My Irish Roots

On St Patrick’s Day, I find myself reflecting on my Irish roots and the enduring legacy of the ancestors who came before me.

In recent years, DNA testing has added another dimension to my understanding of that heritage. Today, my Irish ancestry is estimated as:

• 23andMe: 70.9%

• Ancestry: 64%

• FTDNA: 49%

• MyHeritage: Results pending

Like many family historians, I’ve discovered that ethnicity estimates can vary between testing companies. When I compare these figures with my traditional genealogical research, I believe my Irish ancestry likely sits somewhere between the higher estimates from 23andMe and Ancestry.

But beyond the percentages and data, it’s the people and their stories that matter most.

Today, I remember the Irish men and women in my family who made the long and often arduous journey from Ireland to Australia in the 19th century. Their courage, resilience, and determination laid the foundations for the generations that followed.

These ancestors have profiles at WikiTree:

• Patrick Curry, who arrived aboard the Hooghley in 1825

• Ellen Moore, on the Mariner in 1825

• Dennis Tierney and Elizabeth D’Arcy, who travelled together on the China in 1839

• Margaret McKeon, who came on the Earl Grey in 1841

• Bridget Ryan, arriving on the British Empire in 1849

• Michael Molloy, came before 1852

• Catherine Connolly, who arrived before 1852

• Mary Cregan, who travelled on the Derwent in 1850

• Mary Kealy, arriving later on the Kapunda in 1877

Each of these names represents a story — of leaving home, crossing oceans, and building new lives in an unfamiliar land. Their journeys were not easy, but their legacy lives on in the lives of their descendants.

As I reflect this St Patrick’s Day, I’m reminded that family history is more than names and dates. It is about connection — to people, places, and the past.

It is also about preservation: ensuring that these stories are not lost, but carried forward for future generations. WikiTree provides an excellent platform to preserve those sstories

Today, I honour my Irish ancestors — and I remain grateful for the paths they forged.

Happy St Patrick’s Day. ☘️

Note: I used ChatGPT to tidy up my post and then defancified their flowery language and added links prior to posting.

Annie Moore

Outside the Cobh Heritage Centre in Ireland we spotted this monument to Annie Moore.

I thought of my convict ancestors Patrick Curry and Ellen Moore when I came across this monument.  Although their emigration was forced they would have had similar thoughts to other emigrants as they sailed away from their homeland. 

Perhaps Annie was related to my Ellen!

2021 #AtoZChallenge M is for ...Migrants

  I've been researching my family history for over thirty years. Along this genealogy journey I have been supported by hundreds of books, many of which I have listed on my Librarything page. 

During the 2021 #AtoZChallenge I will be writing about two of my passions, books and family history. I'll be taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting some of those books that have enriched my genealogy experience.

Most Australians have immigrants in their ancestry. Since 1788 when the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove all of those who have arrived in Australia from other lands were immigrants. While I have ancestry that goes back thousands of years in this land I am interested in the stories of my ancestors and others who later came from distant lands. 

For my M post I am sharing details of some  immigrant stories. I feel that we should all learn about our neighbours and their histories as well as our personal histories. The books on the following list give us an insight into lives of these folk prior to and after their arrival in Australia. I had previously shared this list of  books I have read in another blog post but felt that it deserved another airing. 

After this : survivors of the Holocaust speak  Alice Nelson

Almost like home : living in Bradfield Park, Michael Hogan

The Arrival, Shaun Tan (Picture book - suggested by Carmel Galvin).

