Do you know anything about your family tree?

Paternal grandfathers family were settled travellers I believe and my maternal great grandparents were Prods from the North, originally Scotland so my ma has a very planter maiden name.

Graces7 wrote: »

Unfortunately, yes. Sorted it as I was sure there were Irish connections and wish I hadn't...

Charming ...

Trigger Happy wrote: »

Mine goes back to the early 1800s. My grandparents were from Cork, Laois, Leitrim and Monaghan as we’re there ancestors. Farmers the lot of them.
Did a dna test last year and my blood is pure Paddy.

Mine 100% Irish too with my whole DNA being located in Ulster and a tiny bit of Louth. Glad I mixed the gene pool for my sons.

Grandfather on my Mothers side fought in War of Independence.

Great (Great?) Grand Uncle was a RIC constable.

Have traced my Father's people back to just after The Famine were two brothers settled onto a plot of land they bought and then divided and the family is still on that site today.

Genealogy is a bit daft. Go back not as far as you might think and everybody is related to everybody else.

Practically everybody who reads this post is an descendant of everybody in Northern Europe who produced offspring in the 10th century. Just pick anybody you like and claim them as your great great great........ grandfather/mother. You won’t be wrong. Because maths.

No further past my grandparents. One grandmother was a nurse with QARANC and present at the liberation of Bergen Belsen. She was also awarded medals for bravery . I know almost nothing of the other grandmother who died and was replaced by a stepmother (after whom I was named) when my mother was very young. I know she was Jewish but only discovered this by accident as I was raised atheist. Grandfathers weren't interesting although one was very well loved by seemingly everyone, still remembered fondly by the few remaining men who knew him who say he gave them a start in life (working for him). Apparently I'm the image of him. I've only seen a black and white photo in which he had jug ears, thousands of freckles and very lively eyes.

I'm Scottish, with talk of emigration from Tyrone way way back. Once when I was driving through Tyrone I was commenting on the number of towns that shared names with towns in Ayrshire, only to come round a corner and see a large haulage firm with my family name.

I have traced my dad's line back to 1755. After my grandafther (David) they are all called William or James - alternating - and they were all miners & mine rescue workers who lived in the same small village in Ayrshire.

I have Tyrone ancestory from way back too.

Small world.

Hoop66 wrote: »

I'm Scottish, with talk of emigration from Tyrone way way back. Once when I was driving through Tyrone I was commenting on the number of towns that shared names with towns in Ayrshire, only to come round a corner and see a large haulage firm with my family name.

I have traced my dad's line back to 1755. After my grandafther (David) they are all called William or James - alternating - and they were all miners & mine rescue workers who lived in the same small village in Ayrshire.

I'll guess , Donaghy.

On one side my Grandad and one of his brothers were Old IRA. Thanks to MyHeritage I have this side of the family back as far as some of my great great grandparents. I only recently found out my Granny was from a wealthy family, and I'm somehow related to some well to do pub/nightclub owners in town through her.
The other side of the family are English and I have the family tree back to the 1770s, courtesy of a cousin. Disappointingly, there seems to be no big secrets or scandals. One great gran Uncle was blown out of his boots in some war, Another, who I have a photo of, got sunstroke, went mad and jumped off of a bridge. The English side at one point goes back to Derry in the 1770s. Coincidentally there are postmen on both sides of my family.

I've gone back to the 1700s with my tree. They were mostly farmers but also carpenters and shoemakers. The oldest photo that I have is from the 1910s of 2x great grandparents and their children. All my ancestors are known to have been from three neighbouring counties in Connacht. I'll try to pick out something from each line.

Paternally, I'm connected to the old Irish kingdom of Uí Maine in Connacht. I only know back to my 3x great grandparents through paper trail on that line though. My 2x great grandfather came into money when his sister emigrated to America and worked for a very wealthy man. His daughter was brought to America by his sister. She emigrated in 1912 and was supposed to originally travel on the Titanic. She was treated by this wealthy man like a daughter. He had no family and she inherited a vast amount of his fortune besides what he left to charity. It was reported in America and Ireland as a 'Cinderella Story'. She also married a wealthy businessman. Family members named their children after her husband and who she inherited the money from (to get into the good books I'm sure!). They would often visit Ireland and her husband brought dignataries around Ireland and introduced them to the, at the time president, Eamon de Valera. Her father used the money that he got to buy a hotel. My great grandfather ran it for a while but his eldest brother returned from America and took it over. My grandfather remembered their visits as a boy and being brought to a GAA match in a Rolls Royce. The aunt's husband was very fond of children. He played games with them like 'ducking' and my grandfather accused him of cheating. He bought suits for my great grandfather. I get the impression that his wife (my relative) had less humility. She'd make her chauffeur drop her off at the head of my great grandfather's road to his house because she was embarrassed by the size of it and didn't want the chauffeur to see it. Their brother died in a train accident.

The largest number of children that any of my known ancestors had were 16. My grandfather claimed that it was 20. One of the children was a Fenian who went back and forth between America and Ireland. I also have a relative on this line who was a priest involved with the old IRA.

A great grandmother's sister was supposed to have been cured at Knock.

