Kelly comes second to Murphy as the most common surname in Ireland. The name is popular because it originates from at least seven different and unrelated ancient clans or septs. These include O'Kelly septs from Meath, Derry, Antrim, Laois, Sligo, Wicklow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Galway and Roscommon, and the McKelly sept from East Connaught. One of the major septs is the O'Kellys … [Read more...] about Roots: The Kelly Gang
Roots
Jeanie Johnston Makes Her Way Up The East Coast
Floating Museum Shows Irish-Americans What Ancestors Encountered. In 1848 it would cost you $5.50 to cross the Atlantic from Ireland on the sailing ship Jeanie Johnston. That fare represented half a year's wages for an Irish laborer hoping to start a new life in America. Today, for $7.00 you can buy a ticket to visit the Jeanie Johnston replica, a floating museum, while it … [Read more...] about Jeanie Johnston Makes Her Way Up The East Coast
Irish on Parade
June 1, 1907: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. ℘℘℘ My grandfather Phillip L. McQuillan, one of the early plumbing and heating engineers, celebrated his Irish-American patriotism by participating in the 1907 Memorial Day Parade in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. The sign on the side of the wagon reads "P.L. McQuillan, Good Plumbing." Two of his twelve children, Ruth and Frances, are tiding … [Read more...] about Irish on Parade
Irish Roots:
The History of the Tobins
Tobin is not an indigenous Irish name, but the family can be regarded as having become completely hibernicized. Its Irish form, Toibín, is a gaelicized version of the Norman 'St. Aubyn.' Another interpretation is that the name was first called de St. Aubyn and the original bearers were from Aubyn, in Brittany, France.
According to the renowned Irish historian and genealogist, … [Read more...] about Irish Roots:
The History of the Tobins
Roots: The Keane / Kane Family
Keane and Kane are anglicizations of Ó Catháin from cath, meaning battle. There were two great septs of Ó Catháin in Co. Derry but in modern times, Keane, Kane and sometimes O'Kane are more common, Keane in Munster and Connaught and Kane in Ulster. Traditionally the two septs were quite distinct and it was believed that the prominent Clare Keanes were an offshoot of the Ulster … [Read more...] about Roots: The Keane / Kane Family