Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

The saying is that we all want to be Irish. Sadly that wasn't the sentiment when the Irish began arriving in full force during the Famine Years. There was a great deal of discrimination towards the Irish who were considered by many to be lazy drunks. What our early ancestors must have suffered under this unwarranted stereotype!

I'm proud of my Irish heritage and wish I could tell them that. John Greenlees and his wife Elizabeth Johnston came from Fermanagh Ireland to the wilds of Upper Canada (present day Ontario) with three children - George about 5 years old, Thomas about 3 years old and my 2nd great grandmother Jane who was under 2 years old. The year was some time between Jane's birth in 1819 and the birth of their next child in Upper Canada in 1821. What a perilous journey that must have been!

Joseph McGinnis and his wife Frances (Fanny) Downey from Co. Down made the journey from famine stricken Ireland with their year old daughter Bridget (Delia) in 1846. Joseph and Fanny were barely 20 years old.

It must have been a nightmare voyage and I am sure that like most of the Irish who left Ireland during the Famine Years, they and their loved ones suffered greatly at home. Joseph and Fanny arrived in Ontario and settled near family who had arrived much earlier. They were my 2nd great grandparents. They were very poor Catholics and the land they settled on was more swamp than anything else.

So - I have three Irish great-great grandparents (Joseph, Fanny and Jane) and two Irish Great great great grandparents (John & Elizabeth). Out of that mix I get four Irish surnames: Greenlees, Johnstone, McGinnis & Downey.

My husband has many Irish surnames: Jackson & Moynahan from Tipperary, Hogan & Hayden (county not known), Kennedy & Maloney from Kerry, Massey from Wicklow, Montgomery & Graham & Johnson from Fermanagh. I don't know if hubs' Johnson and my Johnson are related. That would be fun to find out!



I hope this Irish blessing worked for all of our Irish ancestors! "May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."

Irish Civil Records FREE online!

Irish Civil Records are now searchable online at Irish Genealogy. And they're free!

The site explains that

The Civil Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths are the official State records of Births, Marriages and Deaths in Ireland. The registers of births, marriages and deaths and the related indexes are maintained by the Registrar General in the General Register Office. The Index books can be viewed at the General Register Office, Werburgh Street, Dublin 2.

The General Register Office (Oifig An Ard-Chláraitheora) is the central civil repository for records relating to births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages, civil partnerships and adoptions in Ireland.

The Indexes to the Civil Records of Irish Births, Deaths and Marriages date from 1864 with non-Roman Catholic Marriages recorded from 1845. The indexes to Births over 100 years old, the indexes to Marriages over 75 years old and the indexes to Deaths over 50 years old.

Many of the records have been digitized and are available online. 

       Search the Irish Civil Records

Wearing the Green on St. Patrick's Day!

DNA doesn't lie! Yes, I really have Irish blood! 

In honour of St Patrick's Day, when tradition has it that we all want to be Irish, I shout out THANK YOU to my Irish ancestors who came from Ireland to Canada. 

John Greenlees and his wife Elizabeth Johnston came from Fermanagh Ireland to the wilds of Upper Canada (present day Ontario) with three children - George about 5 years old, Thomas about 3 years old and my 2nd great grandmother Jane who was under 2 years old. The year was some time between Jane's birth in 1819 and the birth of their next child in Upper Canada in 1821. What a perilous journey that must have been!

Joseph McGinnis and his wife Frances (Fanny) Downey from Co. Down made the journey from famine stricken Ireland with their year old daughter Bridget (Delia) in 1846. They were both barely 20 years old.

It must have been a nightmare voyage and I am sure that like most of the Irish who left Ireland during the Famine Years, they and their loved ones suffered greatly at home. Joseph and Fanny arrived in Ontario and settled near family who had arrived much earlier. They were my 2nd great grandparents. They were very poor Catholics and the land they settled on was more swamp than anything else.

