This little girl dressed in her finery on First Communion day

is here to make a special announcement.  She is hanging out over at a new blog and would love for you to come visit!

The Catholic Gene is a brand new project in the works dreamed up by one of my favorite genealogy bloggers: Donna Pointkouski of What's Past is Prologue.  The new blog will feature the writings of a chorus of Catholic genealogy bloggers who may already be familiar to you (including myself, pictured here on my First Communion day.)

If you have an interest in family history and (A) are a card-carrying Catholic or (B) have ancestors who were Catholic, do we have a treat for you!  Whether the season is one of feasting or fasting, we'll be serving up a bountiful harvest of articles designed to inspire you in your genealogical pursuits related to the Catholic faith.

If you feel moved by the Spirit, take a Sunday drive on over to The Catholic Gene and join us in celebrating the joys of the Catholic faith and Catholic genealogical records.  See you there!

Language fun "galore": Working on my Hiberno-English

When (thanks to Colm Doyle's Corcaighist) I came across Gaelchultúr's Language Placement Test on the Irish language, I thought I would at least give myself a chance to try out one or two questions. One quick look at the test made me think otherwise. I decided right then and there to "make quick the road" (an Irish phrase meaning "to head home before trouble begins") and instead work on my Hiberno-English as a starting point.

What is Hiberno-English? This phrase refers to English as it is often spoken in Ireland. Another way of looking at it is this: Hiberno-English is English spoken in the style of the Irish language. The syntax of the two languages is very different (in fact Irish syntax is very different from most Indo-European languages). A native Irish speaker automatically gives their own twist to the use of the English language. That is how Hiberno-English came about.

Let me give you an example. The Irish language does not have words that translate directly to yes or no. If you would like to reply negatively or positively to someone's question, you must rephrase the question and make a full reply.

For example, if asked "Are you coming for dinner?" a Hiberno-English speaker might answer, "I am" intead of "Yes". If asked, "Is your friend coming with you?" they would be likely to answer, "She's not" instead of "No".

In Hiberno-English, someone who can speak a language is refered to as "having a language". This phrase borrows from the Irish translation. As further explained on Wikipedia's Hiberno-English webpage, the sentence "She does not have Irish" is translated as "Níl Gaeilge aici", literally meaning "There is no Irish at her". Sadly, I realize that I "do not have Irish". The way that sentence sounds makes it seem like I could just go out and get it. If only learning a language was so easy!

According to the History of the Irish Language webpage,

The version of English spoken in Ireland, known as Hiberno-English bears striking similarities in some grammatical idioms with Irish. Some have speculated that even after the vast majority of Irish people stopped speaking Irish, they perhaps subsconsciously used its grammatical flair in the manner in which they spoke English. This fluency is reflected in the writings of Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and more recently in the writings of Seamus Heaney, Paul Durcan, Dermot Bolger and many others.

The distinct Hiberno-English may today be losing some of its hold over Ireland, particularly within younger age groups and in urban areas, yet the impact of the Irish language on its birthplace (and the world) remains.

After all, who ever referred to Cork County? Of course, the correct name is County Cork - a result of the original Irish word order. The same is true of lakes and rivers, such as Lough Neagh (the largest lake in the United Kingdom) and the well-known River Shannon, Ireland's longest.

Cork itself appears to have its own "dialect" of Hiberno-English, recognizable by its commonly generous use of emphasis words. Here's an example, in case you are in need of a good insult:

"You are a howling, thundering, rampaging, galloping, creeching langer, so you are!"

(Warning: it might not be a good idea to use this on your friends.)
Now it's time for me to put the kibosh on. In closing, I thought you might enjoy a reminder of some of the words that the English language has borrowed from Irish. Where would we be today without galore, phoney and smithereens?

I hope that this little introduction to Hiberno-English got you thinking, and that you'll find time to dabble in a little bit of Irish slang yourself.

Need a good starting place? Try Slanguage: A Dictionary of Irish Slang by Bernard Share and A Dictionary of Hiberno-English by T.P. Dolan, both recommended by Corcaighist's Colm Doyle.

Go n'éirí an t-ádh leat! (Pronounced guh nye-ree un taw laht)

The best of luck to you!

This article was originally published here on April 25, 2008 as Sad news: there is "no Irish at me".  It was written for and included in the "Irish language" edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture entitled "A little Irish language, a bit of Blarney...".  You can also find that edition of the carnival reposted on the carnival's blog.

"...take a shamrock from your hat and cast it on the sod..."

The Irish have long been known for their love of poetry. One of the most popular of Irish verse which some say could serve as the national anthem of Ireland itself, is the poem entitled "Wearin' of the Green".

