The Rigney and Malone Families of County Offaly

After heading south from Derry with stops at the Ulster Folk Museum in County Tyrone, a B&B stay in the lake country, a tour of Clonmacnoise (a religious site), and a peak at the Grand Canal that links Dublin with the Shannon River, we arrived at a destination we didn't want to miss . . . the home where Kieran Rigney grew up.

Kieran is the National Director of Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos in the Dominican Republic. When I worked for Friends of the Orphans, I had the pleasure of meeting this interesting and hard working young man. He helped to start the orphanage in Haiti and then moved on to set up a home for children in the DR. Following the recent earthquake in Haiti, he has been a constant support and source of supplies for Father Rick and his team in Haiti.

Kieran married a woman from Mexico, Suzanne, and their twin boys were born in Tucson, Arizona. Joan and Fritz, who also have twin boys, loved the babies when they visited Phoenix (ten years ago now), and Fritz raised funds to build a group home in the DR, which is named Casa Marie in honor of his mother.

Kieran's dad was granted the farm after Ireland gained its independence from Great Britain, and this is where Kieran was raised. The original house had two bedrooms and the kids (8 of them) slept four to a bed. There was no indoor plumbing for many years, and the children all learned their work ethic from their hard working parents. Today they raise beef cattle, Granddad has vegetable and flower gardens, an apple orchard, and is surrounded by his witty, smiling and fun loving family.

Kieran's family has been the best reminder of my own roots. . . and meeting his father and seeing the farm will be one of my fondest memories of my visit to ireland.




Kieran's dad in front of his wall of roses . . . they'll be in full bloom soon!


Grainne Malone stands by the family vegetable garden, complete with scarecrow to keep the birds away. I asked her brother if the fence was to keep the rabbits out. "No," he said. "It's to keep the puppy out!"


Kieran's sister-in-law Petria and Granddad with Grainne, Caoimhin, and two-year-old Ailiis. The baby is a bundle of energy and got under a gate at the farm before we knew it. Her mom quickly retrieved her.


The kids played with their dog in the yard and entertained me with "Sweet Molly Malone". Grainne is on a hurling team (a sport with a stick and ball) and is learning the piano. Her brother, Caoimhin, plays soccer and loves to gather eggs at granddad's house (but doesn't like to eat them.)


After a cup of tea and homemade cakes, we gathered for a group photo in front of the newly remodeled house which now has three bedrooms upstairs and one down, plus new wooden floors and cabinets and an enlarged sitting room.