Benedictine pioneers in Australia, Henry Norbert Birt

The Boat by Nam Le  (Suggested by Carmel Galvin)

Chinese whispers : in search of ivy : a gold rush story told by generations of an Australian-Chinese family, Alison Choy Flannigan

Convict women, Kay Daniels

Cop This Lot, Nino Culotta

Daddy Cool: Finding My Father, the Singer Who Swapped Hollywood Fame for Home in Australia, Darleen Bungey

Esther : the extraordinary true story of the First Fleet girl who became first lady of the colony by Jessica North

Fair Game, Elizabeth Rushen

Farewell my children : Irish emigration to Australia 1848-1870,  Richard Reid

The Floating Brothel: The Extraordinary True Story of an Eighteenth-Century Ship and Its Cargo of Female Convicts, Sian Rees

Free Passage, Perry McIntyre

Freedom's land, Anna Jacobs

From Distress to Deliverance : the life and times of william gow, convict, schoolmaster and farmer, Stephen Gow

The Happiest Refugee, Anh Do

The glory garage : growing up Lebanese Muslim in Australia, Nadia Jamal

The happiest man on Earth, Eddie Jaku

Hell ship, Michael Veitch  (Suggested by Jennifer Jones)

I Kept on Dancing: A Life's Journey from Nazi Germany to the Lucky Country, Olga Geddes

Inheritance of secrets, Sonya Bates

Into the Suburbs : A Migrant's Story, Christopher Raja

The Italian girl, Rebecca Huntley

Joyful strains : making Australia home, Kent MacCarter

A long way home, Saroo Brierley 

A long way to Tipperary, Susan Gough (Children's Fiction)

Mao's last dancer, Li Cunxin

Michi's memories : the story of a Japanese war bride , Keiko Tamura 

Not just Ned : a true history of the Irish in Australia

One Bright Moon, Andrew Kwong 

Otherland: A Journey with My Daughter by Maria Tumarkin

Pierce Landers and Honorah Flood : Tipperary, Ire. [to] Dungog, NSW, Gwenyth Starr

Pirate boy of Sydney town by Jackie French

Reckoning : a memoir, Magda Szubanski

Reminiscences of a Roving Rabbi by Rudy Brasch

Rising heart Aminata Conteh-Biger

Romulus my father, Raimond Gaita  (Suggested by Carmel Galvin)

Sempre con te : always with you 

Suitcase of dreams, Tanya Blanchard

These Few Lines - A Convict Story : The Lost Lives of Myra and William Sykes by Graham Seal

They're a weird mob, Nino Culotta

Threads: The Untold Story of Fashion House George Gross & Harry Who, Rose Fydler

An unconventional woman, Jean Tahija

Where, oh where, is Wooger Vitnell?, Barbara Eileen Brown

Where the Sea Takes Us: A True Story of Family, Fate and Vietnam, Kim Khanh Huynh

With just one suitcase, Cheryl Koenig (Suggested by Carmel Galvin)

Ziba came on a boat, Liz Lofthouse (Picture Book)

Immigrants

19 December 2020 Update: I will continue to add to this list as I read more books and remember more previously read.

The topic for ANZAncestryTime this week is Migration across the seas.

This theme prompted me to reflect on some of the books I had read about immigrants or refugees who travelled to make a new life in Australia, some came by sea and some by air.  I went scurrying back to my reading log on Librarything to jog my memory for those titles.

Following is a list of some of the books I enjoyed.

Almost like home : living in Bradfield Park, Michael Hogan

The Arrival, Shaun Tan (Picture book - suggested by Carmel Galvin).

Benedictine pioneers in Australia, Henry Norbert Birt

The Boat by Nam Le  (Suggested by Carmel Galvin)

Chinese whispers : in search of ivy : a gold rush story told by generations of an Australian-Chinese family, Alison Choy Flannigan

Convict women, Kay Daniels

Cop This Lot, Nino Culotta

Daddy Cool: Finding My Father, the Singer Who Swapped Hollywood Fame for Home in Australia, Darleen Bungey

Esther : the extraordinary true story of the First Fleet girl who became first lady of the colony by Jessica North

Fair Game, Elizabeth Rushen

Farewell my children : Irish emigration to Australia 1848-1870,  Richard Reid

The Floating Brothel: The Extraordinary True Story of an Eighteenth-Century Ship and Its Cargo of Female Convicts, Sian Rees

Free Passage, Perry McIntyre

Freedom's land, Anna Jacobs

From Distress to Deliverance : the life and times of william gow, convict, schoolmaster and farmer, Stephen Gow

