Tag Archives for " O’Keefe "
Irish Ancestry Trail – Canada – Newfoundland
Newfoundland. We landed in St. John’s, Newfoundland at 11.00am local time. Just 3.5 hours behind Ireland (Cork, actually) – and the 5 hour plane trip was quite a lot less than our ancestors had to endure. I must say (unlike the photo below – which was taken later in the week) – the environment looked […]
Continue readingThe Yew Tree of Ireland
Do you have a favourite tree? Maybe the majestic oak, or graceful willow? In Ireland, the most ancient and revered is the mighty Yew tree, used to guard entrances to homes and cemeteries. In this letter we talk about how a tree came to name both the sons and townlands of Ireland. Céad Míle Fáilte […]
Continue readingThe Hedge School Teachers of Ireland
Do you have any school teachers in your family tree? Perhaps they have fond memories of the hallowed halls in which they taught, the ordered classrooms, fully stocked with the supplies of a good education. In this letter, we will visit a humbler school setting, that was the only option for many Irish schoolteachers during […]
Continue readingTralee to Kilkee on the Wild Atlantic Way
On the last leg of our journey along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, we traveled around the Dingle Peninsula to the town of Tralee. On this leg, we leave Tralee and head into North Kerry, before crossing on the ferry to County Clare, around the Loop Head peninsula and finishing up in the town of Kilkee. I […]
Continue readingThe Tribes of Ireland – Ireland at the Birth of Your Irish Surname.
In last week’s newsletter we introduced Turlough O’Connor – High King of Ireland up to 1156. If Turlough was in the habit of reading maps back at that time, he might look at his kingdoms through the lens of this map – showing the major Tribes of Ireland at his time. Now, let’s take a […]
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