The Shamrock Genealogist

It's hard to believe that December 31st has finally arrived and it's the last day of 2017. I don't know about all of you but I feel that 2017 was a rollercoaster of a year. Here's some highlights for what happened in 2017 for the Shamrock Genealogist: DNA tested paternal uncle and father at AncestryDNA . Bonus was my maternal grandmother tested on her own at MyHeritage . Attended two genealogy conferences, RootsTech and NERGC, which were both firsts for me.  Had proposals chosen to give lectures at Ontario Genealogy Society (OGS) Conference and Michigan in Perspective Local History Conference in 2018.  Was accepted to be a social media ambassador for RootsTech 2018 (which resulted in free r egistration for RootsTech !) Assisted with social media publicity for OGS 2018  Bought the domain rights for this web site Visited the New England Genealogical History Society library (twice!) and the California State Archives Started a Facebook page for my bl...

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah . In short it's a celebration of how the oil needed to heat the menorah of the Temple lasted eight days, when it should only have lasted one day. Growing up, I was raised to celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas. My mom was raised Jewish and my dad was raised Catholic and holidays were blended. My mom would make the potato latkes (pancakes). The menorah would be lit, with a new candle appearing each night until the final night when the entire menorah has candles. The menorah has candles added right to left but it's lit left to right. I was usually afraid of fire so my mom would take care of lighting the menorah. In some families it was the youngest child that would do the lighting. The menorah in my family was passed down, possibly from my great grandparents. I loved the menorah, it had such a bright bronze (almost gold) look. It played "Rock of Ages", like an old jewelry box tune. Since I moved out of my parents' house, ...

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) just issued a press release announcing the royal connection between actress Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. They are confirmed 17th cousins! The future Duchess of Sussex is a 24th generation descendant from from King Edward III. Meghan's gateway ancestor  is  Rev. William Skipper, who came to New England in 1639 from England. William is Meghan's father's ancestor. According to NEHGS, Meghan's cousins include the Queen and Princess Diana. Some of her American cousins include former U.S. presidents George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, Chester Alan Arthur and James A. Garfield. I might argue that Meghan is a part of American "royalty". Are you related to the royal couple? Who is your gateway ancestor?

RootsTech is ramping up - it's only a few months to go! I know I can't wait to do some research, attend some great lectures and of course hang out with my genealogy friends. It is Cyber Monday so if you haven't already registered, check out the link  here  for a special promotional code good until 11:59 PM MST tonight! If you miss this offer, check out Conference Keeper for a list of contests giving away a free RootsTech pass. There are a few more left so don't delay! I get so excited to see so many new people coming this year! Key note speakers for RootsTech include Scott Hamilton, Steve Rockwood and Brandon Stanton. RootsTech is also hosting their first photo and story competition you can enter. There are 4 categories to enter - Connect, Belong, Family, and Heritage. More details can be found here.  You can win some great prizes from Canon and Dell! Disclaimer: I am an Ambassador for RootsTech 2018. I provide blog posts (in my own words), and social media ...

I'm continuing the  Honor My Military Ancestor Challenge  started by Patricia Greber. It's Day 9 and I'm highlighting my 1st cousin 3x removed. Rev. Joseph Rooney. Joseph Rooney was born on March 5, 1887 in Iona, Prince Edward Island, Canada. His parents were Philip Rooney and Ellen McKenna. He was the second oldest son. He had 13 siblings. His father Phililp was a shoemaker and later became a farmer. His mother Ellen was a housewife. Many of Joseph's siblings were in the clergy as priests or nuns. Joseph would join the clergy and was ordained as a priest on June 11, 1916. He was a professor at St Dunstan's University from 1918-1919 until he enlisted in the C.E.F as an Honorary Captain in the Canadian Chaplain Services from June 17, 1918 to September 7, 1919. During this time he served overseas in England and France. His C.E.F. file is digitized by the Library and Archives of Canada if you would like to read it. After the war ended, he returned to St. Dunstan...

I'm continuing the  Honor My Military Ancestor Challenge  started by Patricia Greber. It's Day 6 (at least when I wrote this) and I've decided to switch to my maternal side of the family. I'm highlighting my 2nd great uncle Reubin Schild. Reubin was born on January 19, 1896 in Manhattan, NY to Abraham Schild and Eva Bodner. His parents were born in Austria and came to the U.S. in the 1880's. Rubin was the second oldest son. He had 3 siblings. His father Abraham was a book binder and his mother Eva was a housewife. He was inducted into the U.S. army on August 5, 1918 in NY. He was a private assigned to Battery F, 26th Field Artillery Regiment. He was honorably discharged on February 6, 1919. According to his abstract of military service, he never served overseas. I don't have any additional details of his service at this time. Following his honorable discharge, Reubin was a shipping clerk in the cloak & suits industry (1920 census). On June 20, 1926 he ...