The poem, which dates back to about 1798 and was written by an unknown poet, strikes a chord in the heart of any true-blooded Irishman.

Here is the poem - an inspiring historical tribute to the Irish soul. You may notice that the last two verses have a different tone to them (one more of resignation). These were written later than the first.

May this poem give you a little more understanding of what the Irish have endured and stir in you a greater love for Erin as we celebrate the feast of St. Patrick - wearin' our green, of course!

The Wearin' of the Green

O Paddy dear, an' did ye hear the news that's goin' round?
The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground;
St. Patrick's Day no more we'll keep, his colour can't be seen,
For there's a cruel law agin the wearin' o' the Green.

I met wid Napper Tandy and he took me by the hand,
And he said, "How's dear ould Ireland, and how does she stand?"
She's the most distressful country that ever yet was seen,
For they're hangin' men an' women there for the wearin' o' the Green.

Then since the colour we must wear is England's cruel red,
Sure Ireland's sons will ne'er forget the blood that they have shed,
You may take a shamrock from your hat and cast it on the sod,
It will take root and flourish there though underfoot it's trod.

When law can stop the blades of grass from growin' as they grow,
And when the leaves in summer-time their colour dare not show,
Then will I change the colour, too, I wear in my caubeen
But 'till that day, please God, I'll stick to wearin' o' the Green.

But if at last our colour should be torn from Ireland's heart,
Her sons with shame and sorrow from the dear old isle will part;
I've heard a whisper of a land that lies beyond the sea
Where rich and poor stand equal in the light of freedom's day.

O Erin, must we leave you driven by a tyrant's hand?
Must we ask a mother's blessing from a strange and distant land?
Where the cruel cross of England shall nevermore be seen,
And where, please God, we'll live and die still wearin' o' the green!

This article originally appeared here at A light that shines again in 2008.

Share your family lore and legend for the carnival!

Just a few more days left to send in your submissions for the Irish stories edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture!

The 1st edition of our Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture, published at Small-leaved Shamrock on November 22, 2007, was entitled Everyone Loves a Good Irish Story.  That edition gave us an upside-down traffic light (with the green on the top of course), an Irish love story, paddy-whacking, Civil War regiments that flew the Irish flag for America, and more.  What fun we had starting out as a carnival!

Now, twenty editions later, we'll be revisiting that same theme: Irish Stories.  Everyone loves a good story. Got an Irish one that you can share with us for the carnival?  Show us that you've got the gift of gab - tell us a good story! Here are the details:

Of all of the colorful Irish characters that you've learned about throughout your search for family history or your study of Irish heritage in general, surely you've come across some good stories. Share your favorite one about an Irish ancestor or other Irishman or Irishwoman with us for the 21st edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture.

Deadline for submissions to the Irish Stories 21st edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture is Sunday, August 22, 2010. This edition will be published at Small-leaved Shamrock. See you there!

"In that safe place in our hearts..."

For Poem in Your Pocket Day this National Poetry Month 2010, I share a special tribute to loved ones gone before us.  It was written by Celtic poet John O'Donohue, who himself passed away in 2008. 

O'Donohue's poem calls to mind the many loved ones that reside in "that safe place in our hearts".  Here at A light that shines again, I seek to remember many of them, some whose voices I can still recollect that "brightened everything", others who I know only "from the old distance of their names".  May their memories "flower with hope in every heart" that remembers them.

On the death of the beloved

by John O'Donohue

Though we need to weep your loss,

You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,

Where no storm or might or pain can reach you.

Your love was like the dawn

Brightening over our lives

Awakening beneath the dark

A further adventure of colour.

The sound of your voice

Found for us

A new music

That brightened everything.

Whatever you enfolded in your gaze

Quickened in the joy of its being;

You placed smiles like flowers

On the altar of the heart.

Your mind always sparkled

With wonder at things.

Though your days here were brief,

Your spirit was live, awake, complete.

We look towards each other no longer

From the old distance of our names;

Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,

As close to us as we are to ourselves.

Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,

We know our soul's gaze is upon your face,

Smiling back at us from within everything

To which we bring our best refinement.

Let us not look for you only in memory,

Where we would grow lonely without you.

You would want us to find you in presence,

Beside us when beauty brightens,

When kindness glows

And music echoes eternal tones.

When orchids brighten the earth,

Darkest winter has turned to spring;

May this dark grief flower with hope

In every heart that loves you.

May you continue to inspire us:

To enter each day with a generous heart.

To serve the call of courage and love

Until we see your beautiful face again

In that land where there is no more separation,

Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,

And where we will never lose you again.

