3rd Annual St. Patrick's Day Blog Parade!

Welcome to the
3rd Annual
St. Patrick's Day
Blog Parade

(otherwise known as the
18th edition of the
Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture)

If you love the history and culture of Ireland, have Irish ancestry, are an Irish citizen - or just love a parade - you've come to the right place this St. Patrick's Day!  We'll talk Irish genealogy with some articles from those that are seeking their personal roots in Ireland (or helping others trace theirs).  We'll ponder the faith of the Irish people, discuss Irish travel and music, and - last, but not least - take a look at the beloved St. Patrick and his big day: March 17. 

It's great to have you with us for the parade!  Find yourself a spot with a good view and get ready to watch the entries parade by on this, the day of worldwide celebration of the feast of St. Patrick of Ireland!



On Irish roots

“I showed my appreciation of my native land in the usual Irish way:

by getting out of it as soon as I possibly could.”

- George Bernard Shaw

We'll start our parade off with a look at Irish Genealogy.  Donna Moughty warns against believing the fairy tale that "you can't research in Ireland because of the fire".  As a professional genealogist in Florida with a specialty is 19th-century Irish research, Donna presents some very good online resources for Irish genealogy.  Just getting into genealogy or need some fresh how-to reminders?  Take some time to visit the Strategies for Starting Your Family History series on Donna's Genealogy Blog.

Is there anyone among us with Irish heritage who doesn't dream of uncovering a handwritten letter from one of their Irish forebears?  Shauna Hicks of Victoria, Australia has done so (more than once).  She shares a few of these family treasures with us in her article Letters Home – My Irish Families on her blog Shauna Hicks History Enterprises.  Visit her blog to read transcripions of her great-great-grandmother's correspondence to and from her home in Brisbane with family back in County Armagh, Ireland in the early 20th-century. 
 
Another Australian contributor to our carnival is working on tracing her roots in Ireland, this time in County Tipperary.  In her article Tierneys on Parade - My Irish Heritage, Geniaus shares what she has learned about her ancestors who settled in Dungog, New South Wales, Australia in the early 19th-century, showing a vintage photograph of their family home.  Visit the Geniaus blog for more on her Tierney ancestors and her search for cousins.  (Here's hoping that she and I will discover a connection someday between our Tierneys from Tipperary!)
 
The lack of personal Irish ancestry didn't stop Donna Pointkouski from joining us in celebration of St. Patrick's Day.  Within her Surname Saturday series she has included an article on the Irish ancestry of her niece who hails from the McGeehan clan.  Visit Donna's Surname Saturday: McGeehan at What's Past is Prologue for an indepth overview of the surname including its history, variations and name distribution, along with some thoughts on her own challenges as she researches her niece's family tree.
 
A hitching post brought all the way from Ireland and used for a tombstone?  That's one family legend from the Conlin and McGowan families of  Roscommon, Ireland that Jenna shares about on her blog Desperately Seeking Surnames.  Visit the short narrative about these families and learn about their roots in Roscommon, their settlement in Missouri, and one family member who found work on the Panama Canal.
 
T. Casteel joins our parade Doin' the Happy Jig at the discovery of her first real proof of an ancestor hailing from Ireland.  Visit her blog Tangled Trees to learn what she found while researching her French-Canadian ancestry.

On the faith of the Irish people

“If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them still look down on me.”

- St. Patrick

The celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in Londonderry, New Hampshire calls to mind the many connections that the area has to its sister town in Ireland and its own Irish past.  Within her blog Nutfield Genealogy, Heather Wilkinson Rojo writes about this town in New Hamphire settled by Irish immigrants in 1715 and its modern day connections to Ireland. She includes a photo of a statue of St. Bridget given to the local St. Mark's Catholic Church from their neighbor, the Londonderry Presbyterian Church, in solidarity for their shared Christian faith.

Knowing the faith of our ancestors often provides the key to understanding more about their lives.  In Joan Miller's case, the search for her Kerr ancestors who immigrated to Canada in the mid-19th-century led her to research the Early Irish Methodists during the time of the Great Famine. Visit Joan's blog Luxegen Genealogy and Family History for an introduction to the history of Methodism in Ireland within the context of the potato famine.  I found Joan's excerpts from Irish Methodist Reminiscences particularly compelling, especially the comments of the wife of a minister who began: "Oh! the scenes of filth and wretchedness, hunger, nakedness and disease which my dear husband witnessed and tried to relieve..."

Going back even farther into Ireland's history, Katie O. of You Are Where You Came From reminds us that St. Patrick is not the only saintly figure held in great esteem by the Irish people.  She shares a paper she wrote examining the native and Christian motifs in Medieval Irish Hagiography (that's a fancy word for the biographies of saints or venerated persons).  Based on readings of The Life of Senan, Son of Gerrgenn and The Life of Ciaran of Clonmacnois (taken from a 15th-century manuscript), Katie offers a scholarly look at the legendary genealogies, lives and influences of these heroes of Ireland.

On St. Patrick, the Irish and Ireland

“I've always liked it here. Part of me is Irish. . . .

My family comes from the west coast, so whenever I come to Ireland

I get a wee tingling in my heart that I'm where I belong.”

- Billy Connolly (Scottish Actor)

It's funny how Irish Pride sometimes wells up in us for surprising reasons.  In Terri O'Connell's case, it was her German grandmother that encouraged her love of her own Irish heritage each St. Patrick's Day when she was young. Stop by Finding Our Ancestors for Terri's childhood March 17 memories in Chicago including a "cute little green polyester pant suit".

 
Wearin' O' The Green and St Patrick's Day Tradition is alive within the family of Frances Ellsworth (a.k.a. Hummer) as she shares on her blog Branching Out Through the Years. Stop by to view a collage of her favorite St. Patty's Day family photos and read about her fondness for St. Patrick because of the legendary way he ran the snakes out of Ireland.

