Hi Ed, While I keep St. Patrick's contributions in mind (and am not a teetotaler), I personally choose to celebrate St. Pat's by wearing a bit of green. Have often thought that reveler's "drink" money" would be better used to help eradicate present-day hunger around the world -- what better tribute to our ancestors who died in the Irish famine?. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed McKee" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 8:59 AM Subject: Re: [IGW] Dr. Frank BRADY, Manorhamilton,Co. Leitrim >> NY -- "Thoughts on Emigration" > Jean, > > While it is very nice to hear a successful story a fellow descendent of > "Olde Ireland", do you not think that some one(s) would begin steps to > abandon celebration of St Patrick's day? That celebration has come to > present a picture of "Irish Drunk Day" to many Americans, and seems to be an > excuse for some Non-Irish to get drunk, along with their Irish compatriots. <snip> > Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:44 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [IGW] Dr. Frank BRADY, Manorhamilton,Co. Leitrim >> NY -- "Thoughts > on Emigration" > > SNIPPET: At the County Leitrim Society's 101st Annual St. Patrick's > Celebration, New York, 1996, a Distinguished Service award was presented to > Frank BRADY, born in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim. > > Per Dr. BRADY -- "Emigration, whether you regard it as a curse or a cure, a > bane or a blessing, is an inseparable part of the story of Ireland. <snip>

SNIPPET: Johnny DORAN was born in 1909 in Rathnew, Co. Wicklow into a family of professional travelling musicians, a descendant of the legendary 19th century Wicklow piper, John CASH. Taking to the road in the early 1930s and from then until his tragic death at the age of 42, DORAN's pipes could be heard wherever there was a large gathering of people. Although he travelled widely throughout most of Ireland, Co. Clare was to become his favorite - no doubt attracted by the wealth of tradition still alive in the county and the fact that he found a ready and deeply appreciative listening audience for his soulful music. DORAN's piping style was as wild, impassioned and exciting as it was technically brilliant. The uilleann (elbow) or Union Pipes is a complex, elbow-blown instrument comprised of bellows, bag and chanter, drones and regulators (keys set on the drones which provide chordal rhythm accompaniment) played while seated. Only half a century ago this popular instrument looked as if it was in danger of becoming extinct. In Co. Clare the uilleann pipes had become a distant memory. Due to immigration, and following the death in 1900 of the celebrated blind piper Garret BARRY, there were no pipers to be heard - until Johnny DORAN arrived. Johnny's repertoire included a selection of traditional tunes which he had learned at his piper father's knee as a boy in Wicklow. Many musicians referred to such pieces as "travellers tunes" -- "The Blackbird," "Colonel Frazer, "The Fox Hunt," and the haunting air "The Coolin." These tunes were associated with professional travelling musicians such as Johnny and his brother, Felix, (also an accomplished uilleann piper) and the DUNNE brothers from Co. Limerick. In Johnny's rending of such reels as "Rakish Paddy" or "My Love Is In America" he plays the tunes over and over, as if exploring new possibilities in a flurry of both intricately executed legato (open fingering) and staccato (close fingering) runs on the chanter. He apparently never took a drink, refused to play the pipes after the midnight hour and would often go into the fields after dark to play his pipes for the "little people." It was said of him that he was a gentle soul and "you could meet no better." Few pictures of Johnny Doran survive, although one can be found in the July-Aug 2001 issue of Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine. Taken in Terenure, Co. Dublin in 1941, it shows him outside his horse-drawn caravan with fellow piper, Pat CASH and a young boy, possibly his nephew. Described as a small, intense, good-looking man with dark skin and black hair, Johnny cut an exotic figure wherever he set up to play. According to the renowned fiddler, the late John KELLY, "He looked for all the world like an Indian." Mr. KELLY first encountered Johnny and his piping at a fair in Kilkee in West Clare in the early 1930s and was captivated by this wiry, impish man who was driving the crowd gathered about him wild with excitement. The men remained friends throughout the years and often played together at informal sessions. Had it not been for the foresight of the late West Clare fiddler, Mr. KELLY, then living in Dublin, we may not have had the opportunity to hear and appreciate Johnny's unique piping style and stunning virtuosity. KELLY persuaded Kevin DANAHER of the Irish Folklore Commission to commit Doran's music to tape. On New Year's Day 1948, as Johnny emerged from his caravan, parked overnight by a high wall near Christchurch in Dublin, a fierce storm blew the wall onto the caravan, pinning him underneath. Although he survived his many injuries and travelled with his wife to his home in Wicklow after his hospitalization, his health continued to deteriorate. He died in a hospital in Athy, Co. Kildare on January 19, 1950. Mr. DORAN's precious few recordings are still with us - those "hives of honeyed sound" - which are said to enchant and bewitch the listener with the eloquent, beautiful language of the heart.

