Time to Get Your Passport Ready!

You could travel to Europe without new clothes, guidebooks, or even a toothbrush, but there is no way you can even get on the plane without a passport! It is THE one essential that everyone must have.

If you already have a passport, then check the expiration date. It must be good for at least 6 months after our return. Some countries will not allow you to enter if you do not have six months left on your passport.

In other words, your expiration date must be AFTER December 2015.  If not you will need to renew before departure. Adult passports are good for 10 years.

If you do not have a passport at all, then you need to start the process now to obtain one. Whether you are getting a new one or renewing an old one…do not procrastinate, start now. Currently it takes at least 6 weeks to process a passport application.

NEW PASSPORT
Passports are obtained from the U.S. Department of State, but must be applied for locally in person at the district clerk’s office or post office. You will need a certified (stamped with a seal) copy of your birth certificate from the county where you were born. This can be obtained from the county clerk's office where you were born or the Vital Statistics Office in the state where you were born.

As of 1 April 2011, the U.S. Department of State requires the full names of the applicant’s parent(s)to be listed on all certified birth certificates to be considered as primary evidence of U.S. citizenship for all passport applicants, regardless of age. Certified birth certificates missing this information will not be acceptable as evidence of citizenship.

In addition to this requirement, certified copies of birth certificates must also include the following information to be considered acceptable primary evidence of U.S. citizenship:

·         Full name of the applicant

·         Date of birth

·         Place of birth

·         Raised, embossed, impressed or multicolored seal of issuing authority

·         Registrar’s signature

·         The date the certificate was filed with the registrar’s office (must be within one year)

If you cannot obtain a birth certificate that meets these requirements, please see Secondary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship.

You will need to do the following:

1.  Fill Out Form DS-11: Application For a U.S. Passport
2.  Submit Completed Form DS-11 In Person
3.  Submit Evidence of U.S. Citizenship
4.  Present Identification
5.  Submit a Photocopy of the Identification Document(s) Presented
6.  Pay the Applicable Fee
7.  Provide One Passport Photo

If you are a first time applicant then you must apply for your passport in person at the district clerk's office or post office. Go here to find the closest office. Check with your local offices for complete instructions. Here is a link to the district clerk’s office here in Ellis County, Texas to give you an idea.

Here we must provide a completed passport application which is available online, 2 passport quality photos (from CVS, Walgreens, etc.), certified copy of your birth certificate, your social security card or number, your driver's license or another state issued photo ID, and the fees ($110 cash or money order for the application and $25 cash for local processing fees). You can pay an extra fee to expedite the process, but save the money by starting early.

RENEW PASSPORT
If your passport is already out of date or if it will not be valid through December 2015 then you must renew your passport.  Passports may be renewed by mail by sending your old passport, application, and fees following the directions provided by the State Dept. 

You must complete Form DS-82: Application for a U.S. Passport by Mail.  Send the completed and signed form, your most recent passport, one passport photo stapled in the space provided on the application, and current fees ($110 for adult passport book).  You will also need to send a marriage certificate or court order if your current name does not match your passport name.

Again, don’t procrastinate!  Make getting your passport in proper order your trip priority now.

The Exmouth Castle--The Wreck of an Irish Emigrant Ship

The Irish emigrant ship Exmouth Castle foundered off the Isle of Islay on the northwest coast of Scotland Wednesday 28 April 1847 enroute from Londonderry in Northern Ireland to Quebec killing 250 people on board, making it the worst peacetime tragedy of Islay area wrecks. 

She had sailed with a crew of 11, three middle class female cabin passengers, and 240 emigrant farmer and tradesmen families in steerage who were fleeing the Great Irish Potato Famine.  Many were women and children who were headed to Quebec to meet husbands who had already settled there.

The vessel was registered for 165 passengers, but as there were many under age, two children counted as one adult under regulations of the period, and there were only about 60 men aboard.

The ship set sail on Sunday 25 April when a terrible storm blew up on Monday afternoon after losing sight of land damaging the sails.  The damage became worse as the storm continued into Tuesday. 