A great grandfather emigrated to America. All his brothers emigrated to California except one. He returned to Ireland when the only brother who stayed in Ireland died of TB so he returned to Ireland to help his father with the farm. A great grandmother also emigrated to America. A lot of her siblings also emigrated. She returned to Ireland after her father died. Apparently, she fell out with the siblings in America because they didn't want her to go back. She was my oldest known female ancestor to marry at 37. Her husband's family had very bad luck. He was the youngest and 6 when his mum died of TB. 5 of his siblings also died of TB while 4 died young. I don't know for sure what happened to one of them who disappeared after 1911, possibly TB as well. My great grandfather died in a bike accident.

A great grandmother's brother went off to England and became successful in advertising and ran hotels. He funded the building of a church in his hometown. He was made an honorary life member of the RDS due to the advertising provided at no expense. He was supposed to have been a friend of Lloyd George.

A 3x great grandmother and 3 of her youngest children were evicted from their house under an order made in an equity suit instituted by the Ulster Bank. The farm was purchased at public auction and subsequently put into possession by the Sheriff under order of the court. They immediately afterwards took possession by breaking into the house which was in charge by a caretaker. The caretaker saw my 3x great grandmother (aged 67) partly in the window after the police and bailiff had left. Her son shoved her in. The mother opened the door and let them all in. The judge informed the jury that they had no right to take forcible possession. The jury after half an hour's consideration found a verdict of not guilty. It was reported in Ireland and in the US. The landlord did not carry out the eviction but at the instance of the buyer. A long letter from the landlord to the buyer and a copy to the family was read. In which it was mentioned that if he, as a landlord, did half as much in buying out other people's debts and evicting families, he would be billed all over Ireland. Due to the necessity of having the family back in the old homestead and the son's connections and services in the cause of Irish Nationality in the past, the Nationalists of the surrounding districts, in public meeting condemned in the strongest terms the action in those instrumental in having them evicted. They appealed to Nationalists in all the surrounding districts and abroad for help in aiding the family to fight the cause and to sustain the family to regain the old farm. In the meantime they pledged to erect a new house until they get back their own. The 3 children weren't there 1901 so they seem to have ended up having to leave the area. I don't know what happened to them.

A 3x great grandmother was supposed to have been a Protestant. The only evidence I have of her is her death record, gravestone which records her maiden name and family notes. The headstone was erected in 1863 for their daughter. Two of the daughters married Protestants actually. One relative claimed that her husband was a printer and exchanged books with a nearby landlord. However, she may be confusing him with another publisher that notes were kept on who was editor of the United Irishmen and called attention to the infamous means by which William Orr had been done to death. His two sons were involved in the Land League. The youngest kept the family home while the oldest (my 2x great grandfather) got the herd's house. The family home was actually supposed to be haunted with furniture moving and a priest being brought in and the holy host kept there. There was also a mention of a banshee haunting the family.

My grandfather had first cousins involved in the IRB. Both brothers were against signing the treaty. One was an officer in the IRB. He was imprisoned at the end of the civil war but escaped and emigrated to Argentina where he settled and had a family. Another was a First Lieutenant. He joined the IRB and the Volunteers in 1917. He drilled, raided for arms, took part in the burning of a barracks and of a Courthouse. He was appointed Vice O/C of the Active Service Unit (Flying Column). During the Truce, he spent some days in Dublin being trained in the use of a machine gun. He returned to his home county, and attended training camps. He was then sent to work in the making of bombs. He stayed in a barracks that had been taken over. Before he vacated the barracks, he mined the building. He took an active part in the attack and capture of different barracks and the attack on out-posts. He was severely wounded at one stage. He was arrested about the time of the cease-fire, and detained in Athlone, Kilmainham, and the Curragh for almost a year. He and many other prisoners went on hunger strike. Reports indicated that he was in a serious health condition which caused great concern for his mother. He was released but raids continued on his family home. His younger brother had been attending a Protestant secondary school but left due to the unpleasant remarks and insults about his brother. He emigrated to New York feeling bitter and remarked that "An Irish dog will never bark at me again" and he never returned to Ireland. He left his gun to my grandfather. Their sister emigrated to London and her brother used her position in the British G.P.O. to smuggle trunks of weapons to Ireland. Her future husband supported the Treaty. She and her fiancé moved to Argentina where they set up a school.

A 3x great grandfather was a carpenter and worked in one of the local big houses. He also had grandchildren involved in the IRB. His grandaughter was a member of Cumman na mBan. She frequently wrote letters to my grandfather after emigrating since she lived with him for a while.
One grandson was serving as the Company's 2nd Lieutenant. During the Civil War he became a member of the Anti-Treaty Service Unit of the 1st Battalion South. He later emigrated to the United States.
Another grandson was in the 1st Batallion. Participated in enforcing the Belfast boycott. His house was searched in reprisal for the attack on a barracks in 1920. He, however, was not to be found because he had moved to Dublin where he worked in a lumber yard. Sensing the danger of the times, his family felt that he should emigrate, so they sold the family cow in order to purchase his fare. In 1921 he had emigrated to New York, where his stepmother had relations.
My 3x great grandfather's sister's family also had descendants involved in the IRB but not close enough to go into detail here.

Another relative fought in WW1 and was attacked with mustard gas.