SNIPPET: At the County Leitrim Society's 101st Annual St. Patrick's Celebration, New York, 1996, a Distinguished Service award was presented to Frank BRADY, born in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim. Per Dr. BRADY -- "Emigration, whether you regard it as a curse or a cure, a bane or a blessing, is an inseparable part of the story of Ireland. On the 150th anniversary of the Great Hunger it is worth noting that the outflow of people took on a mass character, and Ireland became the most emigrant-prone society in Europe. It was also the century when Irish America was formed, with its Tammany-Hall politics, its St. Patrick's Day parades and its revoluntionary links with the home country. The emigrant mentality developed in the wake of the mass exodus and the history of Ireland profoundly shaped by it. America became the desired destination of the destitute and desperate emigrants, as they fled from death, poverty and starvation in the bowels of "coffin ships." By a strange reasoning, the starving in Ireland were regarded as unfortunate victims to be generously helped, while the same Irish having crossed the Atlantic were regarded as the scourings of Europe, and were met with utter contempt. The U.S. authorities feared that the hordes of diseased and destitute would make their country the "Poorhouse of Europe" and the "Cesspool of the Civilized World." Though the inscription on the Statue of Liberty may read: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores," America was far from openly embracing the immigrant of the famine period. Indeed, some ships were refused entry, and had to go the Canadian ports. This is hardly surprising given that many of the arrivals were described in ghastly and macabre-like terms, such as 'spectre-like wretches,' 'emaciated,' 'cadaverous,' 'feeble,' 'disease-infected' and 'destitute.' The U.S. of the 1840s was still staunchly Protestant, Yankee and anti-Catholic. Consigned and condemned to the cellar dwellings of the appalling and sprawling Irish ghettos on the East Coast, the Irish struggled with an innate tenacity to survive and later thrive. In such depraved and deplorable conditions, it is little wonder than some of the menfolk sought to drown the sorrows and horrors of their harsh existence through the numbing effects of cheap brew. The majority became relatively successful in the country of their adoption. Irish emigration tended to have exceptional degree of finality attached to it, by comparison with other groups. Once the decision to emigrate had been made and the emotional trauma of the "American Wake" undergone, few ventured a permanent return to the old country. The deserted and boarded up houses testify to this irrevocable separation from family and friends. Cecil Woodham SMITH, in "The Great Hunger" summed up the early Irish experience. "The Irish emigrants became, with rare exceptions, what their transatlantic environments made them: children of the slums, rebuffed and scored by respectable citizens and exploited by the less respectable. The Irish were the most unfortunate and the poorest; they took longest to be accepted, longest to be genuinely assimilated; they waited longest before the opportunities the U.S. offered were freely available to them." Irish emigration does not follow the normal pattern, according to social historians. Males and females left Ireland in roughly equal numbers, while emigration from other countries tended to be male-dominated. Apparently, the drudgery, drabness and the prospect of a haggled dowry in a male-dominated oppressive society was less alluring than the bright lights and a vastly improved standard of living in a foreign land. Emigration has been a bittersweet experience for the Irish, but unfortunately the negative aspects have been greatly magnified, while the more positive aspects have been minimized or ignored. Emigration, when stripped from its emotionally laden cloak, has provided substantial gains for those who stayed and those who left. Peter Quinn, in his 1994 bestseller, "Banished Children of Eve," boldly boasted, "The blessing of the Yankee dollar. It brought more comfort to Ireland than all the deliberations of the Parliament in Westminster. The world will never know how much those scared, brave, sometimes ignorant, but always loyal emigrants to the New World sent home in dollars and parcels to the people in the old country. No one will ever know the full extent of their sacrifices and how much they kept hidden from the old people who thought that America was indeed the golden land of opportunity, where the streets were truly paved with gold. For those who earned it, it came hard; the fruits of heaving, hauling, digging, cleaning, sewing, serving, low-paid work, of which the very numbers available to do it drove down wages further." The Irish had started down on the shanties, scrimping and saving, and with every generation moved further and further, until they made it to the lace-curtain heights. The vast majority of the emigrants improved their stakes by leaving and many moved remarkably quickly up the social ladder. Despite a number who have fallen on hard times and the rough conditions that the immigrants are forced to endure, there is a consensus that the Irish have achieve and acquitted themselves well. We have been inbued with the twin feelings of guilt and embarrassment that so many have been forced or chose to leave their native shore. Terms such as the cancer, the scourge, the shame, the evils of emigration reinforce the negative aspects. Celebration rather than lamentation should be the approach, otherwise we will pine our lives away waiting to return to the promised land when we may already be in it." Per the County Leitrim Society of NY -- "Frank was born in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, IR, to Bernard BRADY (deceased February 24, 1996) and Mary Kate, the second oldest of ten. Mary (Dublin), Barbara (London), Attracta (Sligo), Padraig (Ballina), John (Longford), Brian (London), Gerard (Dublin), Fr. Anthony (Knockbride, Co. Cavan) and Paul, (Manorhamilton). After attending St. Clare's Primary School, Frank obtained an academic scholarship to St. Patrick's College, Co. Cavan. Here, he excelled at academics and athletics, winning an Ulster cross-country title, as well as representing the school in football and handball. An academic scholarship followed to St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, where Frank was awarded a B.A. Degree and a Higher Diploma in Education. Later, at St. Patrick's, Drumcondra, Frank obtained a B.Ed. Degree, and then began his career as a primary school principal, first at Ballintrillick, Co. Sligo, and later at Glangevlin, Co. Cavan. As an educator, Frank was a great believer in giving his pupils a good foundation in their formative years. Most of his former pupils regarded him as firm but fair. As a sportsman, Frank was regarded as being tough and tenacious, and a great exponent of physical fitness. He played in all grades with his club, Glencar, and later Glencar-Manorhamilton. He has an impressive list of medals: Junior League in 1968, 1969 and 1970; a Junior Championship in 1970: an Intermediate Championship, 1973; a Senior League, 1976; Senior Championship, 1977. Frank was a team trainer for many years and was awarded Player of the year in 1974. He also represented Leitrim in all grades. With the Manorhamilton Rangers soccer team, Frank won a League title in the Sligo-Leitrim League. In 1970, Frank arrived in the States on the student exchange program, and was a frequent summer visitor for a few years. In 1978, he arrived on a permanent basis, became keenly aware of the great opportunities available and enrolled at New York University, where he obtained M.A. and Ph.D Degrees. In NY, his interest in sport continued; he joined the College Point Track Club and the Shamrock Soccer Club. His high level of fitness was illustrated by running a half-marathon and lining out as center-half back a Gaelic Park two hours later! He also won a Metropolitan League medal with the Shamrocks. Currently, (1996) Frank is the president and manager of the very successful Leitrim Football Club in New York - they have amassed three Championships. He is involved with the St. Barnabas Club in under-age football. He is also the coach for the McLean Heights track team in Yonkers. Apart from his coaching and management duties, Frank is much in demand as a referee at all levels and still finds time to run the odd road race with his son, Douglas. Frank likes to write. Last year's Centennial Journal is testament to his busy pen. Frank has gotten renewed respect for the achievements of Leitrim people in the USA and in Ireland. He is a frequent correspondent to the editorial pages of the New York and Irish American papers. He has also been a regular contributor to the "Leitrim Guardian" for many years. Frank and his wife, Helen, a native of Glenade, and their children, Douglas and Sharon, reside in Yonkers. Currently, Frank is a Professor of Education at the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University. The County Leitrim Society of New York is proud and privileged to present Frank BRADY with the 1996 Distinguished Service Award. You have done yourself, and your family, and your county proud, and we are greatly indebted to you." Frank's contributions were also recognized in a personal letter from the Archbishop of New York."

