The History of The Irish...Worldwide
Welcome to the Flock!
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!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ron Redmond on
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My Godmother, Aunt Betty (Elizabeth Piercy) never laid claim that her father was from England either :) always maintaining she was Irish through and through. I've got his military papers though showing him as being in the British Navy as well as the United States Navy. Pretty cool, and fragile, papers!
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Permalink Reply by Toni Maguire on
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My full name is Mary Theresa Antonia Maguire, but Toni has always been my preferred form of address ever since at the age of seven I overheard my Granny tell someone that, 'Mary's are always destined for tears in life.' I decided there and then that was not for me, so I started to use my father's pet name for me and here I am, Toni Maguire, archaeologist, anthropologist and paleoenvironmentologist.
I was born in Belfast, but I am currently living in Crumlin; a small provincial town in County Antrim. I live with my husband Leo who is the Northern Ireland National and International Coach for Taekwon-Do and our two children, James aged 20 (Going on 10) and Maryann 17 who thinks she is about 40! My family ties across the generations in Ireland cover Belfast, Carrick-ma-Cross in County Monaghan and Cork.
Those of you who have watched my podcast for the Wild Geese on the baby graves at Milltown Cemetery will be familiar with my passion for marginalised infant and adult burial across Ireland in institutional and private cemeteries along with archaeological sites known as Cilliní (pl).
My current work is focused on lobbying members of Local Assembly (MLA's) here in Northern Ireland to bring about changes in the current legislation to provide protection for all such graves which are at present not marked in the landscape and for which there is no legal precedent for how these important and emotive sites are managed. Many have been destroyed and lost to us through the anonymous nature of their existence, which are rooted mainly in folklore and surrounded in superstition.
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Permalink Reply by Gerry Regan on
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Toni, it is our undoubted pleasure to embrace you as one of The Wild Geese family! Go raibh maith agat for your work, which exalts Irish heritage at a crossroads in the Irish nation's history!
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Thank you Gerry, happy to be part of it.
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Permalink Reply by Owen Ward on
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My name is Owen Ward and I am a final year undergraduate student at the National University of Ireland, Galway. For the past two years I have been researching my family tree. While doing so, I have been very lucky to have met many interesting people along the way. One such person, who was raised in an Industrial school in Salthill, Galway will be the main focus of my dissertation. My other areas of interest are Traveller history in Ireland.
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AdminPermalink Reply by Fran Reddy on -
Hi there Owen, and welcome : )
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Permalink Reply by Niall MacDonagh on
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I am Niall MacDonagh from Dublin and emigrated in 1969. My objective was to get some job experience and return but that was not how it worked. It turned out that, for me, it was necessary to leave. I have a pretty eminent lineage (Thomas MacDonagh grandfather, Donagh MacDonagh father, Grace Gifford grandaunt) and had not realized that it was a burden. In America I could just be me and in time I could accept my heritage without being burdened by it. The biggest loss for me has been the loss of my Irish. At one time my spoken Irish was almost as good as my English, now I could not carry on a conversation. When I left, more than anything else I hated leaving O'Donoghues Pub on Merrion Square. It was a magical place for anyone interested in Irish music and song. I now realize I needed to leave there too. It was the center of my life and, though it was a great place, that is not a good center. I still continued to play bodhran whenever I could, played my old LPs. It took me a long time to make my way back to Ireland and when I did I could find only one of my old friends and there the trail went dead. The internet is amazing though and I went to work and last month *(Sept 2013) 15 of the crowd that played there in the sixties got together with maybe as many again wishing they could make it. It was amazing. The years melted away and except for the fact that we were all a hell of a lot older it was as if no time had passed.
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AdminPermalink Reply by Fran Reddy on -
That's fantastic that you all got a chance to see each other again Niall! Welcome! : )
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That really is an amazing story.
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Niall, did you make any video or audio record of the reunion?
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I did. It is not very good and, frankly, would mainly be of interest to the participants. Just search for Niall MacDonagh on Youtube and you will find them plus miscellaneous other stuff I uploaded.
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Permalink Reply by Deb Zitelli on
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I love this story. But I'd love to reverse your process and live in Ireland. I'm sure it will be impossible but I am sure going to try. I was born in 1950 so the 60's experience belonged to both of us, among MANY others.
Thank you for this story.
Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you Mr. MacDonagh!!!!
Deb Wiles Zitelli
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