For Ireland

When I was deciding on a block for my Irish roots naturally I thought "Irish Chain!" But the thing with Irish chain blocks is that they really need their neighbors to get the full feel of the pattern. I worried that nobody but me would know that it was an Irish chain block, since it would be standing alone. So what do you do when you want to make something look more Irish than it already does? You slap a shamrock on it of course! I had just learned how to paint on fabrics using oil pastels and I was eager to try it and this provided the perfect opportunity. Not bad for my first time.

Now on to our Irish roots. We have Irish blood in our veins to be sure. Granny said her grandfather was a "full blooded A'rshman" And on Papa's side of the family are the O'Neils, but the family I have been able to trace back the farthest are the Rileys. Grandma Gertrude was a Riley, and this particular branch traces all the way back to the very first Riley's who settled in Colonial America in the Chesapeake bay area. We all knew we had plenty of Irish blood, and we've got the freckles to prove it and I would not be surprised if there are some late comers; refugee's from the potato famine dotting our family tree, but most of our Irish heritage goes back much much further. The family lore that I heard from Uncle Bob, who heard it from his Grandpa Ez Riley was that the Riley's were miners in Ireland and they were recruited to come to America to take advantage of the huge coal deposits. Most of them settled in Kentucky, so perhaps there is a grain of truth to the story. Of course Ezra is also the man who says he was such a skilled Horse trader that he was asked to depart (read banned) from Kentucky. Thats what brought him to Missouri where he met and married Nell Banta. If Grandpa Ezra was such a smooth talker it actually lends more credence not less to the stories of his Irish ancestors. After all, isn't that what we are know for?