Judy, I am a former Canadian now in the US and used Canada411.com to find my father's 1st cousins and found a wealth of information about my dad's family. They are in their 80s and 90s now, but were still very capable and informative. One was on the net and we exchanged many emails. On the phone, I just explained who I was, how we were connected and asked what information they could provide. One of my dad's cousins had traced his father's family back into the 1590s, but we were related on his mother's side. Ron Smith Panama City Beach, FL

Hi Judy, I would say keep it very simple. Show your interest in "their" country or county either from your travels or from something you have read about. Ask about their line a generation or two back), especially maiden names. Ask if they are aware of some in the family who emigrated and ask about location and time frame. I would think that a long letter with lots of names and dates you have collected might be overwhelming. If they express interest by contacting you, then ask them a bit more. Remember - responders may not be as aware (or interested in) FH and genealogy as those of us on this list. Having said that, I have corresponded with some overseas local historians and authors who have provided me with information; in turn, I often purchased and enjoyed reading their books. I have had success with overseas letters by first purchasing 2-3 IRC (International Reply Coupons) at my main postoffice in the States, enclosing same with my query. In this way, if they want to respond to me they can take those IRCs to their local postoffice and use prepaid (by me) Irish stamps for their reply. In that way, they won't be out anything and may even come out ahead. I usually send a pretty "thank-you" note card and/or something "American" with a second letter, if they have been especially kind in their response to my letter, such as a small book of American short stories, poetry or a calendar by Norman Rockwell. If you don't have a complete address, oftentimes just a name and the name of the village will do. The postman likely knows just where they live. Of course, that wouldn't apply to a larger city. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judy Quinn" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, November 03, 2006 1:47 PM Subject: [IGW] Writing to potential relativies > > Has anyone looked potential relatives up in the phone book or on line > directory and written to them asking for information and help in your > family tree research? I am looking for ideas on what to say and what > not to say or even a form letter that you have used with success. No > point in re inventing the wheel if someone has something useful. > > Thanks > Judy Quinn > [email protected] > > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.13.26/516 - Release Date: 06-11-03 > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > -- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. >