The shamrock has long been a beloved symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick.  On her blog Celtic Voices Cindy Thomson muses about its probable use by St. Patrick as a tool to explain the Trinity to the Irish people. Visit Cindy's Did St. Patrick Really Use the Shamrock to Prove a Point? and also her article The Shamrock for more on this well-known native Irish greenery.

What would a St. Patrick's Day party be without Irish music?  Kerry Dexter of Music Road has some recommendations for us.  As Kerry wrote in a previous article, the music of Ireland "goes back centuries, and is still sung, and is still vital. Music about the substance of life is a tradition which continues with today’s musicians as well..."  Visit her blog for the scoop on some of the modern Irish musicians that she enjoys most.

How could we celebrate this very Irish holiday without our thoughts turning back to Ireland itself?  We all have images of Ireland that stir our imaginations, whether we have visited the island or not.  If you do have a trip in your future, you may do well to take some advice from Corey of the Wandering Educators blog.  His article Spots the Tourists Miss in Ireland highlights not-so-well-known destinations in Ireland that are worth working into the itinerary.

If you can't make it to the Emerald Isle, why not plan a visit to a place outside of Ireland with a little bit of Irish history?  One such place is located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, as Eyelyn Yvonne Theriault explains on her blog A Canadian Family.  Visit The Irish And The Queen Victoria Bridge to see a vintage postcard of the Victoria bridge and read about its tie to a special memorial designed by Irish Quebeckers to commemorate their own.

I hope you've enjoyed this 3rd annual edition of the Small-leaved Shamrock St. Patrick's Day Blog Parade!  Many thanks to all of our contributors. If you just can't get enough St. Patrick's Day reading, make a visit over to the 2008 and 2009 editions of the parade. 

This year's edition was particularly challenging for me to complete thanks to the wee one in my care and the other activities of my family (including this week's Irish dance performances).  If you enjoyed reading, please take the time to leave a comment or send an email.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. 

The topic for the upcoming 19th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture (in honor of U.S. National Poetry Month 2010) is Poetry!  Read details about the Small-leaved Shamrock Poetry Party on the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture blog. Deadline for this upcoming edition is Monday, April 26, 2010. 

In the spirit of Irish poetry (which spans from the serious ballad to the silly limerick), here's a traditional Irish "blessing" (if you can call it that!) to take with you on your way:

May those who love us love us,

and those who do not love us,

may God turn their hearts,

and if He cannot turn their hearts

may He turn their ankles

that we may know them by their limping.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

(Ban-ock-tee na fay-lah paw-rig ur-iv)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish women in America: Our grandmothers' stories

I have observed that in various branches of my family the daughters often have had better collections of family photographs, heirlooms and keepsakes than the sons. To me (the eager family historian looking for clues to the lives of my ancestors several generations back) these collections have been a treasure trove of information: drawers and boxes full of items giving me glimpses into a history that would otherwise have been lost.

Agnes (Donnelly) Cowhey's portrait and vanity set

(privately held by the author)

I have appreciated collections saved lovingly by dear great aunts and beloved grandmothers (and sometimes not so much saved lovingly as just stored deep enough down so as not to become the victim of the trash can!). I have often wished that the men in the family had the same interest in collecting - or that I could find the long lost women relations who did collect items for that side of the family.

These wishes can only go back so far, however. I know for a fact that the chances of finding a photograph of a family member taken in the 19th century get slimmer and slimmer the further back I go with my family tree. And what are the odds that family letters or mementos, even if they were saved by a nostalgic great-aunt, would have survived the wear and tear of more than a century?

So, sadly, for the stories of the lives of many of my family members over a century ago, I must turn to government documents and other records (when I can find them). More often than not, these focus on the male members of the family. Information on the lives of the women in my family is often harder to come by.

That's where works of social history come in. Pondering the lives of many of the women who came before me, I was looking for insights into the world of Irish immigrant women in America when I came across an interesting list of titles. As far back as 1996, Helen Fallon compiled and placed on the web a list of books dealing with 19th-century Irish emigrant women. Her assortment of annotated bibliographical references includes not only full books dealing with Irish emigrant women, but references to specific chapters of interest in more general volumes.

Here are a few titles that I plan to look further into:

Irish Women and Irish Migration edited by Patrick O'Sullivan - Two chapters of particular interest to women's history include Dymphna McLoughlin's essay Superfluous and Unwanted Deadweight: The Emigration of 19th-century Pauper Women and Miller, Doyle and Kelleher's For Love & Liberty: Irish Women, Migration and Domesticity in Ireland and America, 1815-1920.

Ourselves Alone: Women's Emigration from Ireland 1885-1920 by Janet Nolan - According to Fallon's annotated bibliography, the book includes descripions of the life of Irish women in the United States during this period.

The Irish in America: A Guide to the Literature and Manuscript Collections by Patrick Blessing - This resource includes twelve pages of sources focused on women in addition to many pages of other interesting topics on Irish-American history.

Erin's Daughters in America by Hasia Diner - This is a book that I had actually begun to read but had not yet finished. Diner's book, which attempts to cover many aspects of the lives of Irish-American women, often negatively focuses on the failures of the Irish but is interesting reading.

Immigrant Women in the United States: A Selectively Annotated Multidisciplinary Bibliography by Donna Gabaccia - A reference work for serious students of women's history, this book's country of origin index lists over 200 entries for Ireland.

Check out Helen Fallon's full annotated bibliography entitled The Emigration of Irish Women in the Nineteenth Century.

