Greeting and Prodding!

Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter Bunny paid a visit to granny Kay's house and there was a mad scramble for the treats he left behind. Hannah and Orla got off to a quick start and were leaving Brendan behind. However in their haste they missed a few and Brendan was their to collect the spoils left behind!

O'Carroll Clan Celebration

Last year Sean and I (Kay) went home to Ireland for the celebration of Sean's brother Noel and his wife Peg's 50th wedding anniversary. In this day and age when marriage seems to be for the short haul this is a wonderful milestone and testament for the institution of marriage. Family came from all over Ireland, Canada and Australia. The celebration started with mass at the local church in Duncairn. It was made more meaningful by the family members which included sisters, brothers, children and grandchildren who did the readings. Not a dry eye could be found in the church when Noel and Peg's daughters stood up to tell everyone about the wonderful parents they have. On a lighter note when Sean got up to do his reading the priest realized that he had met him 40 years ago in New York and they had a little get together right on the altar. Like all good Irish celebrations a party was held after the mass in the local hotel where everyone enjoyed the Guinness and the Craic! Of course no Irish party can be a success without toe taping music. Everyone knows that the Irish are the best dancers in the world i.e. Riverdance and the O'Carroll clan are no different! Well some of us are!! A picture of the original wedding party of Noel, Peg, Marie and Francis was taken and everyone looks just as good 50 years later.
Everyone had a wonderful time and the Canadian and Australian contingent stayed on and enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of John and Sadie at Snugborough Heights for the remainder of their holiday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (Belatedly)

Well we have just past the annual celebration of the Irish with St. Patrick's Day last week. It seems the world has adopted this holiday as celebrations are held around the world. From Chicago where they dye the river green, to Milton where my neighbour across the road who flies his tricolour, and all the way to Moscow and beyond. We enjoyed some of the festivities over here in Toronto. Dad went to the parade, it was a bit cold for the rest of us. The Parade had to be re-routed due to a bomb scare. Imagine that, a bomb scare in connection with the Irish. Did you ever hear of such a thing?!?! ;) But we did enjoy some craic and the music of Madd Paddy at the Ireland Supporter's Club. Having a great time on the dance floor were Hannah, Brendan, and Orla.

Heel and Toe and Kick!

Last summer Hannah started Irish dancing classes and she is really enjoying them. She had seen the Irish dancing on our wedding video and had watched the Riverdance video my mom and dad have and she decided that's what she wanted to do. So every Tuesday evening I bundle her up, dancing shoes and all and head off to the beginners class at the Finnegan School of Irish Dance. Patricia Finnegan is one of my dad's former geography students who was a competitive Irish dancer around the same time Shauna was. I was on the school's website to see if their is class tonight (the kids are on a school holiday this week, so I wasn't sure if it was a holiday from dance class as well-it isn't) and found this picture of the beginner class. Have a look who is front and centre!

Here Comes The Bride

Asking Hannah what she was doing. She told me that she was practicing at being a bride. I asked her if she had someone in mind? She said yes the boy next door. I asked her what he thought about getting married. She said "granny "he said no". "I really don't know what I am going to do with him." Forgetting momentarily I was speaking to a 3 year old. I replied equally as seriously, "Hannah women have had that problem since time began"!

Dora Reigns Supreme

While it would seem like that some days luckily for us we have are own resident teacher. The O'Carroll junior clan are really quite cultured as they like nothing better than listening and watching Baby Einstein movies. These movies are accompanied by music from Beethoven, Bach, Schubert with quotes from Galileo and poetry from Shakespeare. On the other hand some days it is hard to compete with Cinderella and Barbie.

Little School on the Prairie!!

Poor Brendan doesn't look too happy! Orla obviously giving him a hard time. Following in her mother's footsteps? Laying down the law early? Way to go girl.

Brendan O'Carroll checking out the Blog

Mom's Eyeball

Thanks to modern technology doctors can now examine any part of our body with machines that would make medicine of the last century look like witch-doctory! Here's an example, mom went in to the eye doctor about her glasses and she took a scan of her eyeball. A further thanks to modern technology allowed her to email the picture of it back to mom. And thanks to the blog I can share it with all of you! So here it is in all its glory: Kay's eyeball!

Old Man Winter Comes to Town

After a relatively mild winter with little snow, Old Man Winter has once again reared his ugly head. We were hit with a blast of winter Canadian style that saw in places 30-50 cm (12-20 inches) of the white stuff. On the plus side the school's were closed so Shauna and I (Simon) got the day off work. Here's a few photos of winter in the "Great White North."

Like all children, Hannah doesn't feel the cold.