Has anyone looked potential relatives up in the phone book or on line directory and written to them asking for information and help in your family tree research? I am looking for ideas on what to say and what not to say or even a form letter that you have used with success. No point in re inventing the wheel if someone has something useful. Thanks Judy Quinn [email protected] -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.13.26/516 - Release Date: 06-11-03

The following response forwarded with lister's kind permission - Thank you, Maisie, for sharing!!!! "Thank you, Jean, and yes, you may add my "two-cents' worth." I was only eight when the war broke out in 1939 and was adamant that I did not want to be evacuated. I remember being appalled as I saw all the little children, with their gasmasks in the cardboard boxes, slung over their shoulders, walking in a very long ling to the railway station quite a distance away...just wee souls, some with their mothers, but most with no parent, only teachers, to keep an eye on them. I preferred to take my chances and stay with my family. Nowadays they call it separation anxiety, and I often wonder how those wee souls adjusted to being torn away from all that was familiar to be boarded out with families, some of whom were not nice people. I had two girlfriends who were evacuated. One had a very positive experience and still stays friendly with the family (of course the mother is long since dead), while my other girlfriend had almost an abusive situation where a medical condition was ignored. Her mother was wise enough to remove her from this environment and bring her back to Glasgow. Such memories! The article about the Londoners being evacuated to the ends of the earth --- 40 miles away -- is believable/ Even when I was growing up, it was like the ends of the earth for us to go through to Edinburgh, again only 40 miles away, and a little more than half-an-hour on the commuter train now. Edinburgh and Glasgow people were poles apart, with those of us from the second largest city in Britain, with a population of over a million at that time, were all lumped together as keelies (hooligans) by the "pan loaf" folk from Edinburgh. The thought of going even 40 miles away from my mother was abhorrent, and so I stayed home and suffered running to the Anderson air-raid shelter at the bottom of the garden during the blitz in March, 1941. Half-day school days when the Germans started daylight bombing! Did we children complain? Hardly! Our classrooms were choc-a-bloc as there was such a shortage of teachers. I can remember a student monitor coming around every morning to get the attendance and milk count and it was not unusual for our class to have well over 40 children. Lots and lots of memories of those years." Maisie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 10:55 AM Subject: [IGW] MEMORY LANE - Account (1939) - Evacuation of Children fromBritain's Cities > MEMORY LANE: 1939 -- "London is now a childless city. A hush lies over the parks. The lawns where primly starched nannies pushed their prams, where children played and dogs raced, are almost deserted. It is as though a modern Pied Piper had swept the city from end to end. And this is true also of other large cities in England and Scotland. Under the Government Evacuation Scheme, about 2,000,000 children and mothers were taken from their homes in congested metropolitan areas and scattered over the countryside into new homes and new environments. This, the greatest rearrangement of population in modern times, was completed in four days. <snip>

GREAT UNCLE EDGAR AT GRANDMOTHER'S FUNERAL They were twins, born at the end of the last century Of rugged stock in the hardscrabble farm country Of central Maine. She raised six children and wrote poetry, Surviving two husbands, while he was a dairy farmer, Spare of words, who married late and lost his wife. Because the pull of blood is strong, they found each other Again, taking up old age together, uneasily, After lives apart. He accused her of having gentleman callers, And she fussed at his quirks, like picking up pennies, But he always told her, with bred-in-the-bone frugality, That two cents was a down payment on a postage stamp. They kept each other warm with cats in winter and put out a garden Every spring until their ninetieth year. And when They moved into the rest home, they traded hands of rummy Until she dozed or he lost track, since he heard less and less And wandered more and more around the grounds, looking For his cows. The day Grandmother died, the nurses said He didn't know the difference, but his niece took him To the funeral parlor, where he sat beside the open casket For the longest time without a word. Then, looking at her, He said, with slight annoyance, "Well, Eva, play your card!" She already had. Her hand was blessed by the King of Hearts, And a better game was just beginning. Maybe Edgar really Understood and was hurling all his wit, with brave recall, Against the loss, for afterward he sometimes crept Into her room, where he sat in the creaky old rocker, And the silence ached with that lonesome scrannel sound. -- Tom Orr, from "Hammers in the Fog," (1995/Restoration Press, Indianapolis, IN), copyrighted material posted with permission. This tender tribute to sibling love was composed by Thomas Alan Orr, born in Bangor, ME, who grew up in the hill country of western MA. He graduated from Gordon College and moved to Indianapolis in 1972, has worked in human services and work force development. He has Scots-Irish roots. Tom is a member of the Writers' Center of Indianapolis, and since 1986 has lived on a small farm in Shelby Co, where he raises rabbits and poultry.

