Irish Genealogy Treasures

The 17th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture is a Genealogy treasure "show and tell."

Genealogists are treasure hunters of a different kind. Instead of searching for riches, we dig for information. Instead of prizing gold, we value documents - the visual proof of the life stories of families that have passed before us.

Share with us the image of and the story behind a document (or documents) that have been valuable to you during your search for an Irish branch of your family. How and where did you find these documents? What are their significance to your research and/or why are they special to you? Here's your chance to show off some of your genealogical "loot" at our online "show and tell."

The following obituary is for my second great-grandmother, Margareth “Maggie” MILLET Cahill[1].  In it, her place of birth is listed as Thomastown, Kilkenny, Ireland.  Had I not already found this information in other sources, this would have been a gold mine, as it pinpoints a specific location in Ireland to search “across the pond.”

Having obtained a location, as well as her parent’s names from her marriage license, I searched for a baptism record for Margaret using Irish Family History Foundation website [2].  I found the following extraction among the results, which seems to fit.

I am not 100% sure this is her, but it’s certainly a possibility.  First, the parents names (except the surname spelling) match the information provided on Margaret’s marriage license.  Additionally, the baptism took place in County Kilkenny.  The baptism date is also consistent with the age provided on the marriage license. 

But, according to her death certificate, and the obituary, the baptism date is too early.  The death certificate records her birth as 28 February 1865, and the age listed in the obituary is consistent with that.  Additionally, the death certificate records her father as Michael Millet and a mother unknown.  I tend to rely more on the marriage license because it was created closer to the date of birth, and the information was more than likely provided by Margaret, whereas the death certificate is a secondary source of the birth information created 79-82 years after her birth (the information was provided by her son).  Another source that aligns with the marriage license, and this baptism extraction, is the 1900 census [3], which indicates her birth month and year as January 1863.

There is still much work to be done with this family.  I have received some information from one of Margaret’s granddaughters, which is mostly consistent with other sources.  She does indicate that there has always been a discrepancy in Margaret’s date of birth.  The granddaughter only mentioned one sibling, Catherine, who stayed in Ireland.  The obituary, however, provides details for at least two additional siblings, and their locations in the U.S.  That said, the obituary is a wealth of information in that respect, which will hopefully help me to find the other siblings in the U.S. as well as research the family in Ireland.

Sources

1. Obituary for Margaret Cahill, 8 January 1945, Beacon News (Aurora, Illinois), p. 4, col. 4-5. 
2. Margaret MILOT, "Rothe House," database, Irish Family History Foundation (http://kilkenny.brsgenealogy.com/search.php). 
3. 1900 U.S. census population schedule, Aurora Ward 3, Kane, Illinois, enumeration district (ED) 68, sheet 9B, p. 18, dwelling 209, family 222; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623. 

Carnival Roundup – July 2009

The GeneaBloggers were certainly busy in July.  Here’s a list of carnivals they participated in this month.

• Carnival of Genealogy – Justice & Independence
• Canadian Genealogy Carnival – Canadian Vacations
• Smile for the Camera – They Worked Hard for the Family
• Carnival of Genealogy – Summer Vacation
• A Festival of Postcards - Signs
• Carnival of Central & Eastern European Genealogy - Summer
• Graveyard Rabbits Carnival – Favorite Photo
• Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture – Irish Vacations

Photo Credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/santarosa/ / CC BY 2.0

Carnival/Meme Roundup – May 2009

May’s been a busy month for the GeneaBloggers.  Let’s see what they’ve been up to.

• Carnival of Genealogy – Local History
• Smile for the Camera – All Creatures Great and Small
• Carnival of Genealogy – Mothers!
• A Festival of Postcards – Wheels
• Carnival of Central & Eastern European Genealogy – Food
• Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture – Irish Names
• Graveyard Rabbits Carnival – Veterans’ Memorials

My Irish Surnames

The theme for the 13th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture is Irish names.

Share with us the surnames in your Irish family tree, but don't just stop there. Do a little research and tell us the origin of one or more of those surnames, the stories of how they might have changed over the years, or tales of how they've been mixed up and misspelled, etc.

Want to focus on your family's given names instead? Share with us the story of your ancestors' Irish first names (given at birth or nicknamed later), the "grandparent" nicknames in your Irish family tree, or any other Irish name stories that you'd like to share.

I decided to focus on four of my Irish surnames.  All of them become brick walls when trying to research them in Ireland, so I thought this surname exercise might help open new doors. 

Each surname heading is a link to the Internet Surname Database record for the surname, which you can use to find out more information about the surname.

Cahill

Many of the resources I have found indicate that Cahills were prevalent in County Clare, County Cork, County Kerry, and County Tipperary.  Right now, I can trace my Cahills back to my third great-grandfather, Michael Cahill, who lived in County Kilkenny.  Do they trace back further to these other counties?  I hope to answer that question someday.