I'm continuing the  Honor My Military Ancestor Challenge  started by Patricia Greber. It's Day 5 so I'm highlighting my 2nd cousin 2x removed, Dennis Rooney. Dennis was born on August 7, 1899 in Kings County, NY to John Rooney and Mary Ann Reilly. He was the oldest son. He had 6 siblings. His father was a blacksmith and owned his own shop. When he was 18 years old Dennis enlisted on June 25, 1916 in the New York State Guard in the 71st Infantry, Supply Company. His rank was horseshoer (no surprise there given his father's occupation). You may recall that during WWI, horses were involved to transport supplies so a horseshoer was an occupation that was in need. Dennis was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in WWI in 1935. According to a newspaper article, Dennis was wounded while serving with the 105th Infantry, 27th division on the Belgian front on August 8, 1918. He was in hospital there for seven weeks. I found a separate article that mentioned that Dennis wa...

I'm continuing the  Honor My Military Ancestor Challenge  started by Patricia Greber. It's Day 4 so I'm highlighting my 1st cousin 2x removed, Michael Vincent Connolly.  Michael was born on February 28, 1915 in Iona, Prince Edward Island, Canada to John Connolly and Catherine Daley. He was the 3rd oldest son. He had 9 siblings. He attended St Dunstan's College in Charlottetown, PEI as well as taking courses in carpentry and leadership. He was a school teacher from 1934 to 1935, leaving to go back to college. He liked to play sports in college: football, baseball, handball and softball.  Michael enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on June 6, 1940. His WWII service file is full of interesting tid bits about his health and training. His interview report described him as follows: "Good type. Polite, pleasant -clean cut, frank, honest, ambitious, keen-clear eye-steady nerves-strong physique, intelligent. Should absorb instruction easily". He moved up th...

11/4: Update: I received information from a Corcoran cousin that confirms that I had some incorrect information on Bernard below. I have updated his biographical information below. I'm continuing the Honor My Military Ancestor Challenge started by Patricia Greber. It's Day 3 so I'm highlighting my 2nd cousin 3x removed Bernard Corcoran. Bernard Joseph Corcoran was born on May 31, 1891 in the small town of Dillonstown, located in County Louth, Ireland. He was the 3rd oldest son of John Corcoran and Katherine Conlon. He had 6 siblings. He sailed from Liverpool, England heading toward the U.S. in 1911. He became a house painter. He lived in Long Island City, Queens from 1911 to 1920. He became a U.S. citizen in 1919. Most of these details came from his U.S. passport application. What caught my eye was his occupation was listed as "disabled war veteran".  In his physical description, Bernard was listed as being blind in both eyes. I started completing some re...

I'm a day late on posting about my ancestors  My Military Ancestor challenge hosted by Patricia Greber at My Genealogy Life. Today I will highlight my paternal grandfather, Michael Joseph Doherty. Here is a picture of Michael that was on his Declaration of Intention paperwork: Let's start with a brief family history before I talk about his military service: Michael was born on June 12, 1910 in Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Canada to Joseph Doherty and Rose Rooney. He was one of 6 children. He was the second oldest son. He came to the United States in September 1927 on the SS Calvin Austin to join his sister Catherine in Dedham, Massachusetts. He moved to NYC and was naturalized in 1939. He then married my grandmother, Rose Corcoran in 1941 at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Long Island City, Queens, NY. He served in WWII from September 1 1943 until October 20, 1945. The story goes that he was originally going to be a cook for a general in the army but...

I am proud to announce that we have a winner of my RootsTech pass giveaway. Please give a rounding applause to Sheri Fenley from Califonia! Can't wait to meet you Sheri at RootsTech! Thank you to everyone that entered! I can't wait to share additional contests in the future with my readers.

If you have visited your AncestryDNA settings page today, you may have noticed a new section entitled "Privacy". Below is a screen shot from my page. At first glance it looks like standard options you would expect to see on your DNA page. However, these settings need to be examined further. The Ancestry team posted a blog post today regarding the new changes to DNA settings . One important change sticks out (emphasis mine): "Customers can now decide if they want to have access to the list of people they may be related to and be shown as a potential family member for other customers with whom they share DNA." This statement refers to the first setting in my picture "You have chosen to see and be seen by DNA matches" (which thankfully is the default for existing users). I can understand if a tester doesn't want to see their own list of matches. Perhaps they tested and a family member is managing their kit or maybe they're not intereste...