The Happiest Refugee, Anh Do

The glory garage : growing up Lebanese Muslim in Australia, Nadia Jamal

The happiest man on Earth, Eddie Jaku

Hell ship, Michael Veitch  (Suggested by Jennifer Jones)

I Kept on Dancing: A Life's Journey from Nazi Germany to the Lucky Country, Olga Geddes

Inheritance of secrets, Sonya Bates

Into the Suburbs : A Migrant's Story, Christopher Raja

The Italian girl, Rebecca Huntley

Joyful strains : making Australia home, Kent MacCarter

A long way home, Saroo Brierley 

A long way to Tipperary, Susan Gough (Children's Fiction)

Mao's last dancer, Li Cunxin

Michi's memories : the story of a Japanese war bride , Keiko Tamura 

One Bright Moon, Andrew Kwong 

Otherland: A Journey with My Daughter by Maria Tumarkin

Pierce Landers and Honorah Flood : Tipperary, Ire. [to] Dungog, NSW, Gwenyth Starr

Pirate boy of Sydney town by Jackie French

Reckoning : a memoir, Magda Szubanski

Reminiscences of a Roving Rabbi by Rudy Brasch

Rising heart Aminata Conteh-Biger

Romulus my father, Raimond Gaita  (Suggested by Carmel Galvin)

Sempre con te : always with you 

Suitcase of dreams, Tanya Blanchard

These Few Lines - A Convict Story : The Lost Lives of Myra and William Sykes by Graham Seal

They're a weird mob, Nino Culotta

Threads: The Untold Story of Fashion House George Gross & Harry Who, Rose Fydler

An unconventional woman, Jean Tahija

Where, oh where, is Wooger Vitnell?, Barbara Eileen Brown

Where the Sea Takes Us: A True Story of Family, Fate and Vietnam, Kim Khanh Huynh

With just one suitcase, Cheryl Koenig (Suggested by Carmel Galvin)

Ziba came on a boat, Liz Lofthouse (Picture Book)

SS Great Britain

Between 1852 and 1875 Brunel's SS Great Britain often carried more than 600 passengers and crew between Liverpool and Melbourne, Australia. The ship made this journey 32 times. Many Australians have ancestors who arrived on this vessel, perhaps someone in your family was a passenger.


On our recent holiday Mr GeniAus and I traveled to Briston to visit the restored ship and associated exhibits in its dry dock at The Great Western Dockyard.  As seasoned travellers we have visited many tourist sites, we found this to be a highlight of our recent 7 week journey.

Although we visited in the high season in British school holidays there was plenty of space to walk around the museum and ship. We may have been lucky but we found a parking spot in the adjacent car park and after our visit we had a tasty sandwich in a cafe on the site. The less said about Bristol's peak hour traffic as we left the city on a Friday afternoon the better!

We learnt so much about ships, immigration and the difficult journeys our ancestors made to move to their new homes in the southern hemisphere. We both found this visit utterly fascinating and would recommend to highly to anyone visiting the UK. If your ancestors travelled on the ship it is a must.

Of course we took a few photos.

The horses came too

Livestock on deck

A visit to the doctor

The Head

One of the more spacious cabins!

Kitchen

Little Bourke Street - Immigrant accomodation in steerage

View from below

GeniAus at the helm

The SS Great Britain website has a wealth of information about the ship and Brunel. 

The Ancestral Places Geneameme

Thanks to my genimate, Alona, for coming up with the The Ancestral Places Geneameme Challenge.

I'm late to the party but I've had a ball. It was so much fun that I might prepare one for Mr Geniaus'ancestors too.

I have enjoyed this exercise immensely as it has forced me to focus on my direct ancestors instead of engaging in Tangential Genealogy. It has made me realise that while it's a good idea to search laterally and apply the FAN Principle it is vitally important to fully research and document the lives of our direct ancestors. It's a while since I have concentrated on these lads and lasses.

Here comes a resolution - I am going to spend dedicated time over the next few months (in between travelling) looking at the records of each of my direct ancestors and adding to their stories.

