From my god-daughter: Catherine Hannagan

Some people obviously have too much time on their hands, it would seem, and thank goodness you do – or something like this would never ever get done!!!

I couldn’t possibly give any excuses related to the office relocation I’m trying to manage my way around tomorrow as that might be used in evidence against me – and I couldn’t have that, could I?

The first Hannagan born in the 1960s is living in Maungaraki (overlooking Petone, Somes Island and the entire Wellington harbour) and working “under cover” for Victoria University, managing a group of people collectively known as ILANZ (International Languages Aotearoa NZ). It is under cover because we look like a separate entity, are not based on campus and most of the university doesn’t know we exist – which can be a real advantage at times! We are a team of 10 in total, five from overseas (China, Spain, Japan and Germany), who provide support for the teaching of international languages in NZ schools. It’s a logical continuation of my career in French, German (and occasionally Maths) teaching and my five years as National French Adviser to schools. While the job no longer involves enough travel – either within NZ or overseas - to soothe my itchy feet, it does keep me in regular contact with the world beyond these shores and provides me with an every day “Robbie Burns view” of kiwis as others see us.
Great fun!

I have been living in this, the first house I’ve ever owned, for just over two years and am loving being a house-owner. I’ve discovered the latent gardener in me and am learning lots of those little delights that others have been experiencing for years: how to replace the lining in a wood burner, crawling round in the ceiling trying to find where that leak is coming from, trying to locate a kitchen sink that fits exactly into the hole that the disgusting, old one came out of… You know the kind of thing. In my “spare” time, when not in the garden, I love to swim, kayak, walk and read, and my Nana(McCabe) would be delighted to know that I have also recently rediscovered the joy (and occasional frustration) of knitting. My plans always include travel. I love the Pacific Islands and have had the pleasure of working in several over recent years, as well as holidaying there. The next major project, however, involves a canal boat and a year or so on the waterways of Europe…in 2008, I hope.

An update from Margaret Irvine (Ryan that was)

A couple of weekends the Irvine clan, Margaret, Frank and the kids, gathered together. As this is a relatively rare occasion, let me tell you about it.

The event had been planned to be a barbecue but after two weeks of unrelenting rain we brought the sausages inside the house Frank and I have owned for over 30 years and where all the children grew up. [Never plan a barbecue: it will always rain! Mike]

The day was a farewell for our third child, second daughter, Marie and her husband Roy who are going to Northland where Roy will continue his work as a cheesemaker with Puhoi Cheeses. Marie will probably soak up the sun on beautiful Snell's Beach where they have rented a house for a while.

Also at the party was our eldest, Lauren, and her partner Dan. Lauren's hobbies have been travel, buying shoes and maxing out the credit card but of late she has been quite settled down. Dan trades in car parts with much the same degree of passion as Lauren has for heels and slingbacks.

Bachelor and bearded son Andrew, who works in a hardware store and looks like Al of Tool Time (sans plaid) was also there. He is a repertory fan and a committee member and backstage stalwart of the local Players Theatre.

Our youngest, Rhonda and her fella Josh were also present. Rhonda works in an inner city StarMart and keeps attempting to escape but they lure her back with the offer of more pay. Josh works with troubled teens in a psych unit and as he's a great out-going sort of guy, the work suits him.

We all get along pretty well and are going to miss Roy and Marie dreadfully - but they are still on the same island and the same side of the world. Roy is from Manchester and they had thought of going back to England to make cheese in traditional styles over there.

That's enough for now but there could be more instalments. Looking forward to seeing more Mainland stories.

Excuses

All these supremely busy people who haven't got time to write a little bit about themselves - supremely busy or supremely modest! So I've decided to collect the excuses....to see how they stack up.

Here's Daphne Hannagan: Haven't forgotten, just been a bit busy lately. Will do something soon.
And Jacinta Grey (Hannagan that was):
I will get onto very soon, promise. Just need five minutes to myself and at a time when my brain is still working!
And from Margaret Irvine:
It's coming OK! I just have to consider the spin, the angle, the opening 25 word para, the nut graf, the plot and susbsequent sub plots and a convincing ending.

Things are a bit slow on the news front, but you might like to check out some Crowl family photos at this address.

It would be good to have some photos from other members of the wider family....and some news!

Crowl Kids

Okay, only one of them actually has the surname Crowl, but they're all Crowl grandchildren...



In order: Luke, Tom, Jacob, Mykala, Jenna and Israel.

Newest Member of the Hannagan Clan

This is Ben and Louise's new baby....their first born: Jacob Campbell Crowl (and the first grandchild to have Crowl as a surname).

Family Tree now up and running

The family tree is now jam-packed with Hannagans of all denominations. And I still haven't got to the end of them. (RSI was setting in, I think.)

There are also quite a few relatives on my side of the family visible, and well as though on Celia's. You'll have to excuse them for barging into the Hannagan Clan's tree.

Click here to have a look at it.

At the bottom of the first screen there's a link to a nice little tool which tells you the exact relationship of all the people on the tree, including those who you wouldn't think would be related to you. Check it out.

From Anne Ryan - now Meekan

Another Ryan here - I'm Anne, the Ryans' youngest and one of the group of four girl cousins born in the six months July to January - some year in the sixties! It does seem a long time ago since I used to spend the school holidays in Dunedin with Barbara [Stokes], Jane [Hannagan] and Theresa [Hannagan].

Of the four cousins I was the slowest off the ranks and consequently still have school aged children, (rumour has it one of the others is a Grandmother!)

I moved to Auckland with work in 1989 and met Kevin [Meekan] here. We still live in Auckland with our three children Kieran (12) , Sophie (9) and Sean (7). Life is full, busy and heaps of fun. I have just started working again after a social decade looking after the kids and running them here there and everywhere, and am contracting as a Technical Writer, which is better than it sounds.

from Dom Crowl

Thought I might get the ball rolling on the Crowl side and send in something about myself to the rest of the Hannagans so here it is:

I'm Mike's youngest and most loved son Dom. I'm currently "studying" history at Otago uni which pretty much consists of finding anything else to do but study. I enjoy writing cartoons, watching movies, jogging, playing strategy boardgames and generally playing the fool. I'm 23 and took a few years off after school to work and get some money saved up which enabled me to get through the first year and a half of uni fairly unscathed financially. I flat in Dunedin with some mates from church and go to Dunedin City Baptist Church religiously! My current plan for life is to finish my degree, become some sort of teacher and become a millionaire. My plan still has a few hitches but it's a work in progress. I'd love to hear more about my far flung relatives and hear about their life stories.... in condensed versions.

The photo is of Dom (on the right) with his great mate, Jon Beck, who, as you can see, has just been admitted to the bar after making what the judge said was the longest introductory speech he'd ever heard.