Another book not noted on the list that I found while searching for Irish women's history is Women in Ireland 1800-1919: A Documentary History. Using actual letters and documents of the time period (the kind I would like to discover handed down in my family) the book gives a glimpse into the world and lives of Irish women within the last two centuries.

In light of my search for the stories of my great-grandmothers and mothers many generations back I particularly enjoyed reading the admonishments to women written by Margaret Cusack (known as the Nun of Kenmare) as reprinted in Women in Ireland 1800-1918. She wrote in 1874:

"...Every mother is forming the future generation,...every mother is affixing her stamp and seal to the society which will be when she perhaps has gone to her account.

It is an awful thing to think how far we can control and influence the destinies of an entire race, of a race preparing for its future life.

Mothers! arise in the greatness of your power, in the splendour of your strength, and be the regenerators of the world. You have in your hands the making or marring of immortal destinies; do not, I beg you, be content with anything less."

In this month with its focus both on Irish-American heritage and women's history, Small-leaved Shamrock remembers and honors the life of each daughter of Erin who has gone before us and "affixed her stamp and seal" on her society and her family.

Though I may never learn the details of the life stories of many of my women ancestors, I know that they will always be a part of me and that their influence on the history of my family has helped to make me who I am today.

Have additional suggested reading that might open our eyes to the lives and times of the women in our Irish family trees? Please post a comment or send an email to Small-leaved Shamrock.

This article was originally published on March 10, 2008.  It has been reposted here in honor of women's history month.

Join us for the 2010 St. Patrick's Day online parade!

For the past two St. Patrick's Days (2008 and 2009) Small-leaved Shamrock has hosted a St. Patrick's Day parade - in the blogosphere, that is. Each one was great fun and we're planning to do it again.

As you probably know, March is Irish heritage month in many places, thanks to the March 17 celebration of the life of St. Patrick, beloved patron of Ireland. Our "parade", also the 18th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture, will be open to anything and everything about Irish heritage, genealogy and culture. Articles about St. Patrick will be appreciated, but articles related to any meaningful aspect of Ireland's heritage are welcomed. Important note: No Irish heritage is required to participate!

The deadline is Sunday, March 14, 2009. Submit your parade entry here. Then come join us for the parade on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2009. On the feast of St. Patrick, everyone likes to be Irish, at least for one day. Hope to see you at the parade wearing your green!

Small-leaved Shamrock celebrates Family Tree Magazine's top 40

Go raibh maith agaibh!

A heartfelt thanks (in Irish Gaelic) to all of you for a great honor.  Small-leaved Shamrock, humble birthplace of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture, is proud to reside within Family Tree Magazine's top 5 heritage blogs - a small contingent among their "Fab Forty": Family Tree Magazine's 40 Best Genealogy Blogs (which includes some of my very favorites!).

Maureen Taylor wrote the magazine's announcement and said kindly about Small-leaved Shamrock:

"A lovely photo of the Irish countryside hooks you the moment you land on this blog. The blogger—a self-described Hungarian / Croatian / Irish-ancestored woman named Lisa—offers research tips and compelling stories of Irish life. The Small-leaved Shamrock is home to the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture: Lisa’s links to participants’ posts."

Thank you to Diane Haddad, Maureen Taylor, and all of the Family Tree Magazine staff for the honor; Jordan McClements for the use of his beautiful photograph of the Irish countryside; my creative daughter for the Top 40 logo above; and you, my faithful readers, who placed your vote for Small-leaved Shamrock or have supported this blog in other ways.  I consider you part of my Irish clan! (Although I can't find a way to fit all of you into the pedigree chart.)

When the idea for this blog took root almost three years ago, I had the intent to connect my extended family and help them to rediscover their Irish ancestry. I had no idea where else the journey might take me.  Along the way I have discovered an even deeper appreciation of my heritage, a new collection of friends in genealogy along with some newfound cousins, and some accolades from readers and fans: including this very special recognition from one of my absolute favorite magazines. 

"From quiet homes and first beginning,
Out to the undiscovered ends,
There's nothing worth the wear of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends."

~ Hilaire Belloc, from "Dedicatory Ode," Verses (1910)

Thanks for visiting this little Irish corner of the web.  Don't forget to join us for the upcoming online St. Patrick's Day parade, whether you have Irish heritage or not.  The deadline to submit your entry is Sunday, March 14.

Please take the time to read Family Tree Magazine's May 2010 issue highlighting the top 40 genealogy blogs.  The list includes some of my very favorites (although many others that I enjoy didn't get a mention this time):


All-Around

• Creative Gene by Jasia Smasha
• footnoteMaven by footnoteMaven
• GeneaBloggers by Thomas MacEntee
• Genea-Musings by Randy Seaver

Cemetery

• The Association of Graveyard Rabbits by several authors
• Granite in My Blood by Midge Frazel

Corporate

• Ancestry.com Blog by various authors

Genetic Genealogy

• The Genetic Genealogist by Blaine Bettinger

Heritage

• George Geder by George Geder
• Scottish Genealogy News and Events by Chris Paton
• Small Leaved Shamrock by Lisa
• Steve’s Genealogy Blog by Stephen Danko
• Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog by Schelly Talalay Dardashti

How-To

• Family Matters by Denise Barrett Olson
• Genealogy Guys by George G. Morgan and Drew Smith
• Genealogy Tip of the Day by Michael John Neill
• The ProGenealogists Blog by various authors

Local and Regional

• California Genealogical Society and Library Blog by Kathryn Doyle
• Sandusky History by the staff of the Sandusky (Ohio) Library Archives Research Center
• Midwestern Microhistory by Harold Henderson

News and Resources

• The Ancestry Insider by the Ancestry Insider
• DearMyrtle by Pat Richley-Erickson
• Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter by Dick Eastman
• GenealogyBlog by Leland Meitzler