THE OLD MAN The tears have all been shed now We've said our last goodbyes His soul's been blessed He's laid to rest And it's now I feel alone He was more than just a father A teacher, my best friend He can still be heard In the tunes we shared When we play them on our own. I never will forget him For he made me "what I am" Though he may be gone Memories linger on And I miss him, the old man. As a boy he'd take me walking By mountain, field and stream And he showed me things Not known to kings And secret between him and me Like the colours of the pheasant As he rises in the dawn And how to fish and make a wish Beside the Holly Tree. I thought he'd live forever He seemed so big and strong But the minutes fly And the years roll by For a father and a son And suddenly when it happened There was so much left unsaid No second chance To tell him thanks For everything he's done. Singing was a hobby for John McDERMOTT up until about ten years ago when this gentleman with an easy-going manner and rich tenor voice was discovered by chance when he belted out a rendition of "Danny Boy" at a company party for the "Toronto Sun" where he worked as a circulation sales rep. John was the 9th of 12 children born to an Irish family in Glasgow, Scotland. The musical family emigrated to Canada in the 1960s. John's striking, pure voice was nurtured at St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto. His late father, Peter, was his chief mentor and teacher. John honors the memory of his mother, Hope, with his work on behalf of chronically homeless veterans. John sang with the original "Three Tenors" group, and he has been touring in the USA and elsewhere as a solo. His musical repertoire includes Irish and Scottish classics, "Streets of London," and some of his favorite American songs. One song, in particular, "The Old Man," is dedicated to his father.

SNIPPET: Per the 2004 issue of "Leitrim Guardian" periodical - "Celine is a dynamic 20-year-old with a cheerful personality, a smile that would light up a room,a voice like an angel, and is a terrific musician to boot. Celine Patricia was born on St. Patrick's Day to parents Sheila and Michael and she has two sisters Louise and Claire. She was raised in Glasgow, Scotland, but her roots are in County Leitrim as both her grandparents emigrated to Scotland from the Manorhamilton area. Her grandfather was Peter McNULTY from Larkfield, Manorhamilton and her grandmother was Mary FEENEY with her roots in Gortamone, Manorhamilton. >From a very early age Celine loved Irish music, she learned how to do Irish dancing from Patsy KERR and then the WILSON School of Irish dancing. Celine became involved with the Irish Minstrals Branch of Comhaltas in Glasgow at 9 years of age. Frank McARDLE, a box player, was one of her first teachers. From the ages of 9-11, she concentrated on the fiddle, then for her confirmation around age 12 she received a banjo which became her passion. With Comhaltas she played in the St. Rochs Ceili Band and around age 11 she met Keith EASDALE. Keith became her mentor in music and when she was 16 she joined him and his wife Kirsten in their band Calasaig, a worldwide name recognized in the traditional world. Celine never forgot her Leitrim roots and sought out different means of meeting people and learning the music too. Then the family found out about the Joe MOONEY Summer School in Drumshanbo, Leitrim and they came there for many years where Celine learned how to play the banjo from John MORROW from Co. Leitrim. Celine has won many awards. Among them she was a finalist in the inaugural 'Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year' competition and was also the winner of the 'All Britain Fleadh' for tenor banjo in 2001. Calasaig started off a tour in 2002 at Celtic connections in Glasgow and continued on to the UK, Turkey, Russia, Belgium and Canada. In August 2003, Celine was awarded the Auleen Theriault Young Tradition Award at the Celtic Roots College and Festival in Goderich, Ontario. Celine is in her second year of the BA (Scottish music) course at RSAMD. She will be featured alongside Keith EASDALE at 'Celtic Connections Master and Apprentice' concerts and will also tour in 2003 with the three 'Scottish tenors.' Her debut solo album 'Something Else' (whose guest musicians include some of the best known and most respected traditional players in the world is due for release on REL."

Hi Maisie -- That is fine with me if you want forward the two-part article, but a couple common words have typos you might want to correct. One of my sons (who is big on history and collecting, also!) gave me this old USA "Reader's Digest." because it was published close to my December birthdate in 1938. I have English roots in that my father FORD was born in Liverpool in 1903, his father FORD/FORDE Irish, his mother GEORGE a Liverpudlian. Best wishes for the holidays -- Jean, Spokane, WA. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Maisie Egger" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 9:03 AM Subject: Re: [IGW] IRELANDGENWEB Digest, Vol 1, Issue 37 > May I please forward this article on evacuation during the war to the LANARK > site? > Maisie > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 12:03 AM > Subject: IRELANDGENWEB Digest, Vol 1, Issue 37 > > > > > > > > Today's Topics: > > > > 1. MEMORY LANE - Account (1939) - Evacuation of Children from > > Britain's Cities (Jean R.) > > 2. Pt. 2 - Account (1939) - Evacuation of Children from > > Britain's Cities (Jean R.) > > 3. Irish Census ([email protected]) > > 4. Re: Irish Census (Mary Kay) > > 5. Re: Irish Census - Griffith's Valuation Kilkenny (1849-50) > > (Jean R.) > > 6. Re: [IRISH-AMER] Irish Census (MK Douglas) > >