Sometimes we need to have a focus - thanks again Alona for forcing me to focus.

A
Aberdeen, Scotland (Duncan)

B
Ballyfoyle, Tipperary, Ireland (Bowe, Kealy)
Bathurst, NSW, Australia (Hayward, Pusell, Tucker, Westbrook)
Brighton-le-sands, NSW, Australia (Curry)
Broadmeadow, Victoria, Australia (Duncan)
Burraga, NSW, Australia (Pusell, Tucker)
Burragorang, NSW, Australia (Curry)
Byrock, NSW, Australia (Duncan, Magick)

C 
Camden, NSW, Australia (Curry)
Canowindra, NSW Australia (Curry, Tierney)
Carcoar, NSW, Australia (Aspinall, Molloy)
Carrawa, NSW, Australia (Aspinall)
Cawdor, NSW, Australia (Curry)
Clare, Ireland (Moore)
Cobar, NSW, Australia (Duncan, Magick, Pusell)
Cobbity, NSW, Australia (Curry, Tucker)
Cobbora, NSW, Australia (Hayward, Magick)
Concord, NSW, Australia (Molloy)
Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia (Hayward, Sergeant)
Cowpastures, NSW, Australia (Curry)
Cowra, NSW, Australia (Curry)

D
Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia (Curry)Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England (Eyers, Tucker)
Denison Town, NSW, Australia (Magick)
Diamond Valley, NSW, Australia (Homer)
Down, Ireland (Maxwell)
Dungog, NSW, Australia (Kealy, Tierney)
Dunns Plains, NSW, Australia (Pusell)

E
Enniskillen, Fermanagh, Ireland (Cregan/Criggan)

G
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland (Maxwell)
Glen Logan,, NSW, Australia (Curry)

H
Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia (Duncan)
Holborn, London, England (Fitchett)

I
Ireland (Gleeson, Harrington, McKeon, Wade)

K
Kensington, NSW, Australia (Curry, Duncan)
Kilbeggan, Westmeath, Ireland (Ryan)
Kildery, Kilkenny, Ireland (Kealy)
Kilkenny, Ireland (Bowe, Byrne, Connolly)
Kirkconnell, NSW, Australia (Pusell)

L
Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Pusell/Pusill)
Liverpool, NSW, Australia (Hayward)
London, England (Phipps, Westbrook)
Long Swamp, NSW, Australia (Aspinall)
Longbottom,NSW,Australia (Molloy)

M 
Maitland, NSW, Australia (Kealy)
Malabar, NSW, Australia, (Curry)
Mandurama, NSW, Australia (Molloy)
Marylebone, London, England (Phipps)
Meath, Ireland (Molloy)
Mooney Ponds, Victoria, Australia (Duncan)
Mountain Run, NSW, Australia (Aspinall)

N 
Narromine, NSW, Australia (Duncan)

O
Oxfordshire, England (Hayward)

P
Parramatta, NSW, Australia (Moore)
Penrith, NSW, Australia (Tucker)
Potts Point, NSW, Australia (curry)

R
Randwick, NSW, Australia, (Curry)
Richmond, NSW, Australia (Magick, Phipps, Westbrook)
Rockley, NSW, Australia (Homer)
Roscrea, Tipperary, Ireland (Tierney)

S 
Shoreditch, London, England (Harris, Phipps)
South Creek, NSW, Australia (Tucker)
Southwark, Surrey, England (Phipps)
Sussex, England (Homer)
Sydney, NSW, Australia (Molloy, Westbrook)

T
Templemore, Tipperary, Ireland (D'Arcy, Tierney)
Thompsons Creek, NSW, Australia (Pusell)
Tipperary, Ireland (Wade)
Trunkey, NSW, Australia (Pusell)

V
Victoria, Australia (Connolly, Molloy, Ryan)

W
Wahroonga, NSW, Australia (Curry)
Warrington, Lancashire, England (Pusell, Rothwell)
Wigan, Lancashire, England (Aspinal)
Williams River, NSW, Australia (Tierney)
Windsor, NSW, Australia (Phipps,Westbrook)
Wongajong, NSW, Australia (Curry)

A long drive to Chester Hill

I was thrilled to be invited to the launch of National Family History Month at Chester Hill in Sydney yesterday afternoon. The eloquent Martyn Killion who was MC opened the event.

