Meet the Ancestors

The 1911 census returns for Ireland have just been released online. I've been looking up my ancestors, all from West Cork, & was pleased to find a great, great Grandfather alive in his late eighties way back then. All were Farmers, Catholic, & mostly Irish speaking.

So many of their children died though, according to the census. Infant mortality was horrific, nearly 50% from what I could make out. I wonder how they coped with these deaths? Did religion give them any comfort? I suppose it did to some degree.... But what a tragedy that there were no Spirit filled churches around in Ireland back then, certainly not in Cork. Not just to offer the possibility of healing of the body, but also healing of the soul, and healing the broken heart.

Thank God for the liberating Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Death is always a terrible reality for anyone, anytime to deal with. But, with the power, & the comfort, of the Holy Spirit available freely in Ireland today, I'm glad 1911 was not my time era.