May I please forward this article on evacuation during the war to the LANARK site? Maisie ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 12:03 AM Subject: IRELANDGENWEB Digest, Vol 1, Issue 37 > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. MEMORY LANE - Account (1939) - Evacuation of Children from > Britain's Cities (Jean R.) > 2. Pt. 2 - Account (1939) - Evacuation of Children from > Britain's Cities (Jean R.) > 3. Irish Census ([email protected]) > 4. Re: Irish Census (Mary Kay) > 5. Re: Irish Census - Griffith's Valuation Kilkenny (1849-50) > (Jean R.) > 6. Re: [IRISH-AMER] Irish Census (MK Douglas) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 10:55:24 -0800 > From: "Jean R." <[email protected]> > Subject: [IGW] MEMORY LANE - Account (1939) - Evacuation of Children > from Britain's Cities > To: <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > MEMORY LANE: 1939 -- "London is now a childless city. A hush lies over > the parks. The lawns where primly starched nannies pushed their prams, > where children played and dogs raced, are almost deserted. It is as > though a modern Pied Piper had swept the city from end to end. And this > is true also of other large cities in England and Scotland. .....

Your best bet may be a census substitute, particularly Griffith's Valuation. The earliest complete, or at lest mostly complete census is 1901. There are some fragments from 1851. You will also want to check the BMD Civil Registration which started in 1865. Since the family seems to have stayed in the same place, the above should be most helpful, and don't forget the church records for the area. Good luck kathleen

Are there any census' available for Ireland and it's townlands? Specifically, I am looking for James Murphy, born about 1849 in Graig-na-manaugh, County Kilkenny. He was catholic and married Bridget Kavanaugh, born about 1851 also in Graig-na-manaugh, County Kilkenny. They had five children, the first being born in 1864; I think they probably got married in 1863 or there abouts. The first child's name was John Murphy - 26 July 1864; the second Mary Murphy - 19 May 1866; the third Matthew Murphy, 04 February 1869; the fourth Charles Murphy, 25 May 1872, and the fifth was [my ggm] Johanna Mary Murphy born 15 Feb 1877. All the children were born in Graig-na-manaugh, County Kilkenny, Ireland. TIA - JO

Jo, The first complete census records for Ireland are from 1901. All earlier ones were destroyed, except for a few fragments. Registration of births in Ireland began in 1864, so you should be able to find these for the children. The LDS library has filmed these records. Go to www familysearch.org to search the LDS catalog. Enter "Ireland" under place, then select "Ireland--Civil Registration--Indexes." You can then order the film to be sent to the LDS Library for about $5.00. Mary Kay

Hi, Jo - Per the all-Ireland townland search engine at the Leitrim-Roscommon website: Townland/acres/county/barony/civil parish/poor law union (nearest large town/registration district), province. Graiguenamanagh 356 Kilkenny Gowran Graiguenamanagh Thomastown Leinster It is noted that the townland also contains a town with the same name. Note the slightly different spelling for searching records. Sometimes placenames do change over time. John Grenham's "Tracing Your Irish Ancestors" has five pages specifically devoted to records available for research in Co. Kilkenny - i.e. censuses, census substitutes, extracts, ten trade directories, journals, history books, gravestone inscriptions, etc. The Griffith's Valuation for Kilkenny was taken in 1849-50, you should be able to find something on your surnames. In Grenham's book in the last pages is information on Church of Ireland Records in Dublin Repositories. He lists C of I records for "Graiguenamanagh Parish" are (1804-5 baptisms/1846-1933 marriages) at the RCBL (Representative Church Body Library) in Dublin. He also states that for "Gowran Parish" there are baptismal records for 1885-1997/marriages 1845-1956) at the same repository. Likely the LDS FHCs have filmed these as well. You might even want to investigate records for both Gowran and for Graiguenamanagh. You can also read more about Kilkenny records on the Internet. Jean xx ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 1:22 PM Subject: [IGW] Irish Census > Are there any census' available for Ireland and it's townlands? > Specifically, I am looking for James Murphy, born about 1849 in Graig-na-manaugh, County > Kilkenny. He was catholic and married Bridget Kavanaugh, born about 1851 > also in Graig-na-manaugh, County Kilkenny. They had five children, the first > being born in 1864; I think they probably got married in 1863 or there abouts. > The first child's name was John Murphy - 26 July 1864; the second Mary > Murphy - 19 May 1866; the third Matthew Murphy, 04 February 1869; the fourth > Charles Murphy, 25 May 1872, and the fifth was [my ggm] Johanna Mary Murphy born > 15 Feb 1877. All the children were born in Graig-na-manaugh, County > Kilkenny, Ireland. > > TIA - JO > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > -- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. >

