Five Over Sixty-Five ...Five siblings visit Thessolonica

It has been almost one hundred years (97) since our Uncle Jack  was killed in action in a military engagement near the city of Thessolonica ( Salonica ) in Greece in October 1916 during the 1914/1918 War.
Although we referred to him as our uncle he had died many years before myself , my sister and brothers ,( the children of Jack's own  sister ) were born.
We had planned for years to visit his grave .
At last , thanks to the inititive of the youngest of our generation , the skill of the next generation and the internet....we were ready to go.....

Five of us left Dublin Airport and flew to Athens on the 23 rd May...arrived in Athens late in the evening and took  two taxis (maximum per cab 4...there were 5 of us ).
The whole trip had been planned in advance down to the last detail..
Hotel in Athens 2 nights....we had our meals in the rooftop cafe/bar of the Acropolis beautique(?) Hotel...which had , of course , perfect views of the aforesaid Acropolis and the Panthoen(word check..please ?)
Metro to mainline station
Train tickets booked to Thessolonica (6 hours approx 350 miles north of Athens )
Hotel Thess. 2 nights ,
Car hire for Sunday trip to grave site ,.All had been arranged in advance by my brother and his son.

Beautiful but rugged countryside between Athens and Thessolonica ....lots of road building and tunnelling ...work-in-progress could be seen from the train...steep mountain gradients ....even snow on distant slopes ...train bursting suddenly into dark tunnels and just as suddenly out again into blinding sunlight....down ear-popping decents....we could see the end of the long long train as it curled around the bends behind us....very little sign of human or animal life on the rocky slopes....
Our train eventually rolled into our destination ....Thessolonica about 5 pm.
Another perfect arrangement , we found our hotel (El Greco ) not too far from the station.
The hire-car was delivered about 11 am on Sunday...I had already chickened out of driving and my youngest brother , as had by now become the norm , volunteered to drive .
We were given 'local' directions to the gravesite by the Hotel receptionist and we already had directions from the internet.
So we set off ,one brother driving , another ,''.a renowned nautical navigator ''  navigating.
We had been informed by the hotel clerk that the gravesite we were looking for was probably over the border in BULGARIA....
Armed with this information and the site was about 65 (miles?/kilometers?) from Thessolonica itself after driving through more beautiful but rugged countryside ( and at this point may I genuinely congratulate our driver and navigator for coping on strange roads ,in the heat , in a strange car ( a medium size Kia ).
After negotiating bumpy roads , unfamiliar roundabouts, sign posts (mainly in Greek) about 80 (miles ?) out we came to the Bulgarian border post, presented our passports to not-too-suspicious border guards....only to discover when we crossed into Bulgaria that our destination was in Greece afterall.
We recrossed the border showed our passports again to the now- confused border guards (as we were the only people around ....we probably were the most exciting thing they had experienced that Sunday.

We eventually found grave site , having driven down the equivellent of an Irish boreen ,and disturbed a Greek wedding in a local church.,a small low-profile sign stating simply '' Military Graves'', pointing to an even smaller track...

But when we found the graveyard site we were amazed to see ,among non-descript rough countryside ,with some small farming holding...that the site ,about 1 to 2 acres(?)...perfectly kept , about 100 to 150 graves neatly laid out ,clearly marked , grass neatly and newly cut , colourful flowers and shrubs growing on each grave and overall the tall conifers , known as ''graveyard'trees.
Despite being in what was almost a wilderness the scene looked as if the caretaker had only left the site minutes before we arrived ....There was even a gentle friendly graveyard dog , with a bronze medal on his collar ...where he came from who knows..

So we ....all five of us over sixty five stood  at the graveside of :

Corporal John (Jack)Nolan ,

Killed in Action ,

3rd Oct 1916

In an engagement in a battle known as ''the capture of Yenikoi''

He was 18 years of age , the only son of Tom and Kate Nolan , the brother of Kathleen Curran (nee Nolan ) and Carmel Byrne (nee Nolan).

Of no.4 Tram Villas . Terenure .


When Jack died ,as he was the only son of Tom and Kate Nolan that branch of the Nolan name died with him....but as his two sisters between them had eight children (seven surviving ) these in turn have about thirty (30 ) children between them ( Jack's grandnieces and nephews )...if we start counting THEIR children we are into the realms of geometric progressions......
So Jack Nolan will never be '' a stranger without even a name , hidden forever behind some dark frame in an old photograph ......''

Having seen this graveyard and the pristine condition it is being kept in the line from the rememberance poem does have some truth:
'' From the going down of the sun ...and in the morning
we will remember them ''
at least they are being remembered  and not just by their families...

So...we found our way back to Thessalonica, a beautiful city by the way , happy young people dancing and singing in a city square that opened on to the seafront a wonderful (if quick) sunset,
back to Athens ...back to Dublin...back to reality...
I want to thank all my siblings ,particularly my brother and his son for an experience I will never forget....