Bryan Scales, Sydney Office, National Archives of Australia gave a short presentation on 20th Century Immigration to Australia: records held by the National Archives of Australia. Bryan went over some familiar series of documents but also told us of a new series that had been digitised. It is :

Series number	A1197
Title	Incoming passenger cards
Accumulation dates	01 Jan 1965 - 31 Dec 1972

Bryan asked if anyone in the audience had been overseas and returned to Australia between 1965 and 1972, my hand shot up. Bryan suggested I take a look at the records (which are organised in six month sets with cards within each set arranged alphabetically by surname) to see if I could find my record....and I did. Because they aren't indexed by name it takes a bit of effort to find the records but it's really quite easy.

When I returned from my honeymoon 1970

This snip only shows the top half of the card, the bottom section also contains my intended address. This is pure Geneagold. Imagine how many Australian Currys I will be able to find for my surname study there. 

The Keynote address by Dr Perry McIntyre was "Family History 30 years after Australian’s Bicentennial: who is looking now? In this thought provoking presentation Perry discussed the changes in the Australian population over the past thirty years and during her talk threw out challenges to family historians, archives and repositories and genealogy groups. She encouraged all to make their information and records accessible and appropriate to Australia's changing population.

Dr Perry McIntyre and Martyn Killion

Martyn Killion  also presented this year's Nick Vine Hall Awards for the best genealogy/family history society journals or newsletters in 2016 (not sure if I can name the winners yet). 

Our gracious hosts were the staff members of The National Archives of Australia who served us a delicious afternoon tea.

While chatting with those in attendance I met two genies from The Lacemakers of Calais Group who live on my road and who had also made the trek to Chester Hill. It's a small world! I also said g'day to people from The Society of Australian Genealogists and the Bankstown, Botany Bay, Ku-ring-gai and Nepean family history groups.

Thanks to my genimate and National Family History Month Coordinator, Shauna Hicks, for my invitation to the event. I'm pleased I made that long drive.

An Epic time at EPIC

There were many references to Australia and Australians of Irish descent at Epic Ireland (a new attraction) in Dublin today. We spent several hours there and I then had a consultation at The Irish Family History Centre which is part of the site. A fabulous experience all round.

My moment of fame on the Twitter wall - how cool!

Trove Tuesday - Irish invasions

At the moment I am focusing on my Irish research and revisiting research done years ago which I  had put in the too hard basket.

I am more than 60% Irish so I wonder about my Irish ancestors and the many members of their extended families who came to New South Wales and Victoria in the nineteenth century. The convicts, of course, had no choice in the matter but the others came of their own free will.

Knowing nothing about the numbers who came I turned to Trove to find some contemporary information on the subject. I learnt that over 200,000 Irish came to Australia between 1851 and 1876 and that huge numbers went to the US and Britain - perhaps I should be looking for cousins in those places.

1877 'EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.', Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1868 - 1954), 9 June, p. 4. , viewed 03 May 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170436026

Many Irish arrived earlier than the dates covered in the article above. My Irish convict ancestors including Ellen Moore, Mariner, arrived in the 1820s and my famine orphan, Mary Criggan, on Derwent in 1850. The first three of my Tierney/D'arcy line arrived in 1839 on China.

1825 'SHIP NEWS.', The Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 - 1848), 14 July, p. 3. , viewed 03 May 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37071634

1839 'Shipping Intelligence.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 21 December, p. 2. , viewed 03 May 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2549634

1850 'PORT PHILLIP.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 6 March, p. 2. , viewed 03 May 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12916203

I want for nothing

On the 17th March, St Patrick's Day, each year I think of my Irish ancestors who made the perilous trip to Australia. Seven years ago I wrote about my ancestor Patrick Curry/Corry.

I have edited and am reposting that article today.