"So grant him life...": Reviving the memory of Patrick Tierney

Having researched the life of suffering and trial of my Irish-immigrant great-great-grandfather Patrick Tierney and recently having shared his naturalization papers

"...swear by the oaths he swore..."

while I treasured his personal signature on those documents,

"...subdue your pen to his handwriting..."

having remembered that it was only sixty years after his death that most of his descendants had no knowledge of even his name,

"...let his forgotten griefs be now, and now his withered hopes..."

and searching now for documents, histories, anything that might give me a glimpse into his life,

"...assemble tokens intimate of him..."

I renew again my intent to share his story here at A light that shines again

"...blow on a dead man's embers and a live flame will start..."

in the hopes that his life of courage and fortitude will inspire those who come after him, giving them strength for their own lives. 

"...so grant him life..."

Patrick J. Tierney

1841-1900

Born in Tipperary, Ireland

Son of Michael and Mary (O'Neil) Tierney

Died in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA

Childhood survivor of the Great Famine

Immigrant to America at age seventeen

Laborer, trader, peddler and grocer in Boston's North End

Husband to Catherine (Kennedy) Tierney

Father of seven

May he rest in peace while the memory of his life lives on

~

Italicized excerpts above are from the poem by Robert Graves entitled To Bring the Dead to Life.  You can find it in its entirety below.  Thanks to Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi for bringing this poem to light and offering a challenge along with it to "bring the dead to life by using words to fan the embers of those long dead bones and let the resulting flame illuminate their life and times".  

To Bring the Dead to Life

~ Robert Graves

To bring the dead to life
Is no great magic.
Few are wholly dead:
Blow on a dead man's embers
And a live flame will start.

Let his forgotten griefs be now,
And now his withered hopes;
Subdue your pen to his handwriting
Until it prove as natural
To sign his name as yours.

Limp as he limped,
Swear by the oaths he swore;
If he wore black, affect the same;
If he had gouty fingers,
Be yours gouty too.

Assemble tokens intimate of him --
A ring, a hood, a desk:
Around these elements then build
A home familiar to
The greedy revenant.

So grant him life, but reckon
That the grave which housed him
May not be empty now:
You in his spotted garments
Shall yourself lie wrapped.

Tierney family treasure: Patrick's naturalization papers, 1876

It was one-hundred years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  It was the year that the Sioux and Cheyenne defeated Custer and his troops at Little Big Horn.  It was the year that baseball's National League was founded, and that prominent Boston resident Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.

The year 1876 was also of personal importance for another Boston resident, my great-great-grandfather Patrick Tierney. On September 14, 1876 Patrick Tierney (and his wife Catherine by virtue of their marriage two years previous) became citizens of the United States.

Patrick's Declaration of Intent to become a citizen and Petition for Citizenship, which I obtained from the National Archives,  are both very special family treasures for several reasons.  One of those reasons is the mention of Patrick's birth in County Tipperary, Ireland.  I find it very interesting to compare Patrick's naturalization papers with those belonging to my grandfather (on another branch of my family tree) who attained his citizenship in the early 20th-century.

Probably my favorite part of Patrick's documents is his signature. We have no photographic image of my great-great-grandfather, and no written description of what he looked like. His signature is the closest that we can get to an "image" of him. Here it is as it appears on his citizenship papers:

Patrick Tierney's Declaration of Intent and Petition for Citizenship are shown below followed by their transcriptions.

The document reads:

U.S. District Court
Boston, Mass. Vol 95 Page 5 5

United States of America
55

To the Honorable Judges of the Circuit Court of the United States, begun and holden at Boston, within and for the District of Massachusetts.

Respectfully represents Patrick Tierney of Boston in said District Laborer an Alien and a free white person; that he was born in County Tipperary, Ireland the 14th day of March in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and forty-one and is now about thirty-five years of age; that he arrived at Buffalo, NY in the District of New York in the United States of America, on or about the tenth day of April in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-eight being then a minor under the age of eighteen years; that it then was, and still is, his bona fide intention to reside in and become a citizen of the United States of America, and to renounce all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign Prince, State, Potentate and Sovereignty whatsoever – more especially to Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,

whose subject he has heretofore been. [Struck out: All of which appears in the record of the Honorable…Court,…to wit, on the…day of…A.D. 18…]

And the said petitioner further represents that he has ever since continued to reside within the jurisdiction of said United States; that he has never borne any hereditary title, or been any of the orders of nobility; that he is ready to renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign Prince, Potentate, State or Sovereignty whatsoever; and particularly to Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Great Britain and Ireland,

whose subject he has heretofore been; that he is attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America, and well disposed towards the good order and happiness of the same.
[Struck out: And the said petitioner further represents that he enlisted in the Armies of the United States, and was honorably discharged therefrom.]