In an effort to bring the ship into harbor for repairs, the captain mistook a flashing light for a stationary one late Tuesday night, and the ship was dashed upon the jagged rocks along the shores of Islay in the early hours of Wednesday morning, her passengers entombed below deck during the inclement weather.  It is little wonder these early emigrant ships were called “coffin ships.”

Only three members of the crew survived to tell the story.  One of them, William Roach, wrote a song about the tragedy called The Wreck of the Brig Exmouth.  Here also is a recording of Peggy Earl, whose great-grandmother saw some of the bodies washed ashore, including the children.  Only 108 bodies were recovered and buried on the island.

This first-hand account of the wreck, “Shipwreck on the Coast of Islay,” was printed in the Glasgow Herald on 5 May 1847.

A memorial at Sanaigmore Bay now stands on Islay as a remembrance of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.  On a clear day, one can look from the shores of Northern Ireland across the expanse of ocean toward the Isle of Islay where the terrible tragedy occurred.

Memorial on the Isle of Islay remembering those who died in the wreck of the Exmouth Castle

Ancient Church Ruins of St. Cuthbert, Northern Ireland

About a half mile from Dunluce Castle, on Ballytober Road, are the ancient church ruins of St. Cuthbert’s, named for the Northumbrian monk.  Built on the site of a much older medieval church, it was completed in the late 1630s. 

Lady Katherine Manners, wife of the first Earl of Antrim Randall McDonnell and widow of the late Marquess of Buckingham, is credited with building, or at least completely renovating, the church.  Although both the Earl and Countess were Catholic, they provided a place of worship for the Protestant settlers in the area—a rarity for church tolerance in the region.

The church was originally thatched and the white ceiling, according to memoirs of the time, was painted with signs of the zodiac.  It served the Parish of Dunluce from 1622-1821 when the new Church of St. John the Baptist was built in Bushmills.  St. Cuthbert’s was then unroofed, as was the custom, and the contents sold at auction. 

The first known vicar of St. Cuthbert’s was a William Wallace from 1622-35, who served Dunluce, Portcaman, Ardclinis, and Derrykeighan, where he resided.  In 1634, it was recorded that he was contemplating moving to New England.

Using the headstones in the graveyard at St. Cuthbert’s, historians have pieced together some of the backgrounds of the inhabitants of the merchant village of Dunluce located near the castle, as well as the surrounding parish. 

The oldest readable stone is from 1630 and marks the burial site of two of the children of Walter Kidd, a merchant of Dunluce and Burgess of Irvine.  To read inscriptions on all the headstones, go here. (Scroll down to ‘Kid’ and read the actual inscription.)

It seems the Kidd family has kept records of their Irish ancestor and for a fascinating read on Walter and his family and profession, go to this genealogical document and scroll down to page 17.

The Ireland Genealogy Project Archives also has photos and texts of many of the stones in the cemetery.

La Girona banknote

Local folklore tells of sailors and noblemen buried in the open part of this cemetery to the south of the church in 1588.  They died when their ill-fated Spanish Armada Girona floundered off the coast near Dunluce at Port na Spaniagh (or the Bay of the Spanish).  Indeed, Earl Randall McDonnell mounted cannons taken from the wreckage on the Dunluce Castle parapets as well as possessed other artifacts from the ship.

Interestingly, the wreck of the Girona was simply a local tale told for 400 years until 1967 when Belgian diver and treasure hunter Robert Stenuit discovered the sunken warship off Lacada Point.

Another artifact at St. Cuthbert’s said to have come from the shipwreck was a muniment chest used for manuscripts and religious purposes, although it is not extant.

Note: The relics of the Northumberland monk St. Cuthbert (635-687 AD) now lie in Durham Cathedral where they were brought after the Viking raid in 793 on the monastery on Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, off the northern coast of England.

St. Cuthbert's Church near Dunluce Castle

2015 -- 15 Tips for International Travelers

Travel Guru Rick Steves recently posted an article on his web site about 15 Travel Skills for 2015.  Those of you who have travelled with me before will recognize a few of them, but it is in everyone's best interest to have "the best perspective-broadening experiences and life-long memories," Steves says.  And to do that, he recommends strongly that we "travel smart."

Be sure to go to Rick Steves' link above and review his top 15 practical trips for travel.  Feel free to comment below if you want to add to any his tips.