Photos and Heirlooms

• The Family Curator by Denise Levenick
• Shades of the Departed by footnoteMaven

Personal and Family

• AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors by Miriam Midkiff
• Apple’s Tree by anonymous
• BeNotForgot by Vickie Everhart
• Educated Genealogist by Sheri Fenley
• Greta’s Genealogy Blog by Greta Koehl
• Heritage Happens by Cheryl Fleming Palmer
• Herstoryan by Herstoryan
• Janet the Researcher by Janet Iles
• Kinexxions by Becky Wiseman
• Little Bytes of Life by Elizabeth
• Our Georgia Roots by Luckie Daniels
• WeTree by Amy Coffin
• West in New England by Bill West
• What’s Past is Prologue by Donna Pointkouski

Blogs mentioned by Family Tree Magazine in addition to their top 40:

The Chart Chick
Elyse’s Genealogy Blog
Everything’s Relative 
Finding the Flock 
The Genealogue
Olive Tree Genealogy Blog
Polly’s Granddaughter
Renee’s Genealogy Blog
Seeking Michigan
Think Genealogy

The You Go Genealogy Girls

"I speak with a proud tongue...": A poem for our Irish ancestors

A great poem that helps to conjure up images of many of our Irish forebears...

Dedication

by Patrick MacGill (1890- )

I speak with a proud tongue of the people who were
And the people who are,
The worthy of Ardara, the Rosses and Inishkeel,
My kindred-
The people of the hills and the dark-haired passes
My neighbours on the lift of the brae,
In the lap of the valley.
To them Slainthé!

I speak of the old men,
The wrinkle-rutted,
Who dodder about foot-weary -
For their day is as the day that has been and is no more -
Who warm their feet by the fire,
And recall memories of the times that are gone;
Who kneel in the lamplight and pray
For the peace that has been theirs -
And who beat one dry-veined hand against another
Even in the sun-
For the coldness of death is on them.

I speak of the old women
Who danced to yesterday's fiddle
And dance no longer.
They sit in a quiet place and dream
And see visions
Of what is to come,
Of their issue,
Which has blossomed to manhood and womanhood -
And seeing thus
They are happy
For the day that was leaves no regrets,
And peace is theirs
And perfection.

I speak of the strong men
Who shoulder their burdens in the hot day,
Who stand on the market-place
And bargain in loud voices,
Showing their stock to the world.
Straight the glance of their eyes -
Broad-shouldered,
Supple.
Under their feet the holms blossom,
The harvest yields.
The their path is of prosperity.

I speak of the women,
Strong hipped, full-bosomed,
Who drive the cattle to graze at dawn,
Who milk the cows at dusk.
Grace in their homes,
And in the crowded ways
Modest and seemly -
Mother of children!

I speak of the children
Of the many townlands,
Blossoms of the Bogland,
Flowers of the Valley,
Who know not yesterday, nor to-morrow,
And are happy,
The pride of those who have begot them.

And thus it is,
Every and always,
In Ardara, the Rosses and Inishkeel -
Here, as elsewhere,
The Weak, the Strong, and the Blossoming -
And thus my kindred.

To them Slainthé!


(This poem can be found in 1000 Years of Irish Poetry: The Gaelic and Anglo Irish Poets from Pagan Times to the Present by Kathleen Hoagland)

Irish Blog Awards taking nominations for 2010

Time's almost up!  Irish Blog Awards 2010 nominations are currently being accepted but will close very soon.  Take some time to vote for your favorite Irish blogs and blog posts.  Winners will be announced in Galway in March.

"Show and tell": Irish genealogical treasures

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.

This 17th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture is a chance for some of us to show off the treasures that we have accumulated during our search for family history.  Show and tell is always lots of fun, and this one is no exception.  Get ready to see some true Irish genealogical treasures and hear the stories behind them.  Happy reading!


A family Bible is a rare treasure appreciated by every family historian.  Frances Ellsworth (aka "Hummer") presents images of the family Bible that once belonged to her Magill ancestors.  Using the information in the Bible, she was able to confirm that the land patent records that she had found listed the correct Magill family. Visit Frances' 17th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture Irish Treasures posted at Branching Out Through The Years to see the Bible pages for yourself and read about the land records Frances found.

Unable to come across the information I was looking for in a family Bible, a state record repository, a county record repository, or church archive, I was thrilled to find it nestled within the pages of my great-great-grandfather's Civil War pension file.  View the church document (complete with the parish seal) that I found within that file that listed the birth and baptism dates of many of the Cowhey family members for whom I was searching at my article Family treasure at the National Archives: 19th-century birth records & more here at Small-leaved Shamrock.

Sometimes the rumor of Irish ancestry runs through a family, although the actual proof is hard to find.  Debra Osborne Spindle (aka "Tex") finds that to be the case in her family.  As she states in Irish Roots at Last. Probably., this author of All My Ancestors "joined the Carnival of  Irish Heritage & Culture on faith", since she has not yet been able to find a primary source document confirming her Mitchell clan's Irish ancestry.  She has, however, found a book that includes a mention that her ancestor "emigrated from Ireland in 1752".  Visit Debra's blog to read more about the story of her Mitchell ancestors and her quest to confirm her possible Irish roots.

Thomas MacEntee of Destination Austin Family has the type of family document in his possession that Debra is looking for.  Visit An Irish Treasure: Citizenship Papers for Matthew McGinnes to see a copy of "one of [Thomas'] most cherished treasures": his great-great-grandfather's original United States citizenship certificate dated 1888.