Wherefore, your petitioner prays that he may be admitted to become a citizen of the said United States of America, according to the forms of the Statutes in such case made and provided.

x Patrick . Tierney
[Signature of Patrick Tierney]

187 Sworn to by said Petitioner,
Before me,
John G. Stetson,
Clerk.

Key to Transcription

Black = pre-printed on form
Blue = handwritten
Green = stamped on record
Red = not in record; my notes

~

Below is Patrick's Petition for Citizenship.



The document reads:

U.S. District Court
Boston, Mass. Vol 95 Page 5 5 A

United States of America

Massachusetts District, to wit: City of Boston, Sept. 14th 1876.
We Austin Quigley and John Mitchell All of Boston
and both citizens of said United States, severally depose and say, that we have known the foregoing petitioner for five years last past, during which time he has resided in said
Boston
and that he has resided within the State of Massachusetts one year at least; and has conducted himself and behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed towards the good order and happiness of the same.

Sept 14, 1876 Sworn to by Austin Quigley
the above named witnesses, John Mitchell
Before me,
John G. Stetson
Clerk.

Oath Taken by Petitioner

I, Patrick Tierney do solemnly swear, that I do absolutely and entirely renounce and adjure all allegiance and fidelity to every Foreign Prince, Potenate, State or Sovereignty whatsoever, - particularly to Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,

whose subject I have heretofore been; and that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America, - so help me God.

United States of America

District of Massachusetts, to wit:
At a Circuit Court of the United States, begun and holden at said Boston, on the fifteenth day of May in the year of our Lord 1876, to wit, on the 14th day of September A.D. 1876, the said Patrick Tierney took the aforesaid oath and was admitted to become a citizen of the United States of America; and the Court ordered that record thereof by made accordingly.

Attest:
John G. Stetson Clerk.

Key to Transcription

Black = pre-printed on form
Blue = handwritten
Green = stamped on record
Red = not in record; my notes

~

This article originally appeared here at A light that shines again.  I have republished it as part of the 17th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture on "Irish genealogy treasures".

The night before Christmas in Ireland (Advent Calendar: Christmas Eve)

Breaking the fast, watching for angels standing on the spike of every holly leaf, and being sure to say your prayers - because every Irish child knows that all prayers said on Christmas Eve are answered...

These are some of the memories of childhood Christmases in Ireland shared by Brigit Haggerty in her essay An Irish Christmas—The Night Before. Perhaps my favorite part of her descriptive remembrances is this recollection and realization:

Drifting off to sleep, I can vaguely recall hushed voices in the other room, bits and pieces of Handel's Messiah, and a feeling of pure contentment. It would take me years and years to recognize and realize that these are the gifts that go on giving.

For another look at Christmas Eve in Ireland, this time a humorous one, see the book An Irish Night Before Christmas, written by Sarah Kirwan Blazek and illustrated by James Rice. Nevermind the yule log on the fire and glasses of eggnog, here you'll find the turf blazing in the fireplace and glasses of Irish stout. This charming children's picture book will bring a smile to the face of children of all ages at Christmas.

Here's wishing you a warm candle in your window and an Irish blessing this Christmas Eve:

The light of the Christmas star to you
The warmth of home and hearth to you
The cheer and good will of friends to you
The hope of a childlike heart to you
The joy of a thousand angels to you
The love of the Son and God's peace to you.

Nollaig Shona dhíbh!

Image courtesy Tipperary of Tara, Ltd.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 24: Christmas Eve. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at A light that shines again and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

On French Hens, a Partridge and God Himself (Advent Calendar: Christmas Music)

In the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas, I was planning to write a post about the well-loved carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. I had learned several years ago that the objects throughout the carol had hidden meanings - they represented various aspects of the Christian faith. I understood that the carol had been written for use by persecuted English and Irish Catholics during the time of England's Protestant reformation. Or so I thought...

After a little bit of research on the subject (much thanks to Douglas Anderson's Hymns & Carols of Christmas website) I have learned enough about The Twelve Days of Christmas to write a book, never mind a blog post. And, no, the background of the carol may not be exactly what I had thought. But it does have a fascinating history steeped in the joy and merriment of the Christmas season which traveled through several countries before becoming an international phenomenon.

The song probably had its origin as a French carol and was sung as a sort of "chanson de geste" by the medieval troubadours of France, according to The Folk Carol of England by Douglas Brice.