I wonder what our ancestors thought as they left their homes in England, Ireland and Scotland to sail to this distant and strange land. A dozen of my ancestors were convicts transported to Australia for petty crimes, some were young Irish lads and lasses, bounty (assisted) immigrants, who left home during the time of The Great Irish Potato Famine of the 1840’s. A couple were free settlers, people who travelled to Australia of their own free will in the hope of a better life.Recently I spoke to a distant cousin, a 75 year old Scottish lady, who emigrated with her family in 1953. When they left Scotland food rationing was still in place; on arrival in Australia they could not believe the quality and quantity of food they were served at their first family lunch, she thought she was in heaven. She said that her parents never regretted leaving Scotland as they wanted a "better life" for their children and she felt that this goal had been achieved.

My 3rd great grandfather, Patrick (Paddy) Curry from Limerick in Ireland , arrived as a convict on the Hooghley in 1825. He was assigned to work at Camden Park a property of the pioneering Macarthur family. On 8th June 1848 The Sydney Morning Herald published an interview from 1846 from Caroline Chisholm with Patrick on the advantages of emigration. Patrick felt that he was most fortunate to be in New South Wales.

1848 'Advertising', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 8 June, p. 3. , viewed 17 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12902254

I and Paddy's descendants can now access this interview via Trove but when I first went in search of it after following a reference in Alan Atkinson's book, Camden: Farm and village life in early New South Wales, it took me ages to locate the interview on microfilm. The copy I retrieved from the film was very hard to read whereas the image from Trove is quite clear in comparison.

My Irish Eyes were Smiling

Guess who I heard speak on Wednesday?

HINT - she was the star turn at the Hawkesbury Family History Group meeting for National Family History Month.

1. She has a wicked, dry sense of humour.
2. She knows her topic inside out.
3. She is a non-boring academic type.
4. She is obsessed with her topic.
5. Perhaps she should have been named Colleen.
6. She is the Chair of the Great Irish Famine Commemoration Committee (GIFCC) which is actively seeking information about Earl Grey’s Irish Workhouse Immigrant women. 

I have heard Dr Perry McIntyre speak on a number of occasions and was privileged to hear her again on Wednesday morning. Perry's topic was "Single female emigration in the 1830s & 1840s". As examples to illustrate her presentation Perry cited Irish examples. Now that was right up my alley as I have a couple of troublesome Irish girls in my tree including my Great-great-grandmother Bridget (Did she swim?) Ryan.

Perry's opening slide

Perry explained the options, criteria and processes for single Irish girls who wanted to come to the colonies and illustrated her talk with images of contemporary newspaper ads, paintings and photos. She then explained what happened to the girls from when they came off the boats until they got hitched. The stories and photos she shared of several Earl Grey girls were interesting.  I wish I could find a picture of my girl, Mary Cregan/Cligan/Creigan/Gregson. 

As Chair of the Great Irish Famine Commemoration Committee (GIFCC) Perry is actively seeking information about Earl Grey’s Irish Workhouse Immigrant women; as requested I will be emailing Perry with the scant information I have on Mary Cregan/Cligan/Creigan/Gregson, another of my Great-Great-Grandmothers.

Perry suggested the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine as a useful resource for background information on the famine. She neglected to say that one needs to be a weightlifter to lift this weighty tome!

My revelation for the day came when I asked Perry about how I could access a resource in PRONI that refers to my girl Mary. Apparently our friends at Familysearch have filmed the records and I could order it in to a local centre but I will wait until I go to Salt Lake City for Rootstech in Febraury. It will be something to look forward to.

Should you wish to hear Perry speak on a similar topic she will be talking at The Quarantine Station at North Head later this month. Details here.

Thanks to Jonathan for the happy snap. Perry (left) and me

My super morning was topped off when I had a cup of coffee and nice chat with Jonathan Auld and Michelle Nichols in a nearby cafe. Thanks to Michelle for organising another great talk at Hawkesbury and to Michelle and Jonathan who, knowing about my fetish for geneabling, brought me back a badge from the London "Who do you think you are live" event they attended.