Finding William: An Irish family history story

How a 30 year search across the Irish Sea taught me about a man I could never hope to meet

I have my own way of finding him among the grey rows of Victorian paupers’ graves.

Passing in front of the Campo Santo, I line up the two statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and follow their gaze.

They look towards a gap in the trees where a grass track opens up beneath the high canopy of branches and leaves.

Down that path, a chalkware plaque of the Moth…