I was born at home in Emmetsburg, Iowa in 1928. The doctor said, “You have a son!” My mother didn’t know what to name me and the doctor said, “How about Roger? That’s my father’s name. It’s a fine name.” Both my parents were Irish. Mother was born Mary Margaret Mahoney. My first memories involve living in the small town in the shadow of the Assumption Parish. We lived across … [Read more...] about Roger Goes to Medical School
family history
Calling on Carrowduff
Pa Ryan's Birthplace in County Clare The last time a Ryan stood in the low doorway of the dirt-floored byre-dwelling would have been the day before Willie Ryan passed, 7 Nov. 1967. I say the seventh instead of the eighth (the actual date of his death) because Willie was laid up with pneumonia in his kitchen, where he’d been living since the thatch roof had collapsed on the … [Read more...] about Calling on Carrowduff
The Last of His Kind
Christopher Connell writes on his Uncle Jimmy McSweeney, the very model of the Irish bachelor farmer. ℘℘℘ My uncle Jimmy McSweeney was laid to rest recently beside his mother and sister in the yard of Saint Patrick's Church in Dunmanway. The last of his generation, he was the very model of the Irish bachelor farmer, yet he left a family that extends across Ireland, across the … [Read more...] about The Last of His Kind
Kennedy,
O’Kennedy, Ó Cinnéide
The Irish Kennedys are descended from Dunchaun, the brother of the mighty King Brian Born. The name comes from his father Ceann Eidig, meaning "helmet head." Appropriately, the arms of the Kennedys have three helmets.
From the 11th-15th centuries they were Lords of Ormond. The Kennedys dealt with the various conquests and confiscations better than many other Gaelic families. … [Read more...] about Kennedy,
O’Kennedy, Ó Cinnéide
Irish Roots:
Some Light on the Dark Clan
The name Delaney comes from the Irish O'Dubhshlaine. Its earliest anglicized form is O'Dulany with a broad `a.' Delane is another variant (the O' has been long since dropped). It is sometimes mistakenly associated with the Limerick surnames O'Duillean, Dillane and Dillin, though there is no relation.
Dubh means black or dark. That's the easy part, but some dispute arises over … [Read more...] about Irish Roots:
Some Light on the Dark Clan