Earlier Times

All seven members of our Happy Times family came to America from Northern Ireland in March 1950 aboard the Cunard liner Franconia.
It took seven days and was said to be the worst March crossing of the north Atlantic in many years. I was four.

When I was twelve, Mom and Dad took me back to "the old country" in July 1958. We flew (for the very first time) for twelve hours on a Pan Am DC-7C from New York City to Shannon, Ireland with a re-fueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada.
Mom hated the airplane flight so much, she made Dad change our return trip to the Cunard liner Mauretania.
It was said to be the worst July crossing of the north Atlantic in many years.