Conclusion - "All over England the same thing was happening. Nine of the main roads out of London were turned into one-way evacuation arteries. A continuous stream of buses, trucks and automobiles crammed with singing children reached as far as one could see. So precise were the plans of the railroads that the incoming army of London commuters was not delayed more than half an hour. What the arriving commuters saw, they will never forget. Not that the children were particularly tearful - for most of them it was something like the promise of an extended picnic. But implicit in that first tense day was the all-encompassing tragedy about to be played upon the European stage. An unseen force was already disrupting homes and families, suddenly propelling multitudes into strange places, among strange people. A burly bobby, eyeing the long lines of children trooping to their trains, hand in hand, observed: 'One of them kids is mine. God knows when I'll see him again. It may be years. And some of 'em, he added, 'are going to have a bad time of it.' Some of them have had a bad time of it, although competent inspectors tried to send children to homes that would make them most comfortable - the poorer children to the simpler homes, those acustomedo to luxury to the more pretentious. When lack of room made compulsory billeting necessary, they tried to choose the families who would resent it least. The vicar of the village near Reading took two of 1017's tough little cockneys. Tommy's mother keeps a pub in London's East End; Jimmy's father is a dock worker. Adjustment has not been easy. To the vicar's mystification, the boys scrupulously avoided walking on the grass and insisted on playing in the road. Jimmy was appalled at the thought of a bath and Tommy refused to use his handkerchief. Both complained at having rooms to themselves, saying: 'We gets frightened, we do.' They were disturbed at the idea of climbing into a bed with sheets .... One child, seeing a tree laden with plums, exclaimed: 'Blimey, I thought they came in boxes!' ... Children used to margarine complained of country butter. To some of England it had been a revelation - one which may have long-range repercussions for the better. It was a shock to find that for some slum-dwellers lice are an accepted condition of life .... In one ultrafashionable district, when a contingent arrived from the toughest part of Birmingham, neither the aristocratic ladies nor the butlers could control the children who quickly formed gangs, scoured the countryside, beat up the village boys, closed railroad-crossing gates, threw stones at policemen, pillaged orchards and chased cows... Most difficult to handle have been the mothers. In the village where the 1017's were quartered there arrived a family from London's East End - Granny SMITHERS, huge and raucous, and three daughters with three children apiece. They were timidly polite at first ... but when they discovered that there was no pub in the village, they brooded disconsolately. 'If I cawn't 'ave me drop of port, I wants to go back to London,' Granny announced. 'To 'ell with the bombs! I cawn't stand this plice,' a daughter chimed in. The vicar did his best, but finally the SMITHERS family returned to London, loudly vowing that they never come again into such a holy wilderness. Local welfare organizations and schools, trying desperately to overcome these difficulties, are doing a titanic job. New quarters are being found for classes. Sports and excursions are being organized to keep the children busy. Communal kitchens where the mothers can work will relieve the burden on householders - because two women at the same stove do not make for peace. The owners of large houses have responded nobly with facilities for maternity wards to relieve the overcrowded hospitals; country squires with big estates have turned parts of their houses into schools. The poorer families are only too willing to take evacuee's because they can make a small profit off the weekly government allowance. It is too early to tell yet how the Government Evacuation Scheme will turn out. In any case, underprivileged hundreds of thousands will have good food and clean beds for one, two, three years, perhaps more. They will then, just as suddenly as they left, be expected to return. The second adjustment will be harder than the first, and it may have to be made with metropolitan England in the throes of postwar depression and unemployment. As the bobby said, 'Some of them are going to have a bad time of it.'" -- Frederic SONDERN, JR., "Reader's Digest" Dec. 1939, condensed from "Life" magazine, Oct. 16, 1939

