James McHenry (November 16, 1753 – May 3, 1816) was born into a Scots-Irish family in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland in 1753.   Sent at age 17 to North America McHenry lived with a family friend in Philadelphia before deciding to finish his preparatory…

George Michael Cohan was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and producer. Assumed by many to be Jewish because of his last name, which was really Keohane! Known in the decade before World…

Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly was born 11 November, 1873 in Glen Cove, New York to  Daniel John Daly and Ellen Donovan -- presumably both were born somewhere in Ireland?

Daly was twice awarded the Congressional Medal of…

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (1888 – 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. Born in a Broadway hotel room in Longacre Square (now Times Square), in the Barrett Hotel. He was the son of Irish immigrant actor James O'Neill, Rosbercon, County…

In the late 1700's, many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board was folded down from the wall and used for dining. The “head of the household” always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Once in a while, a guest (who was almost always a man) would be invited to sit in this chair during a meal. To sit in the…

His great grandparents were Dennis Harrigan, (born 1781 in Cork) and Catherine Driscoll (Cork).

His grandparents were Dennis Harrigan Jr, (born 1832 in New Brunswick, Canada) and Catherine Ahearn (born in Canada, father from Cork).

His mother was Catherine Helen Harrigan (born 1873 in Stillwater, Washington, Minnesota).

He was Harry…

After posting the DNA and genetic explanation of red hair - here is a list of famous people. Note the people from the bible. Genetics (our cellular makeup)has always been with us, of course, we know that, but hair color was noted many years ago by historians. We all carry genes from our ancestors of long ago. If you search hard enough, you will find a picture of all of these people on the internet with red hair - Google Images. Those who were living before cameras-were painted from…

Where does red hair come from?  There is a lengthy and complex discussion of the red hair genetics here. Be sure and read the comments (everybody has an opinion and is an expert!) Within this…

There was no punctuation until the 15th century. This explains A LOT!

Professor James J. Ryan II was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1903.  In a most literal sense, Professor James Ryan earned his nickname. A professor in the University of Minnesota’s mechanical engineering department from…

Those of you who are searching for your heritage – perhaps a little study of Irish Septs may help. If does not open, let me know and I will email you one.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~larkin/documents/IrishSeptsVol1.pdf

Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Sshe was the daughter of Carmen Louise (née LaPorte) and John Watson Slaton, both of whom were waiters. Dorothy Lamour was of French Louisianan, Spanish and Irish descent. Her parents' marriage lasted only a few…

If your great grandfather listed his occupation as a hostler – what did he do?

The word is spelled "hostler" in American English, but "ostler" in British English. It traces to c.1386, meaning "one who tends to horses at an inn"—and also, occasionally, "innkeeper." It is…

New genie class started and participant is descended from a McSweeney. Have looked into this and found they come from a Gallowglas Sept. First I have heard Gallowglas. Article on Wikipedia very informative.  Anyone want to blog on this and in 1800 where would the McSweeney Clan be living?

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1837- 30 November 1930) was an Irish-American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent labor and community organizer. She helped coordinate major strikes and co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World. Mary…

Back before there were affordable and reliable alarm clocks, the occupation of a knocker-up made a few pence a week in England and Ireland by using a long, lightweight stick, often bamboo, to tap on their clients’ upper floor windows and wake them up so they could get to…

Have you ever had the occasion to visit a cemetery and noticed headstones that had coins left on them?  Here are some interesting reasons for the ‘tokens’ being left behind.

The Ferryman

By far the most popular…

Confusion over the term "family crest" probably arose from an understandable abbreviation of the terminology in heraldry for an important part of a coat of arms. One of the most respected sources for heraldry information is Fairbairn's Book of Crests of the Families of Great…

In our genealogy classes, we often investigate the origin of the surname.  In one case, this led to an interesting historical fact about the phrase “The Real McCoy.”

McCoy: “A common surname of Scottish origin in…

Except for brief periods during and after times of war, passports were not required of U.S. citizens traveling outside of the country until 1941. Many Americans, however, obtained one for their own security. Passports were and still are issued by the Department of the State, and…