You Can Go Home Again
Robb Report Singapore|April 2023
In Ireland, Josh Condon and his father walk back through their family’s history. It takes them to the most unexpected places.
You Can Go Home Again

I’M HAVING THIS dream. I’m in a field, gazing up at the ruins of an old castle. My father is there. We head for the tower through the wind and tall grass, but all of a sudden we’re surrounded by the castle guards. They’re on all fours, staring at us, mute and beefily immovable—the guards are cows. I turn to my father, to ask what he makes of it all, but he just snaps a few pictures on his phone and says: “I thought it would be bigger.” A car honks on the road behind us and I realise I’m not asleep, I’m standing with Dad in a dairy pasture in County Cork, Ireland, in the shadow of Condon Castle, the ancestral home going back over 500 years—not that you’d want to spend the night. There’s no heat or roof, and the cold, stony toilet is nothing more than a gravity- fed chute.

Heritage tourism is the new old thing. Various DNA databases have been around since the mid-2000s and make it easy to learn precisely where in the world you’re from, while a proliferation of ancestry sites provide a crowdsourced way to climb, branch by branch, back up your family tree. But those are just chromosomes and coordinates. What every story really needs is a journey.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM ROBB REPORT SINGAPOREView all
BREAKING DOWN WALLS
Robb Report Singapore

BREAKING DOWN WALLS

Georgina Atkinson, managing partner of Origin Private Office, on the evolving landscape of high-end real estate.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
Aged Gracefully
Robb Report Singapore

Aged Gracefully

The Benromach 50 Years Old by Gordon & MacPhail is a delicious single malt, touched by love, passion and the human hand.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
This Month's Feed
Robb Report Singapore

This Month's Feed

Only the best dining and drinking spots in Singapore.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
Small-scale Thinking
Robb Report Singapore

Small-scale Thinking

Architect Todd Saunders wants to change the way we approach hospitality design from the ground up.

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2024
Todd Snyder Is Exactly Where He Wants To Be
Robb Report Singapore

Todd Snyder Is Exactly Where He Wants To Be

\"Our whole goal is to present product in a way that guys get it and understand it, versus 'Here's some crazy aspirational brand-you go figure it out on your own'.\"

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2024
Depp Dive Into Sauvage
Robb Report Singapore

Depp Dive Into Sauvage

Johnny Depp on music, scents and the mystique of creativity.

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2024
Time For Poetry
Robb Report Singapore

Time For Poetry

Pascal Raffy on his love affair with the 202-year-old house of Bovet.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
One of a Kind
Robb Report Singapore

One of a Kind

The incomparable Lange 1 turns 30 this year and A. Lange & Söhne marks the occasion with its trademark understatement.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
P For Personality
Robb Report Singapore

P For Personality

Enhance your swing, and inject your personal style while you're at it, with TaylorMade's new P-770 and P-7CB irons.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
The Short-hop-adventure-craft Category Takes Off
Robb Report Singapore

The Short-hop-adventure-craft Category Takes Off

Inside the flight deck of Pivotal's Blackfly eVTOL, an ultra-smart ultra-light with eight propellers, electric propulsion and no pilot's licence required.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2024