit might be made of it to aid the event. I expressed my regret of not knowing of the Challenge in advance since I could have obtained several rolls at my hometown bank before my departure for promotional use in their fundraising efforts.
Surprisingly, this was not the first experience on the tour that I’d had involving the coin. Day 4 of our main trip in Ennis featured a home-hosted dinner. Given the size of our entourage, we were randomly broken up into two groups and dispatched to different families. I was assigned to visit the Fitzgerald family. We were greeted by Mary, her mother, daughter Enya, and Jade, the sliotar-retrieving dog (the sliotar is a ball used in the Irish sport of hurling). The late president’s middle name reflected the host family’s surname, which also was JFK’s mother Rose’s maiden name. JFK’s maternal grandfather was the well-known Boston mayor, John Francis “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, the son of Irish immigrants. My initial opportunity to test the usefulness of the coin as a gift memento and conversation piece immediately arose there and was met with success at the dinner table. While it seemed to appear as a stroke of planning genius on my part to the family and to my O.A.T. companions, I had to confess that, given my ancestry, I must have been blessed with the “Luck of the Irish!”
Connect with the locals of the Emerald Isle during O.A.T.’s Irish Adventure: Belfast, Dublin & the Northwest Counties.