I have a similar document in my possession (although it is not the original): the naturalization papers of my great-great-grandfather dated 1876.  Visit Tierney family treasure: Patrick's naturalization papers, 1876 to see the documents, read their transcriptions, and learn which "item" within these documents that I like the best.

For this "show and tell" carnival Julie Cahill Tarr of GenBlog shares with us an obituary of her great-great-grandmother Margaret "Maggie" Millet Cahill.  It states an important piece of information: Maggie's birthplace in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Visit Julie's Irish Genealogy Treasures to read the obituary for yourself.

K. Wech started off her new blog with an entry for our carnival.  At Central PA Genealogist she presents the story of her First genealogical trip to Ireland which resulted from the discovery she made in an obituary of an ancestor who died in 1900.  Visit her blog to hear the story of the kindnesses she experienced in the people of County Longford, Ireland during a visit there in search of her roots.

Dorene Paul, the Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay, shares with us the Marriage Record of Thomas F. Larkins and Lula M. Cross, her great-great-grandparents.  After an unsuccessful search at the Erie County, Ohio courthouse, she states, "I came across the marriage record for my great-great-grandparents, Thomas F. and Mary Louise Cross Larkins, in Kalamazoo County, Michigan during a Google Search."  A happy surprise for Dorene in her search for family history!

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith wasn't sure he had any Irish ancestry until the discovery of the birthplace of his great-great-great-grandfather way back in 1745 in County Wicklow, Ireland.  Visit Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories for more of the fascinating story of John Butler - [Bill's] Irish Ancestor who followed his brother from Ireland to America and fought in the Revolutionary War.

Moving ahead to the middle of the 20th-century, Bill West of West in New England shares the 1949 land deed for the transfer of a Boston home from one family member of The McFarlands of Parker Street, Boston, MA to another. Like my Boston Tierney family and many other extended families of the time, the McFarlands settled together on one street, sometimes renting, sometimes buying, sometimes moving down the street, but often remaining close neighbors with other family members.

Karen Hammer of Ancestor Soup shares with us her most important "treasure" in terms of her Irish ancestry - and the reason that her family has retained pride in their Irish heritage.  Visit My Irish Genealogy Treasure to read her story.  Those of us that have an "Uncle Jimmy" in our own families certainly can relate.

Alice Keesey Mecoy has a special treat for us at this edition of the carnival.  She says, "I don't believe that I have any Irish blood flowing in my veins, but I can share my love and memories of the Irish Crochet my grandmother lovingly created for many, many years." Visit Genealogy Treasure Show and Tell in the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture posted at Alice's John Brown Kin.


Thanks to all of you who contributed to this "show and tell" fun and to those of you who took the time to read.  Please plan to join us for the upcoming 18th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture, also known as the:

3rd annual 

Small-leaved Shamrock 

St. Patrick's Day 

Parade of Posts 

The topic is anything and everything Irish, so come join in the fun whether or not you have Irish roots!  The deadline is Sunday, March 14, 2009.  The carnival will be published on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.  For more details, visit the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture blog.  See you there!

Family treasure at the National Archives: 19th-century birth records & more

My great-great-grandparents William & Margaret (Foley) Cowhey had many children.  Prior to their marriage, William and his first wife also had several children.  I had the information from a handwritten family tree that I had been given by a distant cousin.  I hoped to sort out and confirm these names, birthdates and mother/child relationships with official birth records. 

At first my search was not easy.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health didn't have the information I was looking for.  Their records only went back to 1906.

I had no success either when I contacted the Schuylkill County Courthouse.

St. Patrick's Catholic Church of Pottsville, Pennsylvania surely had the information somewhere in their archives, but they wouldn't allow information requests for records of that age due to their fragility. (They had a parishioner who had been painstakingly transcribing those records, but he had passed away and no one had taken his place.)

I had heard of the existence of a Cowhey family Bible (possibly a good source for some of the information) but I had no idea if it had survived the second half of the 20th-century, and if it had, in whose home it might currently reside.

Ironically, it turned out that the records that I was looking for did not reside in Pennsylvania at all - at least not that I could find.  Like many Cowhey family descendants who had moved out of state, these birth records had also.  I found them (unfortunately after my original research visit) residing happily at the National Archives building in Washington D.C. within the Civil War pension (and widow's pension) file for William Cowhey and his wife Margaret (Foley) Cowhey.

You can imagine how happy I was when I received the envelope in the mail with copies of the documents in this file and found the one below.  As part of the paperwork filled out at the time of Williams' death on behalf of his wife Margaret was this Record Proof of Births of Surviving Children of Soldier Under Sixteen Years of Age - a list of eight of their children's names, birthdates and baptism dates taken from the records and bearing the seal of St. Patrick's Catholic Church of Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

As I mentioned in Death comes in threes: The sorrows of Margaret (Foley) Cowhey, William's untimely death had left his 37-year-old wife Margaret a widow and the sole caretaker for their eight youngest children.  The Record Proof of Births of Surviving Children of Soldier Under Sixteen Years of Age within the pension file listed Margaret's living children from age fourteen down to eight months. (The couple's two eldest children were not covered by the pension, nor were the children of William Cowhey and his first wife.)

This primary source document was the first that I had found (besides U.S. census records) that validated some of the information in the handwritten Cowhey family tree that I had been given: a true family treasure.

*

The eight children listed within the Record Proof of Births of Surviving Children of Soldier Under Sixteen Years of Age shown above are Mary, Elizabeth, Thomas, Ambrose, Clara, Charles, Blanche and Isabella Cowhey, born 1881 to 1892. (The youngest, nicknamed Bella, would die a tragic death at a young age only two and a half years following William's death.)


Williams's Civil War pension file also included many other family treasures within its pages, including the handwritten account of he and his brother Thomas' night crossing the Potomac River in 1861. The account was written in Thomas' own handwriting in 1889 and is another one of the family documents that I treasure most.

