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Introduction

My name is Melanie and I live in Syracuse, NY with my wonderful husband. I've been researching my family history for over 10 years. I have finally decided to blog my adventures. My ancestry is half Irish from my father's side and my mother's side is Jewish. My father's side is more well researched so you will see more stories here and hence why my blog name is the Shamrock Genealogist.

Here are some of the surnames I'm researching:

Doherty/Dougherty
Connolly
Corcoran
Rooney
McKenna

I hope you enjoy this journey with me and we can both learn along the way!

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Mrs. McComb Went to Washington

 I recently returned from a work trip to Washington, D.C., where we led 27 genealogists on a research tour, which included the National Archives (Archives I) and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library. It was an amazing week! It has been almost 20 years since I visited the DC area to visit the Smithsonian museums. I pulled a few files to review at the National Archives, which I will put towards existing and new lectures. Having the experience of doing the research onsite at the National Archives and the DAR Library will help me prepare other genealogists for this onsite work. I also left with a new project which I will be working on (more details to come in the future).  I did get some tourism in and went to many different sites, including the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War I Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Holocaust Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Air and Space ...

Memorial Day Honor Roll

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It's a Nice Day for an Irish Wedding

 This week's prompt for #52Ancestors is Valentine. One of the first things that comes to mind is my 3rd great grandparents, Francis Dougherty and Catherine Clerkin. They married on Valentine's Day in 1828 in the Tydavnet parish, County Monaghan, Ireland. It seems like a romantic day to get married.  It is more likely a coincidence and that was the date available at their parish church when they married on a Thursday (Saturday and Sunday were not options). The couple was likely following the rules of Shrovetide , where Irish couples married between January 6th and Lent. It must have been a very cold wedding day. I'm fortunate to have found this record as many of my Irish ancestors' parish records were not recorded this early.  The marriage entry of Francis Dougherty and Catherine Clerkin in the Tydavnet parish register We don't know much about Catherine. We can estimate her birth around 1810 in County Monaghan. Several of her siblings, identified through DNA matche...