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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Thanks, Fran! We love all your beautiful photos.

Thanks!

Glad to have you among us, MP ... welcome aboard!

Glad to be here, Ryan. Looking forward to contributing to the enthusiasm for all things Irish on this site.

My name is Jean Sullivan Cardinal from Chicago, Illinois, USA.  They say there are more Irish in Chicago than in Ireland.  My Kerry connection is my Great Grand Father on my mothers side, Daniel Sullivan born in Ardfert in 1872.  His parent were Daniel Sullivan and Catherine Carroll.  I have found brothers Martin, Cornelius and Thomas.  The last two were born in Bawnmore.  I don't know if there are any other siblings.  I only know of the ones who moved to Chicago.  I have no other information on the family and am wondering if there are any descendants still in Kerry.  I would like to find out where Daniel and Catherine were born and their parents or if there were any other siblings.  I am also tracking my Father's Sullivan's in Limerick.

My name is Catherine Callaghan Clifford, born and raised in a valley known as the Irish Capital of County Schuylkill in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA.  My great-great grandfather, Bartholomew Callaghan, was born in County Kerry and baptised in St. Mary's Church in Killarney around 1830.  His parents were John Callaghan and Hannah Meara (Mara?) who were married in St.Mary's Church.  My great-great grandmother, Fannie Hegarty (Haggarty?) was born in Ireland, possibly County Cork.  Bart and Fannie arrived in the coal regions of Pennsylvania in 1849-1850 and were married in Pottsville PA.  I have been to Ireland four times and enjoyed each trip very much. Presently I am involved in an effort to save a church which was built in 1858 by the Irish families in Heckscherville Schuylkill County PA.  St. Kieran's was built not only with the funds donated by the families but the physical labor of the men after a full day's work.  The church was closed in 2005 and our group, Friends of St. Kieran's, hope to acquire the buildings for use as an Irish heritage and cultural center.  I also keep busy with my seven grandchildren-ages 3 to 20-the loves of my life. 

So it would seem that, although I signed up on this site a while back, I've still not posted an entry on this thread!  I shall have to remedy that. :)

My name is Cindi and I'm so happy to have found this site.  A lovely job done with the layout, content and, of course, the members!  I can definitely identify with something written by one of the other members on this thread, and that's not having had much more than casual interest in my family's Irish (and Scottish) heritage when I was younger, but it has become incredibly important to me now, having recently retired from the military and having lost my military 'family'.  I knew that my maternal Grandmother and my Granny (my Grampa's mother) had both come to Canada straight from Ireland, but I feel a fool to not have discovered what that meant to me before now. 

On my Gramma's side, we have Henry, McMullan, Jeffs and McKenzie (the McKenzies came back to Ireland during the Ulster Plantation and were, prior to that, from what I understand, part of Clan MacKenzie, with some of them having lived on Skye, but I haven't anything prior to that).  In Ireland, they generally lived in Co Tyrone, although some of them may have been in Antrim...I do have relatives from Gramma's side who live in Antrim now.

On my Grampa's side, my Granny's maiden name was Davis, and my Grampa's father's name was Ledger.  Granny's mother's maiden name was Burrows.  Granny was born in Co Tyrone as well, though I don't have locational information for Grampa's father's side. 

The earliest trace I have, so far, of any of our family would be one of the 3 brothers who came over to Co Tyrone from the Isle of Skye (one of whom apparently drowned), named Samuel McKenzie b1798 d1890 who married Mary Jane Waugh b1814 d1878 in 1834, they are buried in Moy. They were farmers in Derryoghill and had eight children.

I still have to ask my Gramma more about her side, but this is what I've gathered from my relatives so far, who have done far more work on this than have I.  ;)  I am anxious to learn more, so I'm hoping to get some more information soon!

I also have a lot of information to gather on my Father's side...I believe there is some Irish on his side as well, but it's not as "close" as on my Mother's side, and will be harder to track down.

I've been to Ireland once (and Scotland while we were there), and it was absolutely amazing.  I only wish I had been in the position of having as much appreciation for it then, as I do now...I was a teenager at the time, regretfully.   I nearly got washed off the rocks at the Giant's Causeway, which I'm sure would have been very exciting. lol

At the moment, I'm in the process of applying for my dual citizenship and have begun to learn Irish, which pleases me to no end. :)  I'm so glad to be here and to have some people to talk about all this who have some idea what this means to me.

Tá sé go deas bualadh leat,

Cindi

Hi, My name is Nancy Fitzpatrick Caswell. I live in Rochester, New York. My maternal grandparents came from Ireland in 1904. Grandma was from Mayo and grandpa was from Leitrim. My paternal grandparents came from Ireland during the Great Hunger. - from Cork and Kilkenny. I have done a lot of research about my family. I have been to Ireland twice. I have met my relatives in Leitrim. Mayo and Kerry. Love Ireland. I am obsessed with anything Irish. All my grandparents were farmers. that is probably why I love to garden. I am a retired nurse. I have several binders of genealogy records that I have saved over the years. I have this dream that my descendants  will appreciate what I accumulated after I am gone. , Family names that I am researching are McCarthy, Hambrough, Fitzpatrick, curran, Meehan, Staunton and McPartland.I love this this site.

Hello All,

My name is Matthew Morris, I live in Norwalk CT with my wife and three children. My paternal grandmother Agnes (McCafferty) Morris is from Derry. Her Husband John Morris was born in Greenock Scotland of Irish Parents.

My first trip to Ireland was at the age of 15 with my mother and her 6 sisters taking my maternal Grandmother Imelda (Wallace) Blume home for the first time.She was born in Clontarf Dublin, but her family was from Clonmel Tipperary. We spent the trip in graveyards and farms discovering our roots.

This trip sparked a lifelong love of the country of my ancestry and its history and people. I spent a summer in Ireland the very next year with the Irish Way program of the Irish American Cultural Institute. I received a scholarship from an organization called The Wild Geese for this program which is what led me to this site. I traveled back to Ireland numerous times afterward.

These journeys inspired me to write a novel. The Pirate Princess: Return to the Emerald Isle

I wanted to give my daughters a strong Irish American female role model and give them a little Irish history and language as well.

I am glad to have found this site and look forward to more.

Failte romhat, Matthew. I am delighted you found your way to The (New) Wild Geese. We have a growing number of authors 'in the flock,' BTW. Tell us more about "The Pirate Princess," and if they'll be a sequel? Ger

The Pirate Princess is a novel aimed at middle school and up children. I wove Irish folk tales like "the knock", banshees, and selkies into a modern adventure tale with historical connections. I wanted to give my daughters a strong Irish American heroine and teach them a little about Irish history and language in the process. Here is my brief synopsis.

Meg Murphy and her family were as seagoing and salty as they come, but she never knew why until a mysterious visit from the otherworld and a special birthday gift thrust her on a journey to the land of her ancestors, Ireland.

There she will discover old family secrets and a world of spirits, pirates, hidden treasure and a legendary sea queen Grace O’Malley also known as Granuaile . The key to all she wants to know is in the family heirloom given to her by her grandmother but can Meg figure it all out before the mysterious man known as The Digger takes everything away from her?

Interesting! I may have to have a look myself ; )

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