*

In search of your own Civil War ancestors' pension file?  Check out the resources on this Genealogy Branches webpage to get started.  (Note: You might have to try several sources before you find your ancestors' index card. I finally found William Cowhey's on Footnote.  Try their Civil War & Later Veterans Pension Index to do your own search.)

Calling all "Irish genealogy treasure" carnival entries!

Several of us have experienced difficulty with the Blog Carnival website over the last few days.  If you have had similar trouble (or you are just plain late!), please email your submissions directly to me for inclusion in the carnival.  My email can be found on my profile page. 

Look for the 17th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture to be posted this Thursday, January 7.  See you there!

Genealogy treasure "show and tell": Deadline Jan. 3, 2010

The upcoming 17th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture will be a Genealogy treasure "show and tell". Here are the details:

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".

Deadline for submissions to the Genealogy treasure "show and tell" edition of the carnival is Sunday, January 3, 2010. This edition will be published at Small-leaved Shamrock on Thursday, January 7, 2010 .

Genealogists - get ready to show us your stuff at the upcoming show and tell carnival!

For past editions or other information about the carnival, visit the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture blog.

A candle in the window on Christmas Eve (Advent Calendar: Christmas Eve)

Christmas Eve is a magical time. The waiting of Advent is over and the celebration of the Savior's birth is about to begin.

One beautiful way that the Irish have traditionally kept this holy night is with the lighting of a candle in the window. The warm light from its glow acts as a welcome to all so that no one should be without shelter.

Offering hospitality to others by way of a lighted candle is a tradition as old as ancient Ireland. In more recent centuries during times of persecution in Ireland, the candle offered a welcome to priests that the home was a safe haven and that Mass could be offered there. On Christmas Eve, the candle also symbolizes the willingness of the household to welcome the Holy Family, so that the Infant Jesus and his family would not again be turned away. One Irish belief held that Joseph, Mary and Jesus still wandered the world, seeking a place of refuge from Herod.

The words of The Kerry Carol, written by Sigerson Clifford, admonish us to be sure to provide a welcome for the Holy Family on this special night before Christmas. Below are verses two and seven. I've placed the full version of the song here.

Verse 2
Ná múch an coinneal ard bán,
Ach fág é lásta go geal.
Go mbeidh siad cinnte ar aon
go bhfuil fáilte is fiche roimh cách
Sa teach ar an Oiche Nollag naofa seo!

Don't blow the tall white candle out
But leave it burning bright,
So that they'll know they're welcome here
This holy Christmas night!

Verse 7
Ná cur ar an ndoras ach an laiste anocht!
Agus coimead na gríosaigh beó -
Agus guí go mbeidh siad fén ar ndíon anocht
Agus an domhan 'na chodladh go suan.

Leave the door upon the latch,
And set the fire to keep,
And pray they'll rest with us tonight
When all the world's asleep.


Tim Dennehy, who has recorded The Kerry Carol, has also written a song of his own to be sung in welcome of the Holy Family on Christmas Eve.

Tim has taken a traditional Irish prayer of welcome and added additional verses and a refrain. His song, An Nollaig Theas, begins as follows:

Dia do bheatha 'dir asal is damh gan riar
Dia do bheatha id' leanbh, id Fhlaith gan chiach
Dia do bheatha ód' Fhlaithis go teach na bpian
Dia do bheathasa 'Íosa.

Dún do shúil a Rí an tSolais, dún do shúile ríoga
Dún do shúil a Shaoi an tSonais, dún do shúile síoda.


Translated to English, the words are:

God's greeting to you untended 'tween ox and ass
God's greeting to you Child and Prince serene
God's greeting to you from heaven to the hour of pain
God's greeting to you dear Jesus.

Close your eyes oh King of light, close your regal eyes
Close your eyes oh fount of happiness, close your silken eyes.


You can find the rest of the lyrics to the song on Tim Dennehy's website Sceilig.com.

If you choose to light a candle in your window this Christmas Eve and would like to follow Irish tradition, remember that it requires that the candle be left burning throughout the night. Oh, and it must only be blown out by one having the name of Mary! Or was that the youngest child in the family? Actually it might have been the youngest child who would, of course, be named Mary.

No matter. As long as you get the candle in the window I think any Irishman or woman would be feel welcomed at your home on Christmas Eve, not to mention Mary, Joseph and the Infant Jesus.

Image courtesy of DoChara.com.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 24: Christmas Eve. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at Small-leaved Shamrock and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

Can't forget Killarney... (Advent Calendar: Christmas Music)

Speaking of Christmas carols, I can't help but mention one of my favorites. It also evokes a traditional Irish Christmas like the songs I wrote about earlier, but it is certainly a more modern song.

The carol I'm referring to is Christmas in Killarney by John Redmond, James Cavanaugh and Frank Weldon. Bobby Vinton's version of the song conjures up memories for me of my childhood living room: me resting on the floor below the Christmas tree with Christmas in Killarney playing on the stereo system's record player. It might have been the very song that inspired me to learn how to use the record player and place the needle at just the right place so that I could repeat my favorite song, although I remember enjoying all the songs on Bobby Vinton's Christmas album.

Only now listening to it again do I realize all the references to Irish culture in the song: the holly leaves, the ivy green, the mistletoe, the jigs and reels...

Click here for Jim Corbett and Chris Caswell's version of the song, sung with a nice Irish brogue.

