And, Everyone is Irish!

[digitS']

Spring and the wearing of the Green!

I have searched in vain for Celtic ancestors ... On one grandfather's Canadian death certificate, my oldest uncle wrote "Scottish." The births of his grandparents are in southern England and most of the surnames associated are the French ones often found there .

My father's mother was said to be from an Irish family but her mother had one of those same Norman English names from the south of England. It takes no effort to learn that grandmother's maiden name is one of the Anglo-Irish families - oh no! Do they even celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

And then, there is my Riley connection ... I thought that it was a cinch that this was a surname coming down through history, hand in hand with O'Reilly and O'Rily. Not so, there are evidently more Riley individuals in York and Lancashire than anyplace else in the British Isles! The name has to do with a meadow of rye. My ancestors from colonial times apparently were careful that it was Riley without any O'.

O' Well, recent genetic testing sure shows the great persistence of Celtic ancestry in just about all the English people. Yay! And today, everyone is Irish.

Steve

 

[jackb]

I too have searched my Irish ancestry and found my great great grandparents, Garrett and Bridgette Nolan, lived in West Troy, NY prior to the civil war. Garrett was born in County Kildare Ireland and I am not sure of when or how they came to this country. Garrett was a lime burner and his son Patrick Nolan was a teamster on the Erie Canal. Patrick was my great-grandfather. Top of the morning to ya.

 

[ducks4you]

I have been told that on my dad's side there is Scotch-Irish. DH and I are planning on taking DNA tests this summer to find out how much of WHAT is in both of us. On my mom's side they are straight Croatian...whatever THAT really means, since the Turks invaded eastern Europe centuries ago. I suspect, since my father's family has been on the continent since 1685 (Raleigh, NC), probably French Huguenot, I suspect that there is Cherokee in my background. DH is in the Nicholas Gibbs Society's publications (every 10 years updated, and Gibbs came over from England in 1744 (I think, or close to that), and his mother suspected Blackfeet Indian.
It should be illuminating. DH is an historian who has published 11 historical fictions and all of us KNOW our American History and the reasons for the Bill of Rights.
Just did some studying up on the Irish famine. There were several potato famines in Ireland, but the one referenced was 1845-1849 and it was a fungus and very wet years where the potato crop failed and the Irish starved. Britain wouldn't feed them and the USA sent food to Ireland. I guess many Irish thought if the United States had enough of a surplus of food to load it on a boat and send it to another country, gee, Maybe I might want to move there? It was amazing that the Irish took such abuse and relied upon the potato as their sometimes ONLY food source, and that potato has THAT much nutrition.
ALSO, for classically trained violinists here, I notice (being a pianist, and the piano is a percussion instrument), that the Irish Fiddle is played more like a percussion instrument with short strokes and massive and quick fingering on the fingerboard, mostly on the neck, with rapid "sawing" and no long, slow bowing, like you would play 1st violin on the final note of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade," hence making the Irish Fiddle more of a percussion instrument than a string instrument.
Just sayin...
Listen, if you like to all 3:
https://www.accuradio.com/featured/stpats/?name=St. Paddy's Party&b0=Celtic

 

[flowerbug]

part Scotts here along with part English (both = 1/4), mutt/unknown = 1/4, Italian = 1/2. funny Mom's supposedly part Native American (also Blackfeet). never verified. i would not be surprised if there was some Irish, African, god knows what else. we're all survivors from the past. the ancestors who were crafty enough to survive invasions, migrations, ice-ages, etc.

when i was studying history more often it was rare to find people who had not been invaded who had no oral history of old times before <X>. we are not only fractious, we wander. that's why i think it is just a part of who we are, that we are "meant" to take things (like this life we have all around us) off to other places.

kudoes to all of them (ancestors) and to all of you on this fine Paddy's Day.

 

[Zeedman]

No Irish blood that I know of... but as a Green Bay Packer fan, green is never out of season.

BTW, @digitS' , I grew up listening to classical music, and always loved Scheherazade. The LP was destroyed long ago, haven't heard it for over 30 years... thanks for the link, you've made my day!

 

[digitS']

@Zeedman

Check your likes . That was @ducks4you with the music link.

Now me and music ... never ask someone as close to being deaf as I am to sing! And, move away quickly if they start ...
.................. ズ
♪ ♫ Steve ... ズ .... ズ
(ᐛ) ズ

 

[Carol Dee]

Never done a genetic search. But looking back at family trees, Not seeing any Irish. I am Iowa-ish though

 

[Zeedman]

@Zeedman

Check your likes . That was @ducks4you with the music link.

Oops... And that was WITH my glasses on (wipes off glasses). @ducks4you , tis you I'll be thankin', tip o' the hat to you.

 

[HmooseK]

I have no clue what I is. No clue at all. I most likely don't have any Irish though, cause 1 drink of anything is probably enough to make me light headed. I don't remember how many years since I took a sip of any alcohol, but it's probably at least 30 maybe longer.

I'm not a stick in the mud, it just doesn't agree with me. I get dizzy enough just walking around The yard. I can't imagine inducing it with liquor.

 

[Jared77]

Its always amateur hour, so I stay home. We used to do corned beef and cabbage but its not a big deal if we don't.

Family goes back to Cunninghams, McGillicuttys, and some Germans. I'm sure its legitimately Irish but unless I'm a Patty O'Furniture there's not much to celebrate. I wear my green and have fun with it.

Id rather save my time and efforts for Easter. 2nd only to Christmas in my opinion. Its usually nice, all the lilies, the bright pastels, I'd much rather get excited about that day.