Himself: A Civil War Veteran's Struggles with Rebels, Brits and Devils.  By William J. Donohue 319 pp., 2014 Buffalo Heritage Press www.BuffaloHeritage.com, softcover $19.99…

I would love all of you to see a very recent film piece about my Aunt Winifred.  Here she is for a posed photograph with her mother (Sarah Cassidy Carney) and her two sisters, Mabel and Maud, who later become nuns.  She is standing between her two sisters.  Winnie also had four brothers:  Alfred, Ernest,…

(HOW WE CAN HELP: http://www.1916moorestreetbond.com/eventsandgatherings)

I began to write about Saving Dublin's Moore Street and found I could not write it any better than Robin Mary Heany has, taken from this site:…

From midday Friday, September 18, until midday Monday, September 21 (BST), you can have free access to the Irish and British genealogy records available on the Irish version of the Find My Past website. You will be able to access millions of Irish census records, military records, travel and migration records, and 7…

I would have known I am Irish had I been adopted at birth by a family with a different nationality. Sooner or later, I would have woken up to the fact by simply paying attention to the way I am wired. It’s the little things within us that tell us who we are, the things that we are born with, that…

On July 22, 2013 I formed this group to honor my Roscommon heritage.  We now have over 1,500 members worldwide who are focused on researching their Roscommon heritage as well as helping others with  Roscommon research.  There is no charge for our services. If your heritage includes County Roscommon, we would be happy to have…

Recorded in the spellings of August and Augustine, and the more popular Austin and Austen, this is a medieval surname of biblical and Roman origins. Introduced into Europe in the 12th century by the returning Crusaders from the Holy Land, the derivation is from the pre-Christian "Augustus," meaning venerable or sacred. The name was particularly popular on the continent where it was and still is, associated with St. Augustine and the monasteries that he founded in the 7th century, but less so…

‘I am of Ireland,

And the Holy Land of Ireland,

And time runs on, cried she,

‘Come out of charity,

Come dance with me in…

This very interesting post from Claire Fullerton inspired me to write this one.

In the last 5 years or so my Dad has done a ton of work on genealogy. He has done both his side and my Mom's side. It's been…

What does it take to be considered a genius? Is a genius a remarkable musician who moves our spirits, an artist who creates beautiful paintings, a student who scores off the charts on an IQ test or the employee working the Genius Bar at your local Apple store? OK, maybe the last example is pushing it, but consider the other varieties of geniuses -- those with amazing musical, artistic, athletic and intellectual talents. Were the Mozarts and Monets of the world born with their genius? Or did…

The Grace of My Grandfathers

I arrived at dawn at the airport in Nairobi, Kenya jet-lagged from my 30-hour journey from San Francisco.  A battered taxi conveyed me over the rutted highway into the city and to the overcrowded matatu that would carry me several hours into the bush for three months of medical relief work with AIDS orphans. …

I discovered this article about the Potato Orphans. Its a story about young girls orphaned during the Famine and sent as wives or maids to Australia. …

Why in the world would I want to go to Ireland? There are so many reasons why I can barely focus to write a coherent response.

Ireland has always been a place of great intrigue to me for as long as I can remember. I was born with red hair. No one else in my classes in elementary school had red hair. I felt like a pariah. I didn't fit in at school, and even though my father had red hair as well, I didn't fit in there either.

For most of the people in my small class, matters of…

Robert Morrison (1782-1863) was born in County Antrim of unknown parents and plied a linen weaver's trade until he emigrated to the United States in 1801. He married and was a pioneer in Adams County, Ohio, a captain in the War of 1812 commanding a company of dragoons, a state…

What's in a name? For me it meant finding a deep connection to my Irish roots.  I have an uncommon name, Honora, which elicits questions such as what kind of name it is, how to pronounce it and where does it come from.  My mother named me for her mother, who was also named for her mother.  Although Honora is Latin for "honor" the "H" is not silent.  It rhymes with Lenora.  Last year my mother's sister asked me to research our family tree and I found that my name went back even further than…

     I am so excited to find this site. I have been looking at Wild West of Ireland travel and that is the best trips I have found so far, as to where I want to go. And just like everyone else my dream is to come to Ireland the home of my DNA contributors. I  want to touch the ground, feel the breeze and smell the air. Did the land where they settled in Virginia remind them of Ireland?  Does that sound crazy?  Maybe so but that's my dream. I am from Florida USA, Born in West Virginia which…

George Arthur French was born at Roscommon, Ireland in 1841. He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1860. 

In 1871, at the request of the Canadian government, he was sent…

We use lots of maps in tracing the paths of our ancestors. Mapmakers will often place a tiny piece of incorrect information in their maps to prevent illegal reproduction of their work. Called a "copyright trap," the fake text might be a bogus street name or even the…

Thomas McKean (March 19, 1734 – June 24, 1817) was the son of William McKean from County Antrim who came to Pennsylvania via the city of…

Book review

"The Longing," by Kimberly Mae

Friesen Press, 2015

Reading this warm-hearted book was a precise reminder to me of the full range of…