Megan Smolenyak writes about a decade-long search that finally turned up the Irish cousins of Annie Moore of Ellis Island fame. Thanks to improved access to a variety of resources, Irish genealogy is gradually becoming easier, but challenges remain, and one of the most daunting is finding living relatives. When Annie Moore, the Irish teenager who was the first immigrant to … [Read more...] about Annie Moore’s Long Lost Irish Cousins
Megan Smolenyak
Weekly Comment:
Irish Genealogy Just
Got a Lot Easier
Last July, the National Library of Ireland went live with a digitized collection of Irish Catholic parish records from the 1670-1900 time frame, a huge boon for those of Irish heritage. Just one catch. No index. Well, there were a variety of partial indexes scattered here and there on other sites, but no comprehensive one.
In an article published in the Oct/Nov 2015 issue of … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment:
Irish Genealogy Just
Got a Lot Easier
From Ellen to Eileen
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
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
Photo Album:
The Shields Family
I’ve written about several Irish American mothers for this magazine – Eugenia Biden, Lorna Colbert, and Anne Meara – and the word that always comes to mind is indomitable. Nothing breaks them, which makes it all the more shocking when we lose them. My mother was a member of this club.
The last-minute child in a Jersey City family that included two older sisters, Mom was named … [Read more...] about Photo Album:
The Shields Family