Boston as it could have been

What a fantastical view of the City of Boston! This image is taken from a vintage postcard (date unknown) courtesy of USGenWeb's Penny Postcards website. Personally, I'm wondering how all the flying things would avoid tangling in mid-air... and how the lady in the hat at the bottom right-hand corner could walk quickly enough to cross the tracks safely, not to mention see around her hat!

For more vintage postcards (but usually more realistic than this one), see the Penny Postcards website. The collection has a number of Suffolk County, Massachusetts images that I enjoyed.

Kwin-zee, Massachusetts

As I mentioned earlier, I've been enjoying Bill West's continued pronunciation guides through his series of posts Speak Like a Native New Englander.

Lesson six focused on how to pronounce the name of Quincy, Massachusetts. Since Quincy (kwin-zee) figures prominently on one branch of my family tree, I thought I'd suggest a visit over to Bill's post.

There are just under twenty towns with the name of Quincy in the United States today, but apparently there is only one Kwin-zee (as opposed to Kwin-see). For more info and a little history on the Massachusetts Quincy (Kwin-zee), see the City of Quincy webpage About Quincy, the official Quincy tourism website, or the Quincy Historical Society.

"Are you ancestoring, dear?"

Here is the dream of every soul tracing their Irish roots...

To make it over to Ireland, find one of the townlands and graveyards of your ancestors, and then have "a little white-haired lady with sparkling eyes" venture forth and sing "in the beautifully lilting sing-song manner that is the essence of Irish speech" the name and address of your distant cousin who lives in the village nearby.

Read John Farrow's article about one man's return to his Irish roots and just such an experience. The Auld Sod gives his account of the feelings of alienation he had in Northern Ireland as well as the welcome he received by a distant cousin in Derrycughan.

My favorite lines are: "...if your roots have grown in her rich soil, there is an unmistakable tug of remembrance, of belonging, of being among the familiar even if only in a dream handed down in the subconscious."

I can relate to this sense of belonging, though my feet have never stepped upon Ireland's shores.

Here's hoping that once they do that I'll find "a little white-haired lady with sparkling eyes" to direct me.

Happy Anniversary, A light that shines again!

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my series of family history blogs.

A light that shines again, Small-leaved Shamrock and 100 Years in America are one year old!

Here are a few of my favorite articles from this, the Boston branch of my Irish family history this past year:

• In brief


• A rough start in Ireland


• It's a long way to Tipperary


• "Never."


• A new life in Boston


• A happy day in 1874


• The year 1876


• "Where an Irish Catholic should never, ever, set foot"


• Home sweet homes


• "The hill remains..."


• A little Ó Tighearnaigh history for you


• Mr. Tierney, I presume?


• The dreamer


• Irish Geography 101


• Boston's Big Dig: another one for the history books


• The poverty-stricken Irish: Why did they pick Boston?


• A collection of seven posts on Irish Christmas traditions


• A remembrance: the Tierney family of Quincy, 1908


• A round-up of Tierney family history resources


• Touching letters from a "strong & feisty" old Irishman to his son


• "The city where a century ago he came unwanted, he has made his own"


• On the finer points of Irish lacemaking


• Good Samaritans across the Atlantic: February 1847


• "A good story never has to end..."


• A wee bit of Irish history for ya


• Passing the torch: sharing Irish history with young people


• "Out of the dusk of slow-accomplished Time..."


• The death of memory


• Sad news: there is "no Irish at me"


• "Sticks and stones can break my bones..."


• "Dusty, crumbling, smelly, irreplaceable documents and books"

As I mentioned over at Happy Anniversary, Small-leaved Shamrock!, I had known that my one year anniversary of blogging was coming, but yesterday in the midst of busy daily activities, it slipped my mind that the one-year mark had arrived. Somehow my inattention to the date seems very appropriate. One of the joys of writing and publishing via blog is just how beautifully that it has allowed me to fit in writing on subjects that I enjoy within the confines of a busy life. Daily life continues to keep up its busy pace around me, yet ideas flow and when I find a quiet moment, I make a short visit to the computer to log my thoughts and to eventually share them with readers like you.

The year has flown, yet somehow I can't imagine life now now without sharing a part of my world and my family history with family, friends and other readers via blog. It has been a tremendously rewarding experience to have this avenue to share information and stories that I have been collecting for many years, and at the same time to find that in the sharing I am inspired to learn more.

I have spent a good amount of time this past year writing about things that are meaningful and interesting to me in the realm of my personal family history. I hope that you'll agree and that you've enjoyed sharing a little bit in the story of my family and my Boston Irish heritage here at A light that shines again. If so, please continue the journey along with me as reader as I begin my second year publishing via the web.

Once again as I celebrate my one year blogging anniversary, I send a special thank-you to you, my readers, and particularly to those of you that have taken the time to send comments or emails. Thanks for reading and I look forward to continuing this journey with you for another year.

For more highlights from the world of Lisa's blogs, you might enjoy reading Happy Anniversary, Small-leaved Shamrock! and Happy Anniversary, 100 Years in America!