by Paul Gorry | Aug 20, 2021 | Ant and Dec, Baptists, Census Returns, Derry, DNA, Family History, Genealogical Virus, Genealogy, Graveyards, Kilcronaghan, Professional Genealogists, Television |
I’m led to believe that it was Mark Twain who said ‘never let the truth get in the way of a good story’, but who knows? Who cares? Truth is a commodity much less valuable than perception. Get a celebrity into a graveyard, show him any old gravestone and tell him...
by Paul Gorry | Dec 19, 2018 | Family History, McDermott, Traditions, WDYTYA? |
Katie McDermott, née Nolan (1873-1964) I had 13 grandaunts and 18 granduncles – 31 in all – but only four of them were still alive when I was born. It seems that grandaunts and granduncles have gone out of fashion with Irish people. They’ve been supplanted by...
by Paul Gorry | Aug 24, 2018 | Baltinglass, Family History, Local History, West Wicklow Historical Society |
The recent intense and prolonged heatwave experienced by Ireland reminded me of a short newspaper article I came across a few years ago. I included it in my contribution to the Journal of the West Wicklow Historical Society, No. 6 (2011), ‘Miscellaneous...
by Paul Gorry | May 13, 2017 | Ancestral Lines, Baltinglass, Descent, Disney Family, Family History, Genealogy, Hacketstown, Jones Family, Methodists, Newtownsaunders, Walt Disney, Weavers' Square |
It’s well known that the family of Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse and all that sparkles, came from north Co. Kilkenny. But Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, had a very close connection with the Disney family. One of them lived in Baltinglass for many years. Mary...
by Paul Gorry | Mar 10, 2017 | 1798, Baltinglass, Brophy Family, Family History, Graveyards, Local History, Rathmoon |
What’s the oldest gravestone in St. Joseph’s graveyard in Baltinglass? I really don’t know. But I do know that it’s not the one with the earliest date on it. Am I confusing you? Well, there is a gravestone that includes ‘Michael Brophy who gave his life in...
by Paul Gorry | Dec 6, 2016 | 1916, Books, Easter Rising, Family History, Genealogy, Merrion Press, Rootsireland.ie, Seven Signatories |
I’m feeling quite happy today because my new book Seven Signatories: Tracing the Family Histories of the Men Who Signed the Proclamation is hot off the press. It concerns the ancestry of the leaders of the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916. Originally it was an...
