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...
by Paul Gorry | Aug 8, 2016 | Aldborough, Ancestral Lines, Ballykilcavan, Baltinglass, Charles Stewart Parnell, Chris De Burgh, Descent, Disney Family, DNA, Elizabeth Bowen, Family History, Genealogy, Hume Cronyn, Lady Gregory, Laois, Local History, Ralph Fiennes, Sarah Ferguson, Stratford Family, Stratford-on-Slaney, Walt Disney, Winston Churchill |
Aldborough memorial, St Mary’s Church, Baltinglass Oliver and Margaret Walsh may never have been internationally recognised figures, but they had a significant impact on the world. Were it not for them the Abbey Theatre might never have been founded, the word...
