Who Do You Think You Are?

Snickers Man

ejmaztec wrote: »

Given the lack of records, I'm always amazed that American presidents, or potential presidents, have Irish genealogists tracing their family back three or four hundred (or more) years, when most of us have a problem finding anything beyond the 19th century.

A UCD professor told me several years ago that the Clinton one was "fudged" because they couldn't find a missing link, or two. Whether this is true or not, I don't know.

I hadn't heard that about Clinton.

I certainly heard it about Ronald Reagan though.

When Reagan visited Ireland back in 1983/84 as part of his re-election drive, his genealogy was produced showing how his direct ancestor (I believe his great grandfather) Thomas Regan came from Ballyporeen, Tipperary.

(As an aside, has anyone ever met an Irish person who spells their surname "Reagan"? I sure haven't. Lots of Regans though.)

However Magill magazine, back when it was a good read, took the opportunity to reproduce a photostat of the recorded entry in their pages. They alleged, and used the picture to show they had a point, that the entry actually said Thomas Ryan, not Regan. They also pointed out that it looked suspiciously as if somebody had tried to write in an extra "e" between the "R" and "g" to turn Ryan into Regan.

The picture certainly looked suspicious.

Remember too that most American presidents with Irish ancestry came from the "Scots Irish" or presbyterian tradition. So their records would not have been driven underground in the 18th century as catholic ones would have to have been during the Penal Laws.

LordSutch

ejmaztec wrote: »

I suppose that it wouldn't be very interesting if they could only tell the celebrities who their parents were.

Agreed, it wouldnt be very interesting if they just told them who their parents were

ejmaztec

Camelot wrote: »

Agreed, it wouldnt be very interesting if they just told them who their parents were

Perhaps I'm being too subtle, or my wavelength is out of sync.

LordSutch

Um err - no - sorry ejmaztec, your 'parents' comment is still lost on me.

Anyway, the Irish version of 'who do you think you are' starts tonight (Monday 15th/Oct) - 9:35 RTE One.

ejmaztec

Camelot wrote: »

Um err - no - sorry ejmaztec, your 'parents' comment is still lost on me.

One day it will come to you in a flash.

jmayo

Camelot wrote: »

...
I have always been curious as to where we all came from, and can our origins be traced back according to our Family Surnames? So recently I made a list of about fifteen surnames from the Office, from Friends, & from Family, I then entered them into some of the various 'on-line' (Surname Heraldry) websites to see what would happen, and apparently nearly all the fifteen are of Norman, Scandenavian, German, English, Welsh or Scottish origin!

Does'nt proove anything really - but interesting & a bit of fun to me none the less, as I presumed that nearly all the surnames would be of Irish origin!!! - Not so.

Bloody blow ins the lot of ye

pjproby

does anyone recall reagan's visit to ballyporeen when he met his irish relative, a man who looked the spitting image of him.

Mushy

So what ye think of Charlies yellow house? Live in the same estate as him, dont think anyone noticed the RTE trucks outside it.

Is there a few variations on this sort of show going around now? Dont the BBC have their own, and possibly some other station?

Alicat

Aww yay I'm glad I started this thread, I'm delighted to see so many others are interested in family geneology. I've loved the UK version of the show for quite a while, and I'm hoping the Irish version might give us a few hints and tips on how to find the most information about our family trees.

My Nana was an "orphan" in Roscommon but we have our suspicions as the priest who's care she was under in her early years had the same last name as her. We'd all love to find out more about it but she doesn't really talk about that part of her life.

Thought the Charlie Bird one was good tonight, they were able to go so far back! Helps having an unusual surname and out of Ireland, the records here are so shabby and full of holes. The Irish census website says that the 1926 Census Returns won't be released for public inspection until January 2027. It's crazy! I think we have a right to access that information. They released the 1901 and 1911 records after so many people kicked up a fuss about it so maybe we should do it again.

Alicat

Mushy wrote: »

Is there a few variations on this sort of show going around now? Dont the BBC have their own, and possibly some other station?

9pm on Wednesdays on BBC1 It's on it's 4th or 5th series now

Only two episodes left. Jodie Kidd is this week and the final one is 'Poirot' actor David Suchet. They normally leave the best one til last so it should be a good one!

hivizman

Mushy wrote: »

Is there a few variations on this sort of show going around now? Dont the BBC have their own, and possibly some other station?

