Getting to know "A light that shines again"

It has been more than a year since I began sharing my family history on my three blogs: my Irish side of the family here at A light that shines again (with an emphasis on my Boston and Quincy, Massachusetts immigrant ancestors) and Small-leaved Shamrock (with an emphasis on my Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania roots) and my Hungarian/Croatian side of the family at 100 Years in America.

Read Getting to Know “100 Years in America” for a little more background on me and my interest in family history.

Here at A light that shines again the focus is about my Tierney, McCue and related families; the history of the Boston Irish; and Ireland itself, particularly County Tipperary. I have a special interest in the Great Famine of the mid-19^th-century since my Boston-Irish immigrant ancestors’ lives were impacted so greatly by that painful time in Irish history. I began this blog to focus on these aspects of Irish and Irish-American history, and my family’s story in particular. Their “sacred memories” are what inspires me to continue to write, as Christopher Pearce Cranch wrote so poetically:

“…Nor less should we forget the worthy sons
And daughters who through centuries lived and died
Unknown to fame. The muse of history shuns
Their buried records. Gathered side by side
In yonder burial ground, they leave no signs
Save in half-obliterated lines
That tell their birth, their death. 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…”

To get a further introduction to A light that shines again, you might enjoy reading the following. Inspired by Terry Thornton's "Getting to Know You" challenge, I've listed what I've chosen as the "brightest", "breeziest" and "most beautiful" articles here at A light that shines again.

Brightest (my best work): "The city where a century ago he came unwanted, he has made his own..."

Breeziest (best light-hearted article): Sad news: there is "no Irish at me"

Most beautiful: The death of memory

I choose not to write too much about myself on my various family history blogs. The preservation of the stories of my family's deeper history is usually my focus. However, you can learn a little more about me at The view from my corner of the world. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments, so please write!