So - I have three Irish great-great grandparents (Joseph, Fanny and Jane) and two Irish Great great great grandparents (John & Elizabeth). Out of that mix I get four Irish surnames: Greenlees, Johnstone, McGinnis & Downey.

I hope this Irish blessing worked for them! "May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

In honour of St Patrick's Day, when tradition has it that we all want to be Irish, I really AM of Irish heritage. 50.2% according to my DNA results. (Well okay that's a combination of British and Irish but I'm going with it anyway)

John Greenlees and his wife Elizabeth Johnston came from Fermanagh Ireland to the wilds of Upper Canada (present day Ontario) with three children - George about 5 years old, Thomas about 3 years old and my 2nd great grandmother Jane who was under 2 years old. The year was 1819. What a perilous journey that must have been!

Joseph McGinnis and his wife Frances (Fanny) Downey made the journey from famine stricken Co. Down Ireland with their year old daughter Bridget (Delia) in 1846. They were both barely 20 years old.

It must have been a nightmare voyage and I am sure that like most of the Irish who left Ireland during the Famine Years, they and their loved ones suffered greatly at home. Joseph and Fanny arrived in Ontario and settled near family who had arrived much earlier. They were my 2nd great grandparents and sadly I know nothing of their parents or origins other than learning last year that they came from the area of Katesbridge, Co. Down Ireland. They were very poor Catholics and the land they settled on was more swamp than anything else.

So - I have three Irish great-great grandparents (Joseph, Fanny and Jane) and two Irish Great great great grandparents (John & Elizabeth). Out of that mix I get four Irish surnames: Greenlees, Johnstone, McGinnis & Downey.

I hope this Irish blessing worked for them! "May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."

Featured Database: Irish Emigration Database (IED)

If you have Irish ancestors this is a great database to check out. Irish Emigration Database (IED) is a free searchable set of records from various sources. The list of documents in this database are

  Diaries and Journals Family Papers Folklore, Song, Music Hansard Letters (Emigrants) Letters (Other) Newspapers (Births, Deaths, Marriages) Newspapers (Extracts) Newspapers (Shipping Advertisements) Newspapers (Shipping News) Official Documents Periodical Extracts Statistics Wills

Searching for various names and topics resulted in dozens of fascinating newspaper accounts, letters and diaries. 

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my Irish "cousins". 

Yep, I'm Irish. With a maiden name of McGinnis there's no doubt. I'm happy to say that my DNA tests also confirm my heritage. 

It's not too late for you to search for your Irish ancestors for free today. Ancestry.com is offering Open access to the Irish Heritage Collection from March 13 to March 17, 2014

This collection features all things Irish: census records, births and baptisms, WWI casualties, marriage records, passenger lists just to name a few. Offer is only good until tonight at 11:59pm ET so better hurry.

Who are my Irish ancestors and when did they come to Canada?

My 2nd great-grandparents Joseph McGinnis and his wife Fanny Downey sailed from Ireland to Canada with their 1 year old daughter Delia in 1847. They are my only known Potato Famine ancestors.

My 3rd great-grandparents John Greenlees and his wife Elizabeth Johnston came from Ireland with their 2 young boys, George and Thomas and my 2nd great grandmother Jane. They were well ahead of the Potato Famine and I've always been curious about what brought them here. 

So I have researched and verified 5 Irish ancestors but of course their lineage may go quite far back in Ireland and I'm sure I have many more! 

Free Access to Irish Heritage Records on Ancestry

Great news! Ancestry.com is offering Open access to the Irish Heritage Collection from March 13 to March 17, 2014
This collection features all things Irish: census records, births and baptisms, WWI casualties, marriage records, passenger lists just to name a few.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to find your Irish ancestors. 

The Great Famine - Emigration out of Ireland

Between 1845 and 1855 almost  2.1 million people fled Ireland. Most sailed across the Atlantic for North American on what came to be known as "coffin ships". It is estimated that over 80,000 Irish emigrants died en route to a new home in Canada and America.

