My maternal side has been traced back to Thomas McGauley (ca. 1790-1851) Died in Dunleer, possibly born in Drogheda. We were very close to the many McGauleys still in Massachusetts when I was younger. All smart, driven, deeply principled people and none ever met a stranger. Very little is known about the Keaney (Kearney?) side, however. There's a bit of French-Canadian mixed in there which helps to explain my dad's and my coloration (though I used to find a sprinkling of red ones in my beard before it turned mostly white). My mother confided to me that when I was very young, some of the older women in her family would sometimes, in private, refer to me as "the black one" lol!
@tktoo2. Well I am impressed. To have managed to trace your maternal side back that far is an achievement. Most historical birth,marriage and death records were kept in Parish churches and a lot were destroyed; fire; civil wars; wars.... so a lot of family history is word of mouth passed from one generation to the next ,with a few embellishments added along the way!
A couple of my cousins are trying to piece together the collected scribblings of my late Uncle ( paternal side) who had used his job as a traveling Agri salesman to visit as many graveyards as possible.
My dark hair also showing signs of advancing years...will continue to disguise this for another few years and hopefully let myself go ,completely grey, gracefully.
Knowledge shared is Knowledge gained
The research was compiled by a distant cousin (with help from relatives still in IRL) for her book " The Macauley, McAuley, McGauley Family of County Louth, Ireland" published for a family reunion held here in Massachusetts in 1996 where there were more than 200 of us attending from as far away as Ireland, England, and Alaska! Included in the book are numerous entries of family lore dictated by some of the eldest surviving descendants at the time. It seems that not mincing words runs in the family, as memories of certain individuals (especially men married into the family) cannot be described as particularly charitable. Perhaps that's because she who lives longest sets the record?
A book; now that IS impressive.
Unfortunately at this stage my parents and their immediate siblings have all passed away. Every 2 years or so my paternal side have a family gathering/party.. After this epidemic has passed we have planned the next get together and I might suggest that any of the cousins with stories from their parents / grandparents should put them in writing; though there are probably a few different versions of the same story!!! Us Irish women are known for not "mincing" our words. I personally say it as I see it, which doesn't always go down well.
Surprisingly emigration was not a big thing in my family. One uncle ( maternal side) went to Newfoundland in the sixties ; his children still there and also in Toronto and Calgary. One cousin, from Dad's side, lives in Boston.
Knowledge shared is Knowledge gained
You have Newfie cousins? I've always wanted to get there, but, alas, only made it as far as Cape Breton Island. Gorgeous, but the least intelligible English I've ever heard. They seem to grow up sturdy and forthright there.
The expression here is, "I call 'em like I see 'em." Pretty sure it comes from baseball, but you do indeed call 'em well here on DA and I appreciate it.
If life ever returns to normal, my wife and I want to return to Ireland without our two daughters next time. Where are you? It would be fun to share a pint!
Dublin.It would be lovely to meet up if you ever visit.
I visited St. Johns for the first time in 2011, for my cousins wedding. A very wild and rugged place; they need to be sturdy!! One of the highlights of the trip was to stand at the point where the western end of the first transatlantic cable was laid, having visited on many occasions, the eastern end on Valentia Island in County Kerry.
Yes they have a turn of phrase and accents that can be hard to comprehend; I found myself saying "Pardon, could you repeat that?" The locals on the other hand found our Irish accents quaint and kept asking us to chat away among ourselves so they could just listen.! A lot of them, needless to say, had Irish ancestory .
On a totally unrelated topic; Matt Damon is currently "self-isolating" and "coccooning" with his family a mere 2kms from me and has been seen out jogging in the local park.Killiney Hill Park. ( Google it; lovely spot with great views) Apparently he arrived here to shoot for some film and then the travel restrictions were imposed and he decided to stay put.
Knowledge shared is Knowledge gained
We stayed at the Morgan in Temple Bar a couple of nights on our trip, mostly for our young, twenty-something kids. I was worried that street noise would keep us awake, but it wasn't really a problem. Crawling distance to a whiskey bar never hurts. Staff was pleasant and efficient. Room was fine.
We are in a small town almost an hour WNW of Boston that stood in for Concord (pronounced "conquered") in many scenes in the last film adaptation of "Little Women" for which they trucked in mountains of real snow! Otherwise, it's pretty and mostly quiet out here. Bears, bobcats, and coyotes are the typical hot topics down at the General Store ...until recently, of course.
Damon and Afleck. Pair of Cantabrigian boys made good by pretending to be from South Boston.
Thanks for that @tktoo2. Enjoyed the tweets, especialy as I can read them with the appropriate accents and I know all the places mentioned!!! Hubby got chatting to him while out walking our dog on Killiney Hill ,as he does most days and gave him the heads up on other, less frequented local spots to go jogging/walking Even got a photo of him 🙄 .
The only celeb I ever met,same park, was Bono and his wife Ali and their two dogs. He was giving a casual style interview and my dog, a lurcher ( type of greyhound, very speedy ) spotted the furry piece at the end of the mic and thought it was a rabbit. Now all I can say is that it was all over in seconds: Technician on the ground, my dog and Bono's dog, also a lurcher, were ripping that piece of fur to shreds !! I was mortified and could not apologise enough. He just laughed it off and with interview now cut short, we all continued our walk together. Needless to say we just chatted about our respective dogs. No discussions about World Peace or such things.
Knowledge shared is Knowledge gained
Speaking of Affleck's affected accent, younger brother, Casey, totally nails the quintessential South Beantowner here:
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com