Researching this name in the U.S. hasn’t been too bad.  More often than not, it is spelled and indexed correctly.  I know of many spelling variations, such as Cale, Cail, Cahil, Cahell, Kahill, Khill, Cayhill, Kayhill, and the original form of the name, O’Cahill.  And although I haven’t had too much trouble, it is on this surname that I thought of creative ways to perform searches.  You can read more about that in my post Bingo! (and a few lessons learned).

McMahon

I can trace my McMahons back to my third great-grandfather, Timothy McMahon, of County Tipperary (which was kindly noted on his son’s death certificate).  I have not done much research on this surname outside of the U.S. as of yet.

This surname can be tricky while doing research.  I’ve found that it’s usually spelled correctly, however, when indexed, it can be McMahon or Mc Mahon.  So I always have to do at least two search passes to find whomever I am looking for.  In the U.S., I’ve not run across any instances where Mac is used instead of Mc, but I always include that in my searches when I can’t find Mc, just in case.

Ryan

This is an interesting one for me.  I have two Ryans, both third great-grandmothers, but from two different lines in my paternal line.  Margaret Ryan hails from County Tipperary, where she married Timothy McMahon (above).  I have no idea as to the whereabouts of Mary Ryan, who was born in Ireland and likely died there.  She married John Millet, and their daughter, Margaret, married into my Cahill line.  I do know that their daughter was born in County Kilkenny, so at least that’s a starting point.  I do wonder if Mary and Margaret are related somehow, but have yet to track down their parents.

Mulligan

I can trace my Mulligans back to my third great-grandfather, James Mulligan, of Dublin.  Again, this is one I have not focused on outside of the U.S.  I imagine it will be an interesting search, simply because Mulligan is a popular name, and Dublin is, well, the largest city in Ireland!

Carnival/Meme Roundup - March 2009

Let's see what the genea-bloggers were up to in March.

• Carnival of Genealogy - Nobody's Fool
• Smile for the Camera - Brothers & Sisters
• Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture - St. Patrick's Day Parade
• Cabinet of Curiosities - 15th Edition
• Carnival of Genealogy - A Tribute to Women
• Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - Burial Customs
• Bound for Mom - A Journey of Firsts
• Carnival of Central & Eastern European Genealogy - Women in Central & Eastern European

What Exactly is the Significance of St. Patrick's Day?

It's time for the 12th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, the theme for this edition is a parade of all things Irish.

Growing up, we always celebrated St. Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage, all the while wearing our green apparel. Until now, I had no idea who St. Patrick was, or what the significance of the day was. I did some digging to learn about this person, this day, and essentially, more about my Irish heritage.

St. Patrick, Who Was He?

St. Patrick is believed to have been born at the end of the fourth century in Britain. When he was sixteen, he was taken from his home by Irish pirates. He was held prisoner in Ireland for six years, working as a slave. During this time, we relied heavily on his Christian faith and prayed every day.

He escaped captivity and returned home to Britain. He spent more than fifteen years in religious training, after which he was ordained. St. Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary. It is believed that he founded 365 Christian churches throughout Northern Ireland.

Each source I read indicated a different year of St. Patrick's death. But all sources note the 17th of March as the day. Most sources point to the later half of the fifth century as the year.

St. Patrick's Day

The 17th of March signifies St. Patrick's death and has been celebrated as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On this day, Irish folk would observe the holiday by heading to church in the morning and celebrating in the afternoon. Oddly enough, St. Patrick's day occurs during Lent, so the "no-meat" rule does not apply for the celebration.

Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in numerous way in several countries, by Irish and non-Irish.

So What's With the Corned Beef?

The Irish would traditionally feast on Irish bacon and cabbage. Corned beef came into play when the Irish in New York were looking for a cheaper alternative. Corned beef is now the staple for Irish-Americans.

And What About All That Green?

It is believed that the color blue was long associated with St. Patrick and St. Patrick's Day. It is likely that the color green became associated with St. Patrick's Day merely because green is the color of the Irish, and is the color of the shamrock.

I remember when I was younger, my dad said that we could also wear orange. To this day I never understood why. My guess would be that it's because orange, like green, is in the flag of Ireland.

Conclusion

So that's what I learned today and it's only the tip of the iceberg. To learn more, check out the sources I used (below).

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Photos

1. Statue of St. Patrick, by Pierre, permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.

2. Chicago River St Patrick's Day 2008, photographed by Mathprog777, permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.