Here are the words (a more complete set of lyrics than the ones used in the audio version linked above):

Christmas In Killarney

Verse:
The holly green, the ivy green
The prettiest picture you've ever seen
Is Christmas in Killarney
With all of the folks at home
It's nice, you know, to kiss your beau
While cuddling under the mistletoe
And Santa Claus you know, of course
Is one of the boys from home

Bridge:
The door is always open
The neighbors pay a call
And Father John before he's gone
Will bless the house and all
Our Hearts are light, our spirits bright
We'll celebrate our joy tonight
Is Christmas in Killarney
With all of the folks at home

Repeat Verse

Bridge:
We'll decorate the Christmas tree
When all the family's here
Around a roaring fire
We will raise a cup of cheer
There's gifts to bring,
And songs to sing
And laughs to make the rafters ring
Is Christmas in Killarney
With all of the folks at home

Repeat Verse

Bridge:
We'll take the horse and sleigh all
Across the fields of snow
Listening to the jingle bells
Everywhere we go
How grand it feels to click your heels
And dance away to the jigs and reels
It's Christmas in Killarney
With all of the folks at home

Repeat Verse

Is Christmas in Killarney
With all of the folks at home

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 21: Christmas Music. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at Small-leaved Shamrock and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007. In the mood for more Christmas carols? Check out footnote Maven's "heavenly host" at A Choir of GeneaAngels. The angel to footnote Maven's right in the center of the choir is standing in for me.

Sing of Christmas! (Advent Calendar: Christmas Music)

The Irish have long been known for their love of music, their talent for writing poetry, and their devotion to faith. All of these come together beautifully in traditional Irish Christmas carols.

You may not be as familiar with The Wexford Carol and others as with some of the more frequently-played modern-day carols and other traditional favorites. But the richness of the words and the Irish charm of the music may call you to make these carols an important part of your family's Christmas celebration.

The Wexford Carol is one of the oldest Irish carols and may date back to the 12th century. You can find the audio version of the music here or here. These are the words:

The Wexford Carol

Good people all, this Christmas-time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved Son.

With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas day;
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born.

The night before that happy tide
The noble Virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town.

But mark how all things came to pass;
From every door repelled alas!
As long foretold, their refuge all
Was but an humble ox's stall.

There were three wise men from afar
Directed by a glorious star,
And on they wandered night and day
Until they came where Jesus lay,

And when they came unto that place
Where our beloved Messiah was,
They humbly cast them at his feet,
With gifts of gold and incense sweet.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep;
To whom God's angels did appear,
Which put the shepherds in great fear.

"Prepare and go", the angels said.
'To Bethlehem, be not afraid,
For there you'll find this happy morn,
A princely babe, sweet Jesus born.

With thankful heart and joyful mind,
The shepherds went the babe to find,
And as God's angel had foretold,
They did our savior Christ behold.

Within a manger he was laid,
And by his side the virgin maid,
Attending on the Lord of life,
Who came on earth to end all strife.

A newer but also well-loved Irish song, The Kerry Christmas Carol (An Ciarrí Carúl Nollag), was first published in 1955 in a book of poetry entitled Ballads of a Bogman. Written by Sigerson Clifford, it focuses on a traditional Irish Christmas Eve custom. Each household welcomes the Holy Family to their home by lighting a candle and placing it in a window. According to Jack & Vivian Hennessey's Irish Page about the Kerry carol, "There was a pious belief that Joseph and Mary and the Child still wandered the roads of the world, looking for a place to rest from the persecution of Herod. That they should show a preference for the roads of rural Ireland was accepted as a given."

The only online audio version of The Kerry Christmas Carol that I could find is this little snippet from Tim Dennehy's Between The Mountains And The Sea. Here are the words to the song in Irish-Gaelic followed by the English translation (thanks to the Irish Page):

An Ciarrí Carúl Nollag
The Kerry Christmas Carol

Verse 1
Scuab an t-urlár agus glan an teallach,
's coimead na grísaigh beo,
Ar eagla go dtiocfhaidh siad anocht,
Agus an domhan 'na chodladh go suan!

Brush the floor and clean the hearth,
And set the fire to keep,
For they might visit us tonight
When all the world's asleep!

Verse 2
Ná múch an coinneal ard bán,
Ach fág é lásta go geal.
Go mbeidh siad cinnte ar aon
go bhfuil fáilte is fiche roimh cách
Sa teach ar an Oiche Nollag naofa seo!

Don't blow the tall white candle out
But leave it burning bright,
So that they'll know they're welcome here
This holy Christmas night!

Verse 3
Léig amach ar an mbord, arán is feoil,
Agus braonín bainne don leanbh.
Agus beidh beannacht ar an dtine
Agus ar an té a bhruith an t-arán
Agus ar an lamh a dhéin an t-obair dian.

Leave out the bread and meat for them,
And sweet milk for the Child,
And they will bless the fire, that baked
And, too, the hands that toiled.

Verse 4
Beidh Naomh Iósaef túirseach,
Tar éis an turas fada.
Agus aghaidh Mhuire fann, bánghnéitheach
Agus beidh néal codlata aca.
Sar a n-imthígheann siad arís.

For Joseph will be travel-tired,
And Mary pale and wan,
And they can sleep a little while
Before they journey on.

Verse 5
Beidh túirse na mbóthar fada ortha
Agus seans aca a scíth a ligint,
Ó's iomai an míle fada uaigneach
Atá roimh an dtriur aca
Uaidh seo go dtí Beithil.

They will be weary of the roads,
And rest will comfort them,
For it must be many a lonely mile
From here to Bethlehem.

Verse 6
Ó is fada an bóthar 'tá le taisteal aca,
Agus é idir garbh is mín
Agus Cnoch Chalvaire mar ceann scríbe aca,
Agus chroise adhmad indan.

O long the road they have to go,
The bad mile with the good,
Till the journey ends on Calvary
Beneath a cross of wood.

