Irish America

Irish America

Genealogy

Weekly Comment: PBS Uncovers Surprising Genealogical Connections for O’Reilly, Maher, O’Brien

By Irish America Staff
January 15, 2016

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Bill O’Reilly, Soledad O’Brien, and Bill Maher’s Irish roots were uncovered in this week’s episode of Finding Your Roots, Jr. on PBS, and it turns out, O’Reilly and Maher are related. O’Brien is also related to another of the show’s previous guests – Stephen Colbert. The episode, “The Irish Factor,” used a combination of archival research and DNA testing to explore the … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment: PBS Uncovers Surprising Genealogical Connections for O’Reilly, Maher, O’Brien

From Ellen to Eileen

By Megan Smolenyak, Contributor
December / January 2016

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An excerpt from In Search of Our Ancestors: 101 Stories of Serendipity and Connection by Megan Smolenyak. Many of us have a particular ancestor who calls to us louder than others, one with whom we feel a special kinship. For me, this is one of my great-great-grandmothers, Ellen Nelligan. Perhaps it’s because my own grandmother – her granddaughter – told me tales of her life. … [Read more...] about From Ellen to Eileen

On the Prowl for Springsteen’s
Irish Roots

By Megan Smolenyak, Contributor
October / November 2015

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Roots detective Megan Smolenyak explores the National Library of Ireland’s online collection of Catholic parish registers, uncovers entries for ancestors of a few well-know Irish Americans, including Bruce Springsteen, and offers a guide to finding yours. Ancestors of Irish American Celebrities in New Online Catholic Parish Registers The last few years have been kind to those … [Read more...] about On the Prowl for Springsteen’s
Irish Roots

NLI to Make 400,000 Parish
Records Digitally Available

By Julia Brodsky, Editorial Assistant
June / July 2015

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The National Library of Ireland recently announced that it will be digitizing their parish records and providing free online access starting on July 8th. These records are considered the most important resource for researching Irish family history prior to the 1901 Census, and the NLI has referred to the digitization as the greatest ever genealogical project in the … [Read more...] about NLI to Make 400,000 Parish
Records Digitally Available

“Fully” Kearney: President Obama’s Irish Ancestor

By Megan Smolenyak, Contributor
April / May 2015

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It was seven years ago when I identified Fulmoth Kearney of Moneygall, Ireland as the most recent immigrant on the maternal side of Barack Obama’s family tree. Inheriting land in Ohio from a brother, Fulmoth’s father, Joseph, left Ireland for the United States in 1849. Fulmoth and his sister, Margaret, followed in 1850, and his mother and two younger siblings in 1851 – a … [Read more...] about “Fully” Kearney: President Obama’s Irish Ancestor