During August, 2014 last, Mr Thomas O’Connor (Limerick) and Miss Deirdre Ryan (Thurles) made their dream trip and contracted a guided motorcycle tour of the historic Route-66 (Will Rogers Highway), from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Eaglerider.com rent touring motorcycles and offer guided tour programs in several regions of America. These guided tours provide an experienced leader as well as a support van for supplies, luggage, etc.
Top pictures: Show Thomas O’Connor, Deirdre Ryan, on Route-66 with support van driver Patrick Hayes. Bottom Pictures: Show Patrick and Regina Hayes with historian Monsignor, Dr. Maurice Dooley, during their stay in Hayes Hotel, Thurles, latter building the birth place of the Irish Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) .
What a surprise when Thomas and Deirdre arrived in Chicago to discover that their support van driver was none other than Mr Patrick Hayes, a daily reader and regular contributor here on Thurles.Info.
Mr Patrick Hayes is descended from ancestry in Loughmore (East), Thurles Co Tipperary, and has just recently been certified as a foreign born Irish Citizen. Patrick has Ryan ancestry and he and Deirdre, during their trip shared many stories and jokes about distant cousins meeting halfway around the world. Thomas was quite impressed by Patrick’s detailed knowledge of Thurles and its surroundings areas.
Patrick and his wife Regina, returned to Thurles for a brief visit just last April (2015), introducing his lady wife to many of the old haunts he had previously discovered while researching his families long history in the Loughmore area. During their April 2015 trip Regina and Patrick visited St Mary’s Famine Museum while staying at; yes ‘Hayes Hotel’ in Thurles. The couple met with friend, historian and roots researcher Monsignor Dr. Maurice Dooley, while also renewing their friendship over dinner, meeting with Thomas and Deirdre in Templemore.
Perhaps another motorcycle tour will be Thomas and Deirdre’s future together; touring the south-west National Parks perhaps or the Rocky Mountains, with Patrick no doubt acting once again as their support van driver?
My sincere thanks to Deirdre, Thomas and Patrick for sharing their remarkable story with us. All matters now considered, is not our world really just a small place?
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