Verse 7
Ná cur ar an ndoras ach an laiste anocht!
Agus coimead na gríosaigh beó -
Agus guí go mbeidh siad fén ar ndíon anocht
Agus an domhan 'na chodladh go suan.

Leave the door upon the latch,
And set the fire to keep,
And pray they'll rest with us tonight
When all the world's asleep.

Another favorite Irish carol is Once In Royal David's City written in 1848 by Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander. You can find an audio version of it at this page. Here are the words:

Once in Royal David's City

Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior Holy.

And through all His wondrous childhood
He would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly Maiden,
In whose gentle arms He lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.

Jesus is our childhood's pattern;
Day by day, like us He grew;
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above,
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see Him; but in heaven,
Set at God's right hand on high;
Where like stars His children crowned
All in white shall wait around.

For more on Irish Christmas carols read Bridget Haggerty's An Irish Christmas - Ding Dong, Merrily on High...

You might also enjoy these Gaelic versions of popular Christmas carols (including Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer) courtesy of Vivian and Jack Hennessey.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 21: Christmas Music. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at Small-leaved Shamrock and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007. In the mood for more Christmas carols? Check out footnote Maven's "heavenly host" at A Choir of GeneaAngels. The angel to footnote Maven's right in the center of the choir is standing in for me.

St. Clair, PA and a Merry Christmas to all! (Advent Calendar: Religious Services)

Historian Anthony F.C. Wallace has provided a wonderful gift for a family historian researching the past in a small 19th-century Pennsylvania coal town: he spent years researching and writing about the town of St. Clair, its industries and its people. The result is his book St. Clair: A Nineteenth-Century Coal Town's Experience With a Disaster-Prone Industry.

The book provides an amazing and thorough glimpse into the world of the people of Schuylkill County, its coal mines and the big business that controlled them, and a slew of other aspects of life in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania in the 19th-century.

This region provided hope for many new immigrants, people of varying ethnic backgrounds and religions, who looked to the coal industry in Schuylkill County for their living and their future. Irish, Welsh, English, German, and people of other ethnicities. Catholics and Protestants. All came to live their lives within the world of the coal mines and the industries that sprung up around them.

But as Wallace indicates in his book, "The churches...were supposed in Christian doctrine to be places where all social classes mingled in common devotion, but they were also bastions of ethnicity." I found interesting, however, his description of times when the ethnic and religious barriers came down for a time. "There were... occasions when some blending of congregations occurred. The most regular of these was at Christmastime, when all of St. Clair was invited on Christmas evening to attend the annual concert organized by the Sunday School at the Methodist Episcopal church." According to Wallace, "Attending services at another denomination's place of worship was a common Christmas practice in some other parts of Pennsylvania as well, permitting even Catholics and Protestants some admission of their mutual Christianity."

Knowing that this age and place was one where Irish Catholics had their own church and German Catholics had another (with similar situations for the Protestants), this is a nice bit of history to encounter.

Wishing a wonderful Christmas season to all of you, no matter what ethnic or religious background is yours. Merry Christmas to all!

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 20: Religious Services. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at Small-leaved Shamrock and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

Nollaig Shona dhíbh! (Advent Calendar: Grab Bag)

With Christmas just a week or so away there is still time to learn how to offer Christmas greetings in Gaelic.

Unlike Christmas shopping, it doesn't cost much to spread the kind of Christmas cheer that a "Nollaig Shona dhíbh!" can bring to your friends and family. And if they don't understand you at first, wishing them Christmas greetings in Gaelic can be the start of some good conversation on the topic of Irish heritage and the holiday season.
Here's a little lesson in Gaelic greetings for you (with generous thanks to the Irish Culture & Customs webpage Bunús na Gaeilge - Basic Irish Language):

Christmas is Nollaig, pronounced "null-ahg".

If you want to wish a happy Christmas to another person, you can say: Nollaig Shona dhuit, pronounced "null-ig hun-ah gwich".

A similar Christmas greeting to more than one person would be: Nollaig Shona dhíbh, pronounced "null-ig hun-ah yeev".

If (surprise of surprises!) someone wishes you Nollaig Shona dhuit, an appropriate way to say, "And to you..." would be: Go mba hé duit, pronounced, "guh mah hay gwich".

Bhfuil an siopadóireacht le h-aghaidh bronnantanais na Nollaig críochnaithe agat go fóill? (That was "Have you finished all your shopping for Christmas presents yet?" pronounced "Will shup-ah-dhoh-ir-ukth leh heye brun-than-ish nah null-ig cree-ukh-knee-heh ah-guth guh foh-il?") If not, the time is now.

If you have finished all your shopping and perhaps other Christmas preparations, then you might want to take some time to work on your Gaelic. Here are a few good resources to get you started:

• Foras na Gaeilge's webpage on learning Gaelic
• Daltaí na Gaeilge teachers list of Gaelic courses
• Gaelport™
• Even a page on computer terms in Irish Gaelic

When Christmas day is over and all the gifts have been unwrapped, ná déan dearmaid litreacha buíochais a scríobh as bhfúir mbrontannais. (That's Gaelic for: "Don't forget to write thank-you letters for your presents" pronounced "naw djayn djar-muidh lith-ree-uckha bwee-khish ah shcreev ahs woo-ir mrun-thahn-ish".) If your Gaelic studies have been successful, maybe you can throw in some new words and phrases in Irish Gaelic in each thank-you note.

Who knows, maybe it will increase your chances of seeing a little more luck of the Irish in the new year ahead.

Don't forget to check the Irish Culture & Customs webpage for a nice lexicon of Irish Gaelic holiday words and greetings.

Image courtesy of O'Brien's Irish Cottage.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 17: Grab Bag. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at Small-leaved Shamrock and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.