Sources

1. History.com, "Saint Patrick's Day," website.

2. St. Patrick's Day, website.

3. Wikipedia, "Saint Patrick's Day," website.

4. Wikipedia, "Saint Patrick," website.

Carnival/Meme Roundup - January 2009

The year's off to a great start with all sorts of events.  Here's what the GeneaBloggers have been up to this January.

Carnival of Genealogy - New Year's Resolutions

Smile for the Camera - Who Are You

Carnival of Genealogy - Winter Photo Essay

Cabinet of Curiosities - 13th Edition

Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture - My Key to Ireland

Carnival of Central & Eastern European Genealogy - History Books

Finding My Irish Roots

"My Key to Ireland" is the topic for the 11th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture.

If you have found your ancestral county or village in Ireland, just how did you find your way there? What resources led you to learn the original county or townland or your ancestors? Tell us how you did it and what your feelings were when you made the exciting discovery.

If you have not yet found the area where your ancestors made their homes in Ireland, tell us about the resources that you hope to use to find out. What records and documents do you hope will lead you to that information? How do you plan to go about the search?

If you have always known the place or places where your family hailed from, tell us about them. What draws you there and what else have you learned throughout your search for family history?

My Irish roots come from my dad's side of the family.  I have second great-grandparents that immigrated to America from Co. Kilkenny and third great-grandparents who immigrated from Co. Tipperay.  Most of the family planted roots in Chicago between 1860-1880.

So how do I know where they came from? 

Well, somewhere along the line, I picked up my Co. Kilkenny knowledge, but from where, I couldn't tell you.  It was just one of those nuggets I picked up without sourcing.  However, I did confirm this by locating some birth and marriage records through the Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF).  Personally, I do not like this database, but I'll save that for another post.  The point is, I confirmed, with records, the information I had acquired previously.

I got lucky on my third great-grandparents, I think.  The birth certificate for my second great-grandfather revealed that his parents were born in Co. Tipperay.  Usually, these records simply say the country, if not the U.S., so this was a pleasant surprise.  I haven't explored this piece of information any further yet.  I'll likely explore the IFHF site (despite my beef with it) and try to find other potential sources.  My first stop will be to review the article 12 Top Sites for Researching Irish Ancestors by Kimberly Powell at About.com, and explore the sites she recommends.

One day, I'd love to visit Ireland to see where I hail from, and of course, do some research!

Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture

The back-to-school edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture is upon us. The challenge, as I understand it, is to make a research plan related to our Irish roots. The Irish side of my family is one I have not spent much time on lately, due in part to a brick wall with my ggg-grandparents. That being said, I fully accept the challenge to make a plan, and of course, follow through on it in the months to come. So...here's the plan...

Goal #1 - Figure out where in the heck my ggg-grandparents were born in Ireland. I am fairly certain that my gg-grandfather, Thomas Robert CAHILL was born in Thomastown, Kilkenny, Leinster, Ireland in 1860. As far as I can tell, his parents (my ggg-grandparents), Michael CAHILL and Anne HALE were born in Ireland probably between 1834-1838. Thomas married Margaret MILLETT, likely from Kilkenny as well. They were not married in Ireland; instead they were married in Illinois in 1887. It appears in the U.S. census data that they immigrated at different times, so I am not sure if they knew each other in Ireland or not. I also suspect that Margaret's parents, John MILLET and Mary RYAN were also born in Ireland. Following are some sources I plan to start with:

• The Master Book of Irish Surnames : Locations, Ethnic Origins, Variant Spellings & Sources by Michael C. O'Laughlin, 1993.
• Co. Kilkenny Ireland, Genealogy & Family History Notes by Michael C. O'Laughlin, 2002.
• Names of Irish Passengers to America by Michael C. O'Laughlin, 2002.
• The Birth Index of Ireland by Michael C. O'Laughlin, 2004.
• The Book of Irish Families, Great & Small by Michael C. O'Laughlin, 2002.

Goal #2 - Assuming I can uncover the mystery from Goal #1, I'd like to trace both lines further, using the same sources noted above.

Goal #3 - Find out what in the world a "dark Irish" is. I have been told I'm "dark Irish" but have no idea exactly what that means...I want to know more!

Goal #4 - Do some research on Ireland during the time period my ancestors lived there. Following are the books I plan to start with.

• The Great Hunger : Ireland 1845-1849 by Cecil Blanche Fitzgerald Woodham-Smith, 1991 (originally published in 1962).
• The Great Shame : And the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World by Thomas Keneally, 1999.
• To the Golden Door: The Story of the Irish in Ireland and America by George W. Potter, 1960.

Goal #5 - Just for fun, read the book Look What Came From Ireland by Miles Harvey, 2002.
Look for future posts reporting on my findings, challenges, and successes!

This post was written for the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture hosted by Small-leaved Shamrock.

Originally posted @ my LiveJournal blog on 17 August 2008.

Julie