There was an Australian version earlier in 2008 on the SBS channel. The six featured celebrities were (1) Jack Thompson, a film actor; (2) Kate Ceberano, a singer; (3) Geoffrey Robertson, a civil rights lawyer; (4) Cathy Freeman, the Olympic runner; (5) Dennis Cometti, a TV sports commentator (Aussie Rules); and (6) Ita Buttrose, a journalist and magazine editor (who was apparently the long-standing mistress of Kerry Packer).

newbie71

charlie bird's episode was great. I much prefer the episodes with the scandalous personal stories rather than the general involvement in big story like the holocaust or slave trade. Gas that his grandda was a bigamist and his mother illegally marrying the brother in law.

pinkypinky

Alicat wrote: »

The Irish census website says that the 1926 Census Returns won't be released for public inspection until January 2027. It's crazy! I think we have a right to access that information. They released the 1901 and 1911 records after so many people kicked up a fuss about it so maybe we should do it again.

There is a 100 year census rule. The 1901 and 1911 were given special status because of the lack of any 19th century returns and opened after 50 years.

There is a lobby to get the 1926 census open early - 82 years on and anyone still living who is on it would have been a small child. For all the good it will do, online petition for signature here:

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/1926C

Lizzykins

I wish we could go backwards and have the 1891 and 1881 census records for examination. Seemingly they were pulped for paper during WW1 after having had some stats extracted from them. I'm stuck with my father's family in 1819,my mother's in 1847 and in laws in about the 1830s on one side and the 1790s on the other. I know it's very far back but I've my teeth into it now and I can't let the trail go cold. I've been into the National Library and the microfilm records of parish registers are so difficult to go through. I thought in my ignorance that they would look like modern registers with everything filled in on lined ledgers in decent handwriting. Not a bit of it. They don't bother with ages or addresses in the deaths register, or ages or parents in the marriage register. The births one is ok if you can read the writing! When you see the Church of England registers in Who do You think You Are? it would make you mad that the church here couldn't have been arsed to keep proper records.

sweet-rasmus

Alicat wrote: »

The Irish census website says that the 1926 Census Returns won't be released for public inspection until January 2027. It's crazy! I think we have a right to access that information. They released the 1901 and 1911 records after so many people kicked up a fuss about it so maybe we should do it again.

Agreed! I want to see the 1926 census

Lizzykins

I looked at the 1901 census in the early 1980s and it had been available for a while at that time. I think the 100 year rule didn't apply then because as so many records had been lost in 1921 people approaching pension age could not prove their age. That's what I heard anyway.

LordSutch

What happened to the Irish records in 1921 ?

Lizzykins

A huge amount was destroyed in the Civil War when the Customs House was burned down.

jos28

Lizzykins wrote: »

When you see the Church of England registers in Who do You think You Are? it would make you mad that the church here couldn't have been arsed to keep proper records.

I asked a genealogist at the National Library the same question. She said that it was extremely difficult for priests to carry out sacraments in the 19th century let alone keep the paperwork up to date. Priests often did mercy dashes under the cover of darkness to do baptisms/marriages/burials. Some priests could be gone for days and it was not easy for them to remember all the names and details when they got back to base. Many of the registers were consfiscated by landlords. So I suppose it was a lot easier for the Church of England ministers to keep their records in order. That is why most of our records are incomplete apparently.

Lizzykins

Well Catholic Emancipation was in 1829 so I don't think there could have been too much undercover about the sacraments after that. I think it was just that the priests treated the people with a certain contempt because thay were educated and the ordinary folk weren't. Landlords and the gentry did the same too.

estebancambias

i wish the normans hadn't been 'more irish than the irish themselves' and we lived in a segregated country. and rather than names like 'power' it was actually spelt 'de paor'....

would look much better.

JWAD

Alicat wrote: »

New series just started on BBC1 at 9pm on Wednesdays. I have seen the previous series and found it absolutely fascinating. Line-up looks good this season!

I just thought anyone interested in heritage/geneology might enjoy it

I love the programme. Each is as interesting as the one before and so far the RTE series is not the worst.

We've been trying to do my own family's history here. Obviously dont have the travel expense account that the BBC or RTE offer though

My mother's family hail from Thessaloniki (or Salonica as it is also known). Her mother is one of only two survivors (the other is her late sister) out of a huge Jewish family who disappeared or were murdered during the Nazi occupation. No other survivors whatsoever. Its impossible to trace further back in time due to all records being destroyed in that city during the occupation but we do know they're Sephardim originally.ie. not from Eastern or Central Europe but from Iberia or Nth Africa) My gran and her sister fled west via Malta, Libya, Algeria and Portugal with her five daughters while pregnant with my mother. They were part of the lucky few who made it through Irish immigration's extremely limited acceptance of Jewish refugees. Around 60 people in total were only let in.
They settled in Sth Circular Rd, Dublin (where else? ). Eventually she met the grandfather I knew and they married. His family was interesting too. They were from an English protestant background but were spread out in Sth Africa, the States and Australia. Apparently a relative of his absconded with money left to family and squandered it on badly chosen mining speculation in Africa. He even apparently sold deeds to property in Ballsbridge, Dublin. We could have been loaded! :eek:
Dad's side are from a mixed Church of Ireland & Roman Catholic family. His parents had to enter the church during their wedding through a side door. Their family goes back to Limerick, Kildare, Leicester, Manchester and North Coast NSW in Australia.