This contest is now closed.  As most of you are aware I'm a RootsTech ambassador. This means that in exchange for blogging and promoting RootsTech before, during and after the event that I receive a free registration for the conference. I'm also provided a free registration for 4 days at RootsTech, held on February 28th - March 3rd, 2018, (a $279 value) to give to one of my readers! The pass includes access to the following: ■ over 300 classes ■ Keynote / General sessions ■ Innovation Showcase ■ Expo hall ■ Evening events (Thursday and Saturday) Note: The pass does NOT include transportation costs (airfare, car, etc.), hotel costs, computer labs (these are additional add-ons), meals (including banquets and luncheons), printed syllabus, paid workshops. Contest Rules: 1. To enter to win a free registration, subscribe to my blog                a. There is a "Follow by Email" on the right hand side. Enter your email address a...

Front doors of the California State Archives I just returned from my annual work trip to the Sacramento, CA area for department meetings. On the way back to the airport I scheduled a quick visit to the California State Archives in downtown Sacramento. It's located about a block away from the State Capitol (sadly I didn't stop to get a picture as I was running out of time). The Research Room is located on the 4th floor of the building. You are asked to show government ID to the security guard before being allowed to go up.  You then need to fill out a researcher request form which asks for some basic information about who you are, address/phone #, and purpose of visit. They have a nice set up for lockers (and they're free!) to store your purse, laptop bag, etc. You're allowed to bring in your phone (just silence it and don't make/take calls), tablet, computer, paper and pencil (they have plenty of pencils and paper that they can give you). No folders, no no...

It's officially October, which is also known as Family History Month and Archives Month. There are many ways you can celebrate working on genealogy during the next 31 days.  1. Visit a cemetery and fulfill Find A Grave and BillionGraves photo requests (bonus points if you have ancestors buried in those cemeteries) 2. Visit a local archives - it could be its own repository like NARA or the DAR Library, a local museum or even a local library that has its own historical room (much like the one I visited in Steuben County, NY ) 3. Contribute to an indexing project. FamilySearch upgraded their indexing tool to be web based so you can work on it on your computer and tablet. No more having to download software and hosting on your computer. FamilySearch is hosting a worldwide indexing event October 20th - 22nd .  4. Register for an upcoming conference. The conference season is finishing out over the next few months and will pick up again with RootsTech in F...

It's not time for Christmas but it sure feels like that for us genealogists! RootsTech registration opened this week on Wednesday, September 20th. There are some exciting changes coming for RootsTech 2018 . I have summarized below: 1. RootsTech will be a full four days from Wednesday, February 28th to Saturday March 3, 2018 2. The Innovation Showcase will be after FamilySearch CEO Steve Rockwood's keynote speech 3. You can nominate apps, products or services in the family history industry. Submissions are due 10/15. More information can be found here . Early bird pricing on 4-day passes are available for a limited time. I recommend buying early! You can buy the pass and go back to add/change anything for your upcoming trip (such as luncheons, computer labs, etc. These do fill up! Here's the link to registration : Need more reasons to attend RootsTech? Here are 8 reasons!  I also wrote up a blog post about my experience to RootsTech last year as a firs...

As genealogists we love to explore cemeteries, archives and libraries to dig into our research. On my most recent trip to Steuben County, NY for a business trip, I snuck in some genealogy time to explore the  Southeast Steuben County Library . I started poking around the web site and discovered they have a local history room. I asked at the circulation desk and they mentioned it was locked, that a staff person had to open the room and be in the room with me. I asked at the reference desk if they could let me in and they called over one of their staff, Jessica. Jessica opened the door to the local history room. Below is a picture of the room door. The library is very serious about keeping their collections intact.  I started exploring the room. They have hundreds of books about local history, maps, photos about Steuben County, New York State, as well as neighboring states. Their web site has a list of some of some of their newspaper holdings and they also have volu...

Are you intrigued by genealogy TV shows such as "Who Do You Think You Are"? Do you wish you could give your family member a unique family history gift for a special occasion? There is a company called Family History Films  based out of Sussex, England that creates personal family history films. The film is approximately 20-30 minutes long (can be made longer upon request) and is composed of interviews with you and members of your family as well as archive footage that is researched by Family History Films crew. In return you receive 10 copies of the film on DVD and a copy is stored online (9/22 Edit: Although it is made to broadcast standard, this is a private film for you and your family only. It will not be published or shown anywhere in the world). As a special offer to my readers, Family History Films is providing a discount of 10% if you use the referral code "Shamrock1". This offer is valid for 3 months from today (12/17/2017). Disclosure: I do receive a ...