MEMORY LANE: 1939 -- "London is now a childless city. A hush lies over the parks. The lawns where primly starched nannies pushed their prams, where children played and dogs raced, are almost deserted. It is as though a modern Pied Piper had swept the city from end to end. And this is true also of other large cities in England and Scotland. Under the Government Evacuation Scheme, about 2,000,000 children and mothers were taken from their homes in congested metropolitan areas and scattered over the countryside into new homes and new environments. This, the greatest rearrangement of population in modern times, was completed in four days. Already it has cost half a billion dollars. In reception areas the influx has on an average upped the population 25%. That increase, in terms of extra water and food, sanitation, medical care and schooling, is a formidable burden for any community ...Britain's crowded cities present some of the world's likeliest and most vulnerable bombing targets. Unless millions are to be trapped, evacuation had to be treated as a national necessity, to be solved in an organized, almost compulsory manner. Neville CHAMBERLAIN called it "the greatest social experiment which England has ever undertaken." It cast 2,000,000 city people, most of them poor, many from the slums, into a rural life which they did not understand. Lower-class English are not used to being told by their government what is best for their children. Upper-class English families, many of whom have taken children into their homes, are not used to rubbing elbows with strangers from different walks of life. In addition to its social problems, evacuation disrupted the nation's transport system for four days when every wheel was needed to concentrate men and arms. But the children, England's future, must come first. Sudden as evacuation was, plans for it had been drawn up immediately after Mr. CHAMBERLAIN's return from Munich. England, Scotland and Wales were divided into areas of three types: dangerous areas, from which all children up to 16 and mothers with children under 5 should be removed; neutral areas, moderately dangerous but not congested, which should be left as they were; reception areas in rural districts. Local health authorities, making a house-to-house canvass, figured the capacity of every home on the basis of one person per habitable room. With 100,000 social workers, the gigantic survey was completed in six weeks. Menwhile, every school in evacuation areas registered children, the workers struggling against such arguments as: 'Wot! Let my Tommy stie with strynge people? Garn, I needs 'im in the pub!' The plan was not compulsory but the teacher is highly respected by the poorer English citizens, and the roster was soon complete. Meanwhile, for three months the railroads and other transport agencies wrestled with the problem. Timetables for thousands of special trains had to be made; 300,000 children would have to be cleared from London alone on the first day. When evacuation started, the machinery functioned with incredible precision. Take, for instance, the little boys of Junior school on Commercial Road, East London. At 5:30 a.m. on September 1, they assembled in the school yard. Each child had a tag on his coat lapel with his name, address and evacuation number of the school, 1017. On his schoolroom desk he found his haversack, also marked, containing a change of underwear, toothbrush, towel, handkerchiefs, night clothes, and a 48-hour ration of bully beef, biscuits and chocolate. After inspection of gas masks, the urchins marched off to Aldgate subway station. Seventy-two subway stations in London were closed to normal traffic that day. The rest of the city stood still while School 1017 was whisked, a hundred strong, to Waterloo Station. The teacher in charge and his assistants, each with ten boys, had instructions on a printed card: '1017, Waterloo platform 12, 6:45 a.m.' Punctually, School 1017 marched two by two through the gate, scrambled for window seats on the train. The youngsters, excited at the idea of going to the country, pressed their noses to the windows and grinned as they left London. Two hours later they were decanted at Reading, 40 miles away, where the city council was ready with buses. Twenty children and two teachers climbed into each. One group, assigned to a nearby village, half an hour later drew up to the vicarage. Theo vicar and his helpers were ready with piles of sandwiches and hot tea. Villagers who had volunteered to take children chose the ones they liked best. Every little boy of 1017 found a new home within five hours." -- to be concluded

In the Nov-Dec 2006 issue of Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine, a Canadian reader shared her thoughts on Ireland: Heather SCULLY, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada wrote: "I want to first thank you for bringing such a wonderful magazine into my home every two months. The articles and pictures have been a godsend in keeping my dreams and ambitions going. I have dreamed of going to Ireland as far back as I can remember. After many setbacks, illness and disappointments, I finally went for my 25th birthday. Our trip was everything I imagined, but I still felt there was something missing. I have always wanted to take time and look up our family's history, but there was never enough time. Not to mention that my father knows very little about the illusive SCULLY family. I reckoned that even by going to Ireland the chances of tracking down families were slim, but I knew we would be in Tipperary briefly and felt it was up to me to try. I was very surprised to discover that the SCULLY family was prominent all throughout the country before moving to Dublin and London. But the best feeling as when I stood in front of the SCULLY cross beside The Rock of Cashel. I hadn't even known it was there and it brought tears to my eyes. I felt so at peace and at home with my ancestors there. It was as if all the scrambling, stress and confusion had been worth it. One of the staff even provided me with a wealth of information and contact details for sourcing information on the SCULLY family. It gave me so much hope, so I came home once again determined that my dream to move there would be possible. Difficult as it has been, just as I was about to give up on my research, I received your July-August 2006 issue. There on the front cover was the Rock of Cashel. It brought me back to the feeling I had when I was kneeling there a few months ago. I took this as a sign and it encouraged me to carry on with my research on my family roots. Thank you for giving me back the hope I had lost."

BIRDWOMAN Kieran Furey Way back in the fifties, it was said An old lady would come to the bird Market on Sunday mornings. Her head Bobbing on a stiff neck, pigeon-like On nifty feet she'd strut around, bid Beady-eyed for thrush, canary, shrike. Any bird left over at the end Would be bought by her. She pecked her purse Till it bled red ten-bob notes or worse. When the other customers had left She'd open all her cages and send Songsters skywards. Birdmen thought her daft But devil the damn she cared. Her aim Was liberation feathered freedom Made her big heart flutter. She gave wings To children's longings, weekly flew rings Round keys and locks and bars. All good things End. She died unringed and left no name.