Dr Ciarán Ó Murchadha writes about the Irish Famine and emigration in his book, Great Famine: Ireland's Agony 1845-1852 available in both Kindle and hardcover on Amazon.com

[Source: New facts about Great Famine emigration out of Ireland revealed]

Do you have Irish ancestors who left Ireland in this time period? I do. My 2nd great grandfather Joseph McGinnis left Co. Down with his wife Fanny Downey and their one year old daughter Bridget (aka Delia) in 1846. They arrived in Ontario Canada sometime that summer and joined a large McGinnis family who had left Ireland in the 1830s. 

It must have been an unbearably difficult journey for all the poor Irish families who left, and incredibly torturous for those left behind.  If you are looking for your Irish ancestors arriving in Canada, the following databases may be of some help.

Irish Canadian Emigration Records, 1823-1849 This database on Ancestry.com contains various records and reports of Canadian emigration agents James Allison and A.J. Buchanan. Among the various records are some emigration and orphan lists. These lists are searchable by name. The two collections in this database are: Neilson collection [Records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal, 1823-1845 Vol. 21 and 1846-1849 Vol. 22] & Emigration Agent Returns of Emigrant Orphans, 1847  

You can also request a search for your ancestor in the following Books of Immigration and Ships Passenger Lists Records from the following books.

• [BOOK 1] Names of Emigrants 1845-1847. Records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal (Quebec Canada)
• [BOOKS 2-4] Canada Company Remittance Books 1843-1847 in 3 Volumes.
• [BOOK 5] Index of Passengers Who Emigrated to Canada between 1817 and 1849.

Also see the free Index of Names of Irish Emigrants from the 1845-1847 Records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal 

New study claims that Irishmen descended from Turkish farmers

A new study has revealed that many Irish men may be able to trace their roots back to Turkey.

Research indicates Turkish farmers arrived in Ireland about 6,000 years ago, bringing agriculture with them. And they may have been more attractive than the hunter-gatherers whom they replaced.

DNA testing of the Y chromosome in men conducted by scientists at the University of Leicester revealed that 85% of Irish men are descended from farming people from the Middle East and especially Turkey.

Interested in having your DNA tested? Here are two sites worth using:

Family Tree DNA or  23andMe.com

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/New-study-claims-that-Irishmen-descended-from-Turkish-farmers-83217437.html#ixzz2lZYvCoji

Irish Surnames Explained - What are the Top 10?

Do you or an ancestor have an Irish surname? Ever wondered what it means? Irish Central came up with a list of the 10 most common Irish surnames and published the list along with the  origins and meaning of the names. 

You can read about them at Irish surnames explained - the meaning behind the top ten clan names

My McGinnis surname didn't make the cut but luckily I know it means "son of Angus". And I know the origins. In fact none of my Irish ancestor names made the list and neither did hubs'. But it was still fun to read about those that did


Hubs has more Irish than I do - Kennedy, Jackson, Hogan, Moyahan (Minihan), Hayden, Massey, Montgomery, Graham, and Johnson

Mine are McGinnis, Downey, Johnson, and Greenlees

What are your Irish names?

My Irish Greenlees Ancestors from Aghalurcher, Co. Fermanagh

Aghalurcher Church

Since it's St. Patrick's Day I thought I'd talk a little about two of my Irish ancestors. I don't have that many Irish in my ancestry but my maiden name (McGinnis) is Irish. Many of my readers know that I'm always looking for Joseph McGinnis and his wife Fanny Downey who came from Co. Down in 1846 and settled near Guelph Ontario Canada.

But today I want to share a bit about my Irish  3rd great grandparents John Greenlees and his wife Elizabeth Johnston.

John and his wife came from Ireland to Ontario sometime between 1819 when their daughter Jane (my 2nd great grandmother) was born, and 1822.  Unfortunately ships passenger lists to Canada before 1865 did not have to be archived and so they are few and far between. So far I have not found any record of their arrival but Ontario was a very young settlement in those years and the courage they had to make the journey with three young children astounds me.

