Archive for irish roots
The further back in your family genealogy tree you go, the murkier the picture gets. This is especially true for an American genealogist tracing his or her Irish genealogy. As late as World War II, there was really no reason to stick with the identity you were born with if you were born in Ireland. Unless you were from a rich or powerful family or clan, you discovered fast that your name was not worth a whole lot. And you discovered that one of the best ways to cover up a none-too-shiny past was to change your name where ever you went.
Mass Immigration
Ireland, until recently, has always been a poor nation. When most of Ireland converted to Catholicism, they also eschewed birth control (which was available in herbs that brought on menstruation well before the pill). But Ireland never had enough food to feed all of her millions. When the Great Potato Famine hit in 1845, it was the last straw for most Irish families. There was no work, no food, and no safe place to live. 2.2 million Irish died of starvation alone in five years. Those who lived had no choice but to immigrate.
In one sense, this makes Irish genealogy tree easier in that there are still records of many of the boat registers and records of places like Ellis Island in New York, where the boats landed. Many Irish, however, in order to become more “American” or to escape a blackened past, changed their names on the boat. No proof of ID was needed then – all you had to prove who you were was what came out of your mouth.
Records Meeting
Many studying their Irish genealogies find all information about their ancestors may come to an abrupt halt once the boat left Ireland. When researching in Ireland, they have a hard to nearly impossible time finding any kind of record that their immigrated ancestors were ever born, let alone lived in Ireland.
Then, you need to get creative with your Irish genealogy tree. The immigrants tended to have lively stories of their home towns. Check the towns and then check first names (and often the middle baptized) to find the ancestors’ previous generations. Many name alterations were also very small, even to just spelling Sean in Ireland to Shawn in America.
There are many free Irish genealogy websites you can use for research, which includes lists of cemetery headstones, birth records, execution records and even orphan record listings.
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Where do you come from? Who were your grandparents’ parents? Or their parents? Have you ever asked those questions? These questions typically lead people to retrace their genealogy. One of the ways you can retrace your genealogy is through genealogy forums.
If you happen to retrace your roots to Ireland, then the Ireland genealogy forum is a great place to find out just where you came from. On the Ireland genealogy forum, you’ll meet other like minded people who, just like you, are wondering where you came from. You may even be related in some way to some of these people. You can trade stories, compare notes, and you can hopefully get deeper and deeper into your family history. That makes the Ireland genealogy forum an invaluable resource for your search into your family tree genealogy.
Rich History
Ireland’s rich history has much to uncover. If you are in fact from Ireland, then it’s worth it to trace your roots into that very history. When you sign onto the Ireland genealogy forum, you can introduce yourself and tell the others on the forum that you think you’re from Ireland, or that you know you’re from Ireland, and hopefully you’ll make a connection. By comparing notes with others and by sharing stories and histories that you’ve found, you can dig deeper into your family history. This is a great resource for discovering just who you are, and who your ancestors were, and how you came to be and how you arrived at where you live today.
Meeting Others
The best part about the Ireland genealogy forum is that you’ll meet other like minded people. Digging into your family’s history can be a very long and tedious practice, but it’s also very interesting. It can be a very lonesome process, as well. However, when you meet others who are into genealogy just like you, it’s very liberating and you can possibly uncover more history that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Sometimes, when retracing your roots, you may hit a wall. You may find that you can’t dig anymore because of lack of records, or some other reason that prevents you from finding out just who your early ancestors were. However, when you sign onto a forum like the Ireland genealogy forum, you can possibly meet someone who has dug further from you and you just might meet a cousin or other relative of yours that you never knew existed. That’s what’s so fun about retracing your roots.
Filed under: Ireland | genealogy, Ireland, irish genealogy, irish roots|No Comments
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