Many cars were stuck in the snow!
I guess we won't be having dinner on the picnic table today!



This is Ciaran with his electric shovel. He lives across the road from us and he's an ex-pat Dub! Go on ye boy ye!



Till next time, keep warm all and Happy Valentine's Day!

Video Greeting

Well I did some playing around with my webcam and YouTube and I have put this video greeting on the blog. No need to write/read anything else for this post, just click play!

Down on the Farm?

A great place to visit is the Snugborough Heights Avoca Bed & Breakfast. Not only does Sadie offer gourmet food and wonderful accomodation but the wee Northerner she is married to has a special place for young and old alike outside. Hidden amongst the wonderful scenery is a home for goats. There have been many in the past few years including a special one called Kay. Yes, you might wonder if that has anything to do with me? Not only was I there at her conception but I arrived for a holiday the day she was born. So in a manner of speaking she brought her name with her. Sadly to say I was also there when she left for good a year later. John does wonderful work raising the goats and then they are sent to Bora to help a poor family become self sufficient. So Kay is now basking in 30dg heat while I am freezing in 25dg below in Canada. Another great benefit from goat rearing is the milk they produce. Take note of how trim and young John looks and that radiant skin he has, but I still have to find out if it makes him as frisky as the goats!! In this picture is John, Kay (baby goat) and Kay (human)!

A Hurricane has arrived in Burlington

One week after the Webers' moved in to the old homestead we (Kay & Sean) are still trying to recover from the shock. Orla at 18 months is a charming lovable tornado! Our home is now a shrine to "Dora", our spare bedroom a nursery complete with crib, diapers, & stuffed animals. A lie in you say? A dream from the distant past! However, when she gives you that 1,000 watt smile what is a few broken heirlooms and priceless oil paintings hanging askew on the walls. Life is an adventure with her every day.

As for the parents that's a story for another day!!!

Sean's Birthday

January 11th was dad's birthday and the 16th was my cousin Paul's birthday (not an O'Carroll, but we won't hold it against him). Paul was over visiting Toronto from London and he wanted to go to see a hockey match. (We don't call it "ice" hockey in Canada, there is no other kind as far as we're concerned, it would be like saying grass football!). So I arranged to take the two of them and Shauna's husband Kevin to a hockey match for their birthdays in Buffalo, New York to see the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Buffalo Sabres. Although I grew up in Toronto I am a Buffalo supporter and I was in a minority with the other three cheering on the Leafs that night. And although the Sabres are the top team in the league and the Leafs are hovering around 7th-9th place, the underdogs were victorious that night. But it was good craic nonetheless. Here are some photos from inside the HSBC Center.


After the match and still able to smile.


Paul and Simon.


Action on the ice.

A Famous Relative???

I came across a list of the fifty greatest Canadian inventions of all time and right between the snowblower and instant mashed potatoes at number 38 is the self-propelled combine harvester. The inventor-Thomas Carroll! Now I did some further research into this Thomas Carroll and discovered that this inventor of number 38 on the top 50 list of Canadian inventions was born in Bullengarook, near Gisborne, Victoria. That's Australia! Well it turns out that his business interests took him to Toronto where he met his future wife and he then became a Canadian citizen. The two spent their time between Canada, Argentina, and Australia. I thought the connections were too good to leave out of this O'Carroll Clan Blog. The name, Australia, Toronto, and our family's roots in agriculture. I hope this blog will make some more connections for the O'Carroll's. Look forward to your posts to the blog!

How Time Flies

It truly is amazing how time flies. Melanie took Hannah today to register her for Junior-Kindergarten. It just seems like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital and in eight months from now she'll be starting school! Our little girl is growing up so fast!

The Weber's Big Move

The Weber's(Shauna, Kevin and Orla) are currently residing in Burlington, Ontario for four months with Sean and Kay as they wait for their new home to be built in Guelph, Ontario.

The O'Carroll Clan Blog

Welcome to the O'Carroll Clan Blog. I (Simon O'Carroll in Milton, Ontario, Canada) have started this blog for the O'Carroll family members from far and wide to keep in contact with one another and to let us all know about what is going on in our family whether you are in Dublin, Avoca, Australia, Tipperary, Clare, Japan or elsewhere. It is my hope that we will all post to this blog so that we will all keep up to date with what is going on in our families lives. Here is a picture of the O'Carroll Clan of Canada (via Belfast, Toronto, Tipperary, and Down) this past Christmas Day.


From left to right: Simon O'Carroll, Melanie O'Carroll, Kay O'Carroll, Orla Weber, Hannah O'Carroll, Sean O'Carroll, Brendan O'Carroll, Shauna Weber (nee O'Carroll), and Kevin Weber.