Elizabeth Poston writes in The Second Penguin Book of Christmas Carols that the earliest written version of the song appears in "Twelth Day", a 13th-century manuscript located at Trinity College, Cambridge. The Twelve Days of Christmas was first published in a children's book called Mirth & Mischief in 1780, with its first appearance in a collection of Christmas songs coming in 1868.

Just to clarify, the "twelve days of Christmas" refers to the period of celebration between Christmas day itself and Epiphany on January 6. The song was originally sung by the French on Epiphany, otherwise known as Twelth Night.

In its more recent history, The Twelve Days of Christmas song has become a favorite throughout the traditional Christmas season and now our modern extended secular Christmas season which gets rolling in late November (and perhaps even earlier) in some places.

As for the meaning behind the symbols, here is the story as best I could find it. It turns out that a Catholic priest by the name of Fr. Hal Stockert had done some research for a project years back. In the process he came across some letters from Irish Jesuit priests to the motherhouse in Rheims, France. According to Fr. Stockert's memory (he hasn't been able to relocate the letters) some of the documents had mentions of the symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas being used as a secret catechism for persecuted Catholics at the time. Fr. Stockert posted his findings online not "as a doctoral thesis", as he put it, but "simply as some delicious tidbit [he] thought the world would be delighted to share over a holiday season". (See more about his story at Catholic Culture or Catholic Information Network. For another interesting discussion on the topic and a list of the symbols, see this CRI/Voice webpage.)

So it turns out that the carol, not necessarily written as a tool of faith, may have actually been used that way. Whether or not this was the case, thanks to this song we now have an interesting and memorable way to remember various aspects of faith.

Here are the symbols, according to the Catholic Culture webpage:

• true love = God Himself
• partridge in a pear tree = Jesus Christ
• 2 turtle doves = Old and New Testaments
• 3 French hens = faith, hope and charity (the theological virtues)
• 4 calling birds = the four Gospels and/or the four evangelists
• 5 golden rings = the first five books of the Old Testament (Pentateuch)
• 6 geese a-laying = the six days of creation
• 7 swans a-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and/or the seven sacraments
• 8 maids a-milking = the eight beatitudes
• 9 ladies dancing = the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
• 10 lords a-leaping = the ten commandments
• 11 pipers piping = the eleven faithful apostles
• 12 drummers drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

Click here for the tune for The Twelve Days of Christmas along with lyrics in English and Irish Gaelic.

As the twelve days of Christmas draw near, I hope you'll take the time to read the story of the "Partridge's" birth written by one of the "four calling birds" in one of the "turtle doves". Make sure you obey the "ten lords a leaping", and I wish you a holiday season filled with "French hens!"

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 21: Christmas Music. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at A light that shines again and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

"Mass-going feet" and "a frosty dawn" (Advent Calendar: Religious Services)

Every child has strong memories of Christmas mornings. The joy of the long-awaited day's arrival; the gift-giving; the beauty of the morning shared with family. Many Irish children in days gone by remembered the outdoor beauty of the morning of Christ's birth as they made their way to early morning Mass with their families.

Patrick Kavanagh, a well-loved Irish poet of recent times, has written a beautiful poem which brings to life his memories of those Christmas mornings. Here is a portion of his poem, A Christmas Childhood. Kavanagh's vivid description of the morning preparations and the family's walk to church on "Mass-going feet" can't help but make the reader sentimental for Christmases past.

...Outside the cow-house my mother
Made the music of milking;
The light of her stable-lamp was a star
And the frost of Bethlehem made it twinkle.

A water-hen screeched in the bog,
Mass-going feet
Crunched the wafer-ice on the pot-holes,
Somebody wistfully twisted the bellows wheel.

My child poet picked out the letters
On the grey stone,
In silver the wonder of a Christmas townland,
The winking glitter of a frosty dawn...

You can read the full text of Kavanagh's A Christmas Childhood at this Irish Culture & Customs webpage.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 17: Grab Bag. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at A light that shines again and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

"A fairyland of gold and glitter to feast the eyes of a country child" (Advent Calendar: Grab Bag)

Christmas 1858 must have been a time of joy and sadness for Patrick Tierney. Just eighteen years old, I'm sure that memories of childhood Christmases in Ireland were fresh on his mind as he celebrated the season with the hope of a new young immigrant to America.

Wondering what his memories of Ireland might have been like, I was happy to find an account written in the 1920's by Consiglio Murphy. She wrote her memories of Christmas in East Cork "sixty years ago" - which would have been around the 1860's, a few short years after Patrick Tierney had arrived in America from the neighboring County Tipperary.