I know a lot about John and Elizabeth during their years in Ontario. But I've never known where in Ireland they lived. And then came great news from a fellow researcher and descendant.

Two years ago  their marriage record was discovered. This was the first clue I had of where in Ireland they came from. They married in 1814 in Galloon Parish, Clogher Diocese in Co. Fermanagh Ireland. Their marriage record found in the Parish Record books by another descendant (who very kindly sent it to me) reads:

 John Greenlees of P'h of Aghalurcher & Eliz'th Johnston of Drumy.

I can't begin to describe how it feels to have not only a county but an actual parish in Ireland after years of only knowing "Ireland" as their place of origin.

Today I treated myself to doing more searching for John and Elizabeth Greenlees, and to reading about Aghalurcher. I am not sure what "Drumy." stands for except perhaps Drummally? If anyone knows I'd love to hear from you.

 Nothing turned up for John or Elizabeth but I did get sidetracked looking for some of hubs' Irish ancestors - and had great success! I'll blog about that another day.

St. Patrick's Day: Win a Trip for Two to ireland!

Do you have Irish ancestors?

If yes, you are definitely going to be interested in the Ancestry.com St. Patricks Day promotion ending on Sunday, March 20th.

This promotion includes brand new Irish content just available on Ancestry.com, PLUS a sweepstakes for a trip for two to Ireland!

If you use the link "Get Started" in the graphic in this blog post, you will be taken to Ancestry and there you can enter the contest to win the trip for two to Ireland in their "True Irish Roots Sweepstakes"

Good luck in the sweepstakes! 

Featured Genealogy Database: Irish Passengers in J & J Cooke Shipping Agents Records 1847-1871

Featured Genealogy Database this week is the set of the J & J Cooke Shipping Agents Records.

These Irish passenger lists from shipping records can be found in  Passenger Books of J & J Cooke, Shipping Agents. Sailings from Londonderry to Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Quebec, St. John New Brunswick & New Orleans Louisiana, 1847-1871

This database of Irish ships passenger lists include 27 ships to St. John New Brunswick, 30 to Pennsylvania, 23 to Quebec and 5 to New Orleans, Louisiana. If your Irish ancestor left Ireland for N. America between 1847 and 1871 you won't want to overlook these lists of passengers.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to my Irish Ancestors!

In honour of St Patrick's Day, when tradition has it that we all want to be Irish, I shout out THANK YOU to my Irish ancestors who came from Ireland to N. America.

John Greenlees and his wife Elizabeth Johnston came from Ireland to the wilds of Upper Canada (present day Ontario) with three children - George about 5 years old, Thomas about 3 years old and my 2nd great grandmother Jane who was under 2 years old. The year was some time between Jane's birth in 1819 and the birth of their next child in Upper Canada in 1821. What a perilous journey that must have been!

I wish I knew where in Ireland they came from but I don't. They made it possible for me to exist though so for that I thank them!

Joseph McGinnis and his wife Frances (Fanny) Downey made the journey from famine stricken Ireland with their year old daughter Bridget (Delia) in 1846. They were both barely 20 years old.

It must have been a nightmare voyage and I am sure that like most of the Irish who left Ireland during the Famine Years, they and their loved ones suffered greatly at home. Joseph and Fanny arrived in Ontario and settled near family who had arrived much earlier. They were my 2nd great grandparents and sadly I know nothing of their parents or origins other than learning last year that they came from the area of Katesbridge, Co. Down Ireland. They were very poor Catholics and the land they settled on was more swamp than anything else.

So - I have three Irish great-great grandparents (Joseph, Fanny and Jane) and two Irish Great great great grandparents (John & Elizabeth). Out of that mix I get four Irish surnames: Greenlees, Johnstone, McGinnis & Downey.

I hope this Irish blessing worked for them! "May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."