I often come across a new member in the Green Room who provides us with the “facts” of their Irish ancestors origin in Ireland. I say “facts”, but these facts sometimes appear unlikely when presented to an Irish genealogist. For example, we might receive facts that a couple who were born in different parts of…

Castlefreke castle seen across the river and fields with cows

Do You Have a Rare Irish Surname in your family Tree?

Do you have a rare Irish name in your family tree? In today’s letter, we are going to chat with a Green Room member who has one of those names – and have a deeper look at the specific location in Ireland where that Irish surname flourished and explore likely leads on discovering a little…

Do You Know this Irish American Hero?

We have just arrived back from a very successful visit to Chicago and Milwaukee – and took full advantage of the movies on offer in the airplane. One in particular caught my attention – it was a new film by Steven Spielberg. The director of Jaws and Schindler’s list always offers some great entertainment. In…

Four Irish-Canadian Stories

Last week, I started by wishing all our US readers a very happy Independence Day weekend (and I do hope it went well for you). But, then I was reminded just how many Canadian readers we have! Of course, July 1st was Canada Day – which I did not mention – and I do wish…

Irish Surnames and Their Counties

Do you have Irish surnames in your family tree? If the answer is yes, then read on – and discover more about the surnames of Ireland, where they come from – and see if you can spot some of your Irish surnames.