Quite the mix.

If anyone is ever planning on getting through their family history and geneology, I recommend doing it right away and not just thinking about it. Get stuck into it. Its an amazing lesson in how your family got to where it is today.

Lizzykins

That's amazing! I wish my lot were as interesting. Seems from the research I've done that we've been in Ireland forever! I've gone back to the 1820s but only got that far because one of my great grandfathers wrote everything down. So everyone get writing down your history or it'll be lost!

JWAD

Lizzykins wrote: »

I wish my lot were as interesting. Seems from the research I've done that we've been in Ireland forever!

Nothing wrong with that at all. Bet you there's some very interesting stuff along the line somewhere. This island hasn't exactly been a forgotten sleepy little plot of green over the centuries.

sweet-rasmus

Lizzykins wrote: »

I've gone back to the 1820s but only got that far because one of my great grandfathers wrote everything down. So everyone get writing down your history or it'll be lost!

You are very lucky! My grand father wrote a few things down alright, but omitted all dates and most wives.... oh well! I appreciate what I have

If you says your family all seem to be from Ireland... haven't come across any Hughes's in Offaly, or Hackett's in North Dublin/Tuam, eh? Worth a shot

estebancambias

JWAD wrote: »

I love the programme. Each is as interesting as the one before and so far the RTE series is not the worst.

We've been trying to do my own family's history here. Obviously dont have the travel expense account that the BBC or RTE offer though

My mother's family hail from Thessaloniki (or Salonica as it is also known). Her mother is one of only two survivors (the other is her late sister) out of a huge Jewish family who disappeared or were murdered during the Nazi occupation. No other survivors whatsoever. Its impossible to trace further back in time due to all records being destroyed in that city during the occupation but we do know they're Sephardim originally.ie. not from Eastern or Central Europe but from Iberia or Nth Africa) My gran and her sister fled west via Malta, Libya, Algeria and Portugal with her five daughters while pregnant with my mother. They were part of the lucky few who made it through Irish immigration's extremely limited acceptance of Jewish refugees. Around 60 people in total were only let in.
They settled in Sth Circular Rd, Dublin (where else? ). Eventually she met the grandfather I knew and they married. His family was interesting too. They were from an English protestant background but were spread out in Sth Africa, the States and Australia. Apparently a relative of his absconded with money left to family and squandered it on badly chosen mining speculation in Africa. He even apparently sold deeds to property in Ballsbridge, Dublin. We could have been loaded! :eek:
Dad's side are from a mixed Church of Ireland & Roman Catholic family. His parents had to enter the church during their wedding through a side door. Their family goes back to Limerick, Kildare, Leicester, Manchester and North Coast NSW in Australia.

Quite the mix.

If anyone is ever planning on getting through their family history and geneology, I recommend doing it right away and not just thinking about it. Get stuck into it. Its an amazing lesson in how your family got to where it is today.

My great grandmother was a Ukrainian Jew, came here with her daughters.

Lizzykins

We have a few stories alright. One about the guy making bullets in afield-probably in about the 1860s- and the wife comes running out to tell him the peelers are on the way. He ups and off with him to England on the first boat and then to the States we think. Never heard of again from what I know.
Then there is my grandfather who joined up in 1914 at the age of 19 and was wounded in the first battle of Loos in Sept 1915. Lived to tell the tale. Died in his bed at 87 but never spoke about his experiences. It was only in the last year or so that I traced his war record and found out he had been wounded in the same action that claimed the life of Rudyard Kipling's son. They were in the same battalion of the Irish Guards.

hivizman

JWAD wrote: »

My mother's family hail from Thessaloniki (or Salonica as it is also known).

What an interesting story. I'm currently reading the book Salonica: City of Ghosts - Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950 by Mark Mazower, so your story was particularly relevant.

I've been watching the BBC's current Who Do You Think You Are? series. The programme a couple of weeks ago about Ainsley Harriott was an eye-opener, as it turned out that, while many of his ancestors in Jamaica were slaves (as you'd expect), his great great great grandfather in the direct male line had been a slave-owner.

Hawkeye4real

Does anyone have a link to access the 1901 census records? I can get into the 1911 one ok. Since the series started, my wife is detemined to trace her family tree as there are different versions coming from difference members of family. Any tips on where to start are also welcome ;-)

pinkypinky

Hawkeye,

The 1901 census isn't online yet. You can access it by visiting the National Archives in Dublin or via a LDS family history centre. County council libraries usually have the returns for their own county as well.

Pinky