I enjoyed reading her memories about the pre-Christmas plum pudding process, and how each family member was required to stir the pudding to prevent a death in the family in the new year.

Visits with gifts of fresh milk to neighbors "with many children" ended up with she and her siblings returning filled with rich cake or plum pudding and a chide from their mother, "You took more from those poor people than you gave."

She also tells about her memories of riding into town with her parents in the "pony and trap" to "bring home the Christmas". On the way back in the dark of the Irish late winter afternoon, she remembers enjoying the sights of the lit gas lamps, "a fairyland of gold and glitter to feast the eyes of a country child, who only had an oil lamp and candles at home."

I can't help but wonder what young Patrick Tierney, a country child from Tipperary, feasted his eyes on during his first Christmas in Boston in 1858.

You can read the rest of Consiglio Murphy's memories of mid-19th-century East Cork Christmas at this Irish Culture & Customs webpage or in the book No Shoes in Summer by Merlin Press.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 17: Grab Bag. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at A light that shines again and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

Get in the Christmas spirit - do your housecleaning! (Advent Calendar: Grab Bag)

The Irish have only a few Christmas traditions that stand out as traditionally Irish and not borrowed from other cultures in recent times. Perhaps the oldest of these traditions is - housecleaning! And it may, too, have been borrowed from other cultures - although it was as long ago as before the birth of Christ.

This is not your typical housecleaning. Traditional Irish "whitewashing the house" for Christmas involves cleaning and polishing the house and everything in it. As this Christmas Archives webpage puts it, "The cleaning of the house from top to bottom...Every window and glass sparking, all the silver polished till it shone." Take a drive through the Irish countryside in December and you may see a farmhouse that has the freshly whitewashed look.

Supposedly the "holiday cleansing" tradition originated in the purification ceremonies of ancient cultures, including the Mesopotamians circa 4000 B.C. It has long been a part of the preparations in Ireland (and some other European countries) for Christmas day, and can still be found in many rural areas today.

So get yourself in the Christmas spirit - go do some housecleaning! Whitewash your outhouse (if you have one); clean out the stables (if you're lucky enough to own livestock). If not, put up some fresh curtains and put out some new table linens. If you want to have a traditional Irish Christimas, it's time to purify and freshen up your home for Christmas in honor of the coming of the Christ Child.

Better get to work!

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 9: Grab Bag. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at A light that shines again and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

On Santa and how he immigrated to Ireland (Advent Calendar: Santa Claus)

According to Irish tradition, which appears to have some possible basis in fact, Saint Nicholas may very well have been an Irish immigrant. Yes, you may know that he was St. Nicholas of Myra and spent his youth in Turkey. According to the story, however, he may have unknowingly been moved to the land of Eire after his passing by Irish-Norman knights traveling home from the crusades in the Holy Land.

Take a look at the Saint Nicholas Center's Discovering the Truth About Santa Claus website for the full story along with a photo of what is believed to be the gravestone of Saint Nicholas himself.

The site has a charming poem written about the legend (should we call it that?) by Bill Watkins. I've included a two-stanza preview here. Visit the Saint Nicholas Center website for the rest.

The Bones of Santa Claus

An Irish Saint Nicholas Folk Tale

by Bill Watkins

Where lie the bones of Santa Claus
To what holy spot each pilgrim draws?
Which crypt conceals his pious remains
Safe from the wild wind, snows and rains?...

...That saint protector of the child
Whose relics pure lie undefiled
His casket safe within it's shrine
Where the shamrocks grow and rose entwine...

True or not true, it sure makes a good story. Thanks be to God for the Irish and their gift of blarney.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 6: Santa Claus. Make a visit to Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at A light that shines again and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

Deck the halls with boughs of cuileann (Advent Calendar: Outdoor Decorations)

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la..."

This beloved carol, believed to be originally of Welsh origin, had already been around for quite awhile when Mozart used it for a piano duet in the 18th century. You can read more about its interesting history in William Studwell's A Christmas Carol Reader.

Even older than the song is the actual tradition of using holly to ring in the Christmas season. In fact, it may have even been used in Ireland during the time of the winter solstice long before the advent of Christianity. But for many, many centuries now, the Irish have celebrated Christmas and holly has been a part of that celebration.

Here's how it went in the olden days, according to Bridget Haggerty's An Irish Christmas - Then and Now. In preparation for Christmas the women cleaned the inside of their homes, the men cleaned the outside, and the children's job was to "scout the countryside for appropriate decorations to be cut and brought home on Christmas Eve." Holly, cuileann in Gaelic (pronounced "qwill-un"), was considered one of the best finds because of its colorful berries. After the "gathering of the greens", sprigs of these glossy leaves and clusters of red berries graced mantles, doorways and other places of the Irish home at Christmastime. According to Christmas in Dublin, the plant came to symbolize the Savior: the spiky holly leaves were the crown of thorns and the red berries were drops of blood from Jesus' face and head.

