Please use this thread to introduce yourself to your fellow Wild Geese. In particular, we would love to hear your Irish story. What are your ties to Ireland? Have you or are you in the midst of uncovering your genealogy? What are your particular Irish interests? The arts? Cooking? Literature? Travel?

Please tell us also about yourself. What are your occupations and hobbies? What are your goals and ambitions? Where are you from?

And finally we would love to hear what brought you to The Wild Geese and how can we help you uncover, share, and preserve your Irish Story!

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Hi Niall ... long shot .. looking to see if our family is related to to Thomas Mcdonagh ...

My Grand mothers name was Maureen MacDonagh  who married a Laurence Darcy , they lived in Ballyfermot Dublin but i believe Maureen had relations in Cloghjordan ...

you didn't happen to have my granny as a cousin etc ?..

long shot i know ..

regards

Robert Darcy , Dublin

Hi, Robert, and welcome to The Wild Geese Irish Social Network!

Hopefully Niall will see this reply, but you might want to send him a private message just to be sure.

~ Ryan

My name is Sarah Nagle. I have a typically Irish name (thanks to a paternal great-grandfather who was the youngest of 8 --or maybe 9-- siblings who all emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland at the end of the 19th century) and a mixed-up American sort of face and a mixed-up American sort of story thanks to the rest of my great-grandparents (and great-great-grandparents) who ended up in New York after leaving Europe and passing through Castle Gardens and Ellis Island between the Franco-Prussian War and the start of World War I. They were the tired, the poor, the hungry and the oppressed who came to America looking for a better life, or just a chance at a life.

Belinda Evangelista introduced me to this website a couple of weeks ago because of my family's involvement in the arts. We run a small metal casting firm in California and have made an effort over the past twenty years to maintain/revive some of the pre-Christian Celtic art styles in our designs.

Welcome from Canada, Sarah : )

Sounds interesting, do you have a web sight?

My name is Lisa Fortin Jackson, and I am a paralegal, and part-time photographer from Dallas, Texas.  Originally from Boston, I ended up in Dallas through multiple work-related relocations.  My ties to Ireland run deep.  All four of my maternal great-grandparents were born in Ireland, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1903.  My grandfather's side is from Kilshanane in Co. Kerry.  My grandmother's side is from Cos. Sligo and Roscommon.

I grew up in a very culturally Irish environment.  Massachusetts has a population of approximately six million people, two million of whom claim Irish heritage.  Boston is one of the most Irish cities in America.  As I child I was enthralled by the stories I would hear of Ireland, her traditions, and music.  I made my first trip there in 2003 with a group of American friends.  We toured the entire country in eight days.  Although it was a wonderful time, I left with the feeling that I hadn't been in any one place long enough to really absorb it.

After taking up photography several years ago, I began to think about going back on my own for the sole purpose of capturing the essence of Ireland through photographic imagery.  I had a few projects in mind that I wanted to work on.  Through websites such as Flickr and Facebook, I made the acquaintance of a few wonderful Irish photographers, and so when I returned this past August, on my own, I had a lovely group of friends waiting for me there.  I spent the first few days on my own exploring Dublin with my camera, and spent my nights in pubs, feeding my passion for Irish music. I spent the rest of the trip based in Kilkenny, but touring throughout the country with a photographer friend.  Tipperary, Waterford, Cobh, and on up to Mayo--Westport and Castlebar.

This past trip has done nothing but strengthen my ties to and love for Ireland and all things Irish.  I'm currently collaborating with another photographer from Ireland on a project, and several of my Irish friends are planning to visit me here in Texas in March.  In addition to photography, and Irish music (primarily contemporary singer-songwriters such as Glen Hansard, Damien Dempsey, Damien Rice, and Lisa Hannigan) my interests include Irish revolutionary history, as I have strong family ties to the War for Independence and the Irish Civil War as well.  In the spring, I'll be enrolling in a diploma program in Irish studies given online through NUI Galway.  And I'll be back again next summer.

In the long term, my husband and I plan to purchase property and relocate there within the next few years, where he will continue to work as a software developer, and I will attempt to pursue photography full-time.

To be honest, I'm not sure how I stumbled upon this site.  I'm just really thrilled that I did.  Thanks a million, Gerry, for the wonderful content and interface.  I love the blogging feature, as well as the social networking.  And I love the idea that it feels like I'm getting in on the beginning of something that has the potential to be a massive success.  I absolutely love this site.

Hi Lisa, I am a fairly new member to Wild Geese, I find it really interesting.  I have been researching my Irish roots for about 9 months now, all of my mothers family was from Ireland and my goal is to find out why my dear Mother may she rest in peace, called me Burke.  I am the sixth daughter out of seven. We were raised in RC home and Mom was very Irish.

I know what you mean about Ireland, the more I learn about the country and the people, the more I want to know. My Mother's maiden name was Powell and I have traced them back to birth certificates from 1821 from Kerry, Parish Glenflesk with the name of Pole, Thomas Pole and Mary Flynn with their 7 children set sail for Canada in 1840, one child Mary died and was buried on Grosse Isle in Quebec. Thomas died as well somewhere along the way.  They settled in Norfolk County in Ont and became farmers.

It is wonderful that you can make the Emerald Isle your home.

Hello, my name is Ryan Elliott. I joined a few months back, but haven't done much other than lurk and look around a bit. My paternal grandparents were from Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, and my mother's mother was from County Mayo. I'm not sure about the town, as I didn't know that side of my family very well. My father's parents actually met in Northern Ireland before making the trek over to the United States around 1919-1920 or so. They were fairly young, and my father is actually the youngest of seven, and I'm the middle of four. I researched a bit of the family lineage (at least on my dad's side), and we're descended from a group of cattle rustlers and highwaymen from lowland Scotland, on the Scottish/English border, that were exiled to Ireland in the early 17th century.

The first member of my family that came to the United States (so far as I and my sister have been able to find)  was a James Elliott, who was my great-great-great uncle, and served and died in the American Civil War on the side of the Union. I don't know if he had children; however, I'm quite certain he did. The last name is common enough, even with the weird spelling, and there isn't a lot of information about the original clan heritage or what went on when they were exiled to Ulster. I hope, one day, to move to Ireland. I'm a writer, and should very much like to live in Ireland, maybe in Galway or Limerick, and write for a living. It's always been a particularly strong dream of mine. In any case, hello!

Welcome to the flock, Ryan!  Thanks for introducing yourself and your own Irish background.  Really interesting to read everyone's backstory.  Great to have another writer in our midst ... hope to see some writing on Irish-related subjects which interest you here in the pages of the Wild Geese community.  Glad to have you aboard!

Hello and welcome from Canada Ryan. Not unlike your ancestors, our Reddy side of the family was apparently kicked out of Scotland for fighting (probably resistance fighting!) ; )

Dia daoibh, a chairde.

We at Mercier Press are delighted to be involved with this wonderful site. As Ireland's oldest independent publishing house, we are always looking for opportunities to spark a discussion about Irish heritage and culture. Please drop by our page and have a look at our blog posts whenever you have the time.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh,

all at Mercier Press.

Will do MP! Welcome!

Fran

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