They were out to lunch (1to2p.m.), so we walked to a small restaurant and had delicious leek soup with wheat bread.
Returned to the Historical Society and 3 young people helped to find the research that was going on with the Parsons' descendents. They xeroxed several papers of what was done, but said the report was not finished - the lady who was working on it was not in - come back Tuesday.
Walked to the town library where Ray had a small list of books to get. Had to make an appointment to get them from the Archaeological Library. Both contacts disappointing.
Drove to our Bed and Breakfast "Canal View House" which turned out to be closer to Birr than Tullamore. We had a beautiful room with bath in a separate building from the house. By the way, they had flags from 5 different countries - the American flag is in tatters. Perhaps we can send them one?
The hostess had 3 children -1 teenage girl who helped in the kitchen, and 2 smaller ones, a boy and girl, and a black lab puppy named Ben. We had supper of salmon steak and salad. Then we drove to Tullamore, just to get more familiar with the place, and driving. We retired about 9:30p.m.
Showed our "Friends" pass at the gate. 
The All-Irish Driving Competition was in full swing. These were horse-drawn carriages performing in different obstacles. We watched for awhile, then walked the path to picnic and playground and flower gardens. The garden had the tallest boxwood hedges in the world, listed in Guinness Book of Records. Lovely, tall dahlias were very colorful. A greenhouse full of tomatoes and an apple orchard, the fruit of which sold in bags at the gate.
We ran out of film, so went to the car. It was about 1:30 so decided to eat at the Castle Restaurant across the street. Ray had lasagna and I had quiche with salads. We sat at a table with a young woman and man who said they were in the area working with disadvantaged children. They take the children on hikes to the nearby Slieve Bloom Mountains, etc. The young woman showed us that day's Dublin paper, with a picture on the front page of Lord Rosse (Parsons) looking over the large telescope that is being delivered to Birr Castle through the town of Riverstown. The castle literature reads, "William Parsons (3rd Earl) is best remembered for the construction of telescopes on his front lawn at Birr including the Leviathan, for 75 years the largest reflector in the world, which enabled him to discover amongst other things the spiral nature of galaxies. His eldest son, Laurence (4th Earl), also an astronomer, developed apparatus to calculate lunar heat." Anyway, the "Leviathan telescope" is being restored now and we have a picture of it.
Went back to the castle grounds and walked in the woods - a lovely walk. 
The carriage obstacles were interesting to watch.
Decided about 4:00 to search out our B&B in Riverstown. Mr. Kerrigan greeted us and showed us our en suite room (meaning "with bath").
Returned to the castle, and to the Expo '96 at Exhibition Hall. We had just started to look at a display of a family tree, when Lord Rosse walked in. 
He was moving among the displays with a couple. We hung around until he noticed us (it was closing time and everyone else had gone), then we introduced ourselves. I said, "We are the Parsons from the United States." He said, "Oh yes - you have corresponded - Raymond?" So he remembered us! He made a date for Ray to meet him at 9a.m. at the castle, Monday, for the Archives.
Send mail to Ray Parsons by clicking here.