It's that time of year! RootsTech is about 6 months away and the emails are going out notifying speakers and ambassadors that they've been accepted. I am happy to announce that I have been invited to be an official RootsTech ambassador! I will be blogging before, during and after the event. I will also be holding a contest where I will be giving away to a lucky reader a free 4-day pass to RootsTech. Stay tuned for details in a later blog post. Hotels for the RootsTech block are on sale and I recommend you start booking your travel accommodations now.  Check out the RootsTech page on what hotels are participating in group conference rates. I personally had to call the Marriott this week to have them honor the conference rate and they did so. Don't give up hope if your first choice is showing unavailable online. I have a couple of tips as you start booking your travel: 1. The Marriott, Hilton, and Radisson are the closest hotels to the Salt Palace Convention Center wi...

I am honored to be included again on the Extreme Genes podcast. I was interviewed about the  NextGen Genealogy Network and how I got involved. Welcome new readers! My interview with Extreme Genes

There have been two major announcements in the genealogy world over the last few weeks. First, FamilySearch will be ceasing microfilm distribution . Second, Ancestry has made the decision to not allow users to manage multiple DNA kits under their account . FamilySearch Discontinues Microfilm Distribution Microfilm is getting more expensive to create copies from FamilySearch' vast collection out of the Family History Library and Granite Mountain vaults. Users can rent the microfilm for $7.50 but the cost to FamilySearch is more prohibitive. Amy Johnson Crow blogged about this recently . My tips to get through the next 3 years while digitization efforts complete: 1. Request microfilm before the August 31st deadline for anything pressing 2. Talk to your local Family History Center on microfilm rented out to see if they will send back after the deadline or hold onto it indefinitely. 3. Contact other societies that have microfilm loan services. Some organizations may be able to...

Yesterday was Canada Day, the 150 birthday for our northern neighbor. In honor of the occasion, I'd like to celebrate some of my earliest paternal ancestors who came to Canada and eventually to the U.S. My 3rd great grandfather Francis Dougherty and 3rd great grandmother Catherine Clerkein/Clarkin/Clarke) (depending on which document you're reviewing) were born in County Monaghan, Ireland. They married on Valentine's Day (February 14th) 1828 in Tydavnet, County Monaghan. They had 4 sons while they lived in Ireland (Michael, Peter, Owen and Bernard). They immigrated to Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1839 and settled in Lot 58 as farmers. They then had 5 daughters (Margaret, Mary, Bridget, Catherine, and another Bridget). In 1888 Francis emigrated to Dickinson County, Kansas to join his son Peter  and his wife Margaret (Cairns) to homestead (you can read about my family homesteading here ). Their daughter Margaret also left for Dickinson County, KS ahead of her parents aft...

“Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time, but by such a multiplication of copies, as shall place them beyond the reach of accident.” This quote is from Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Ebenezer Hazard in 1791, where Thomas Jefferson returned two manuscript volumes about the history of the colonies. Thomas Jefferson was concerned about the original copies held in public offices and how war has impacted these papers in addition to time and accident. This holds true today across the globe where historical papers are destroyed via fire, flooding, and even war. Across the United states (particularly in the south) we hear about courthouses burning down and records lost. The most famous example is the 1890 census. Most people think the fire that broke out in the Commerce building in Washington, DC destroyed the documents. Yes, there was a fire that broke out but it was the water damage that ...

I've been trying to attend more genealogy conferences as of late. I recently attended the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium (NERGC) in SpringField, MA and RootsTech in Salt Lake City, UT.  I started giving out business cards with my blog information to help get my name out there as well as include details on my family on the back for "cousin bait".                                       The comment I hear the most when I give out my cards is "Oh shamrock. You do Irish genealogy". It is true that I embrace my Irish roots, which is my father's line.  I've had the most genealogy success going back to Ireland so the shamrock seemed like a good symbol to use. The shamrock is typically associated with St Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity. It didn't become popular until the 19th century where the shamrock and Celtic harp were used as national symbols. During the Vic...

This past week I attended the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium (http://www.nergc.org/) in Springfield, MA. It was my first solo road trip to Massachusetts and was overall a great conference. Here are some highlights from each day: Wednesday (Pre-Conference Day) Springfield Genealogical Bus Tour - we visited the Forbes Library to see the presidential Calvin Coolidge collection, lunch at the new Irish Cultural Center, a visit to the Springfield Armory and then a quick drive by the Springfield cemetery. Very fun tour - only wish we had more time to see more. NextGen Meetup - we had a happy hour meet and greet with a few members and discussed genealogy. MOSH Reception - meet and greet reception at the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History and Archives. There was also a tour of the local archives and library held at the museum. Thursday  Opening session with Mary Tedesco. She discussed how genealogy research has evolved over time from the earli...

Several generations of my father's family immigrated from Ireland to  Prince Edward Island, Canada before ultimately coming to the United