Lucky children in a few particular counties in the south of Ireland might be able to add mistletoe, or drualas (pronounced "dhroo-ah-lus") to their collection of greenery. Mistletoe also had a long-standing role in Celtic culture, symbolizing peace and fertility.

Many Irish emigrants took the tradition of decorating with holly and mistletoe to their new countries, and that may be why many of us hang holly and mistletoe at Christmastime today.

Image of the holly courtesy of Scenic Reflections.

The vintage postcard images above (circa early 1900's) are courtesy of twogatos.com. Visit the website to view more beautiful postcards.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2009 Day 5: Outdoor Decorations. (Apologies to Thomas MacEntee for taking liberties with the outdoor decorations theme for today and discussing indoor decorations with an outdoor flavor.) Make a visit to Thomas's GeneaBloggers website for some additional inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

The article originally appeared here at A light that shines again and was included in Thomas MacEntee's Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2007.

Irish Geography 101

Want to do genealogy in Ireland? First you need to brush up on your Irish geography - and I don't mean modern day cities and villages. Genealogical research in Ireland requires a familiarity with not only present day geographical names, but administrative divisions from various periods in the past history of the country. Consider the fact that not only are there provinces and counties to become familiar with, but townlands, civil parishes, baronies and even poor law unions.

Photograph of Lough Cowey by Jordan McClements of Irish Views

I remember the moment very well when I learned that my great-great-grandfather Patrick Tierney hailed from County Tipperary. It was a thrill be able to say, "He was from Tipperary!" as opposed to just knowing that I had Irish ancestry.
After the excitement died down from the news, I realized that this fact opened up more questions for me than I might have imagined. Not only was it the largest county in Ireland but it was actually made up of two parts: North Tipperary and South Tipperary. My realization: If I was serious about tracing my roots back to Ireland, my work had just begun.

You may be feeling the same way. Here is a good place to start: a review of the basics and some further resources to get you familiar with Irish geography. Hopefully this little course will give you an advantage when it comes to searching for your roots in the Emerald Isle.

Before you start, you may want to check out The Family History Library's Ireland, How to Find a Place Name and Ireland, How to Find Information About the Place Where Your Ancestor Lived. These webpages offer some suggestions on narrowing down your search to a specific locale in Ireland and then using the microfilm gazetteers in their collection to learn more about the specific area.

Also see my series of articles at Small-leaved Shamrock on how to find your ancestors' places of origin. Getting to the roots of your Irish family tree: Part 1 provides suggestions on how to locate your ancestors' counties, and Getting to the roots of your Irish family tree: Part 2 offers help for finding the more specific areas where they originated.

Once you know at least the county of origin, it's necessary to familiarize yourself with Irish geography. You can't get much further into Irish research without understanding how Irish records are organized geographically.

Irish records can be broken down into various divisions:

Provinces & Counties - The four provinces of Ireland are the largest divisions of land in the country and may be the ones you are most familiar with. The counties date back to the 12th-century with the last one being added in the early 17th-century.

• Ulster lies in the northeast, and is made up of counties Antrim, Arnagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Fernanagh, Londonderry, Monaghan and Tyrone. (Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan became part of the Irish Free State in 1922 and the Republic of Ireland in 1949. Antrim, Arnagh, Down, Fernanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone are today part of the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland.)
• Connaught in the middle western part of the country includes Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo.
  
• Leinster in the southeast is made up of counties Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, West Meath, Wexford and Wicklow.
• Munster in the southwest includes Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford.

Poor Law Unions - Established in 1838, these areas were typically named after a local town and were used for tax purposes to support the local poor.

Baronies - An old administrative division no longer in use, a barony is made up of a group of civil parishes within a county, although their boundaries do not always match. There are 273 baronies in Ireland.
Church Parishes - This term usually refers to Roman Catholic parishes, since the Church of Ireland parishes most often conform to civil parish boundaries. The Roman Catholic church parishes are usually larger than the civil parishes.
Civil Parishes - Not the same as church parishes, these divisions normally contain a couple dozen townlands and are important to know when searching for records in Ireland. There are more than 2,000 civil parishes in Ireland. Civil parishes often cross over county and barony boundaries.

Townlands - The smallest of Irish land divisions, these do not necessarily contain towns or residents at all. There are thousands of townlands in Ireland.

When I first started looking to understand the geographic regions of Ireland, I was excited to find Brian Mitchell's A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland, 2nd Edition. Not only does his book explain the various administrative divisions of the land, but it provides an extensive assortment of maps covering each county. Large counties, such as Tipperary, are broken down into two sections. The maps break the county down into baronies, civil parishes, church parishes/dioceses and poor law unions. This is a true treasure of a book for those of us who appreciate visual aids.
A nice companion resource to place on your desk along with Mitchell's atlas is James Ryan's Irish Records: Sources for Family & Local History, Revised Edition. Ryan's book is a sort of encyclopedia of source listings for Irish records, arranged county by county. Take your county of interest and you can use this book to learn what records are available, where they are held, and even what dates the records cover. Listings include census and census substitutes, church records, commercial and social directories, family histories, gravestone inscriptions, newspapers, wills and more.
Found the name of the townland your ancestor may have come from but wondering about its corresponding barony, civil parish and poor law union? Try a search using the IreAtlas Townland Database. A similarly helpful online resource is this Irish Times search page for the 1851 General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland.
Digging deeply into places, maps and records can get tiring after awhile. A nice break might be to take some time to read up on the interesting backgrounds of Irish placenames. Ever wondered what a bally, dún, croagh or lough is? This page has a nice listing of the original Gaelic meanings in common elements in Irish placenames. The list is taken from the book Handbook of Irish Genealogy: How to Trace Your Ancestors & Relatives in Ireland. Another online assortment of Gaelic place meanings can be found here. If you want to look for a familiar location in particular, try looking it up within this alphabetical list.
I hope that my little introductory course in Irish geography and the recommended resources above will help to get you further into your search for roots so that you can make an A+ in Irish family history!
The image of Lough Cowey above is courtesy of Jordan McClements.
Map of Irish provinces and counties courtesy of mike.eire.ca.
This article originally appeared here at A light that shines again on December 27, 2007. I've reposted it here in honor of Geography Awareness Week.

For the love of history: Save the Massachusetts state library!

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is at the heart of America's history, not to mention my personal family history and that of many other Americans. It is unreal to think that its state library may be in danger of closing, but that is the concern in the news this week.

According to Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, "At a press conference on Thursday, October 29, the Governor's Office announced that Governor Patrick is considering closing the State Library of Massachusetts as a cost-saving measure. This closure will have a monumental impact on the cultural heritage of the Commonwealth." Not only the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts but the nation itself.

To read more about the possible closure of the Massachusetts State Library also visit Diane Haddad's Genealogy Insider article on the subject and the State Library of Massachusetts blog.

Please take time to sign the online petition to save the library. You can also help to publicize the petition by posting Thomas MacEntee's Save The State Library of Massachusetts Badge on your blog or website.

A new little light shining in the world

There's a new little light in the world that's recently been warmly welcomed into my family!

Visit 100 Years in America to learn more about why I've been away from blogging lately.

A light shining for two years... and more!

That is my hope for this humble little blog about the Boston-Irish side of my family tree. Begun two years ago tomorrow, it has been and continues to be the "shy younger sibling" to my other two more active and better known blogs 100 Years in America and Small-leaved Shamrock.

A heartfelt thanks to all of those that have read, commented, offered assistance in my research, or otherwise supported my efforts here at A light that shines again. The humble, long-suffering lives of my famine-immigrant, hard-working Boston Irish laborer ancestors have begun to be memorialized here, where I hope their stories will provide inspiration to those of us that live today in better and more hopeful times.

I truly believe the poetic words written by Christopher Pearce Cranch that I've included on the banner above which provided inspiration for the title of this blog:

"Yet not in vain,
Fathers and mothers, were your humble lives;
Each in its turn an influence that survives,
A light that shines again
In sacred memories, and in hearths and homes,
Vital as greater names that gild historic tomes…”

Taking the time to learn about the lives of my ancestors, particularly those that may not have been valued so much by the world around them at the time that they lived, has given me new insight into my own life and times. I am aware that, no matter how homely and "common" they were, these family members who came before me have passed on to me a great gift, and I hope to remember their humble lives and share their stories for many years to come.

As George Bernard Shaw stated,

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one... I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations."

Please join with me in celebrating two years of A light that shines again! If you'd like to read some of my favorite articles within this blog, take some time to stop by The best of 2008: A light that shines again - iGene Awards or this blog's one-year-anniversary wrap-up: Happy Anniversary, A light that shines again! You might also enjoy stopping by the two-year-anniversary celebrations over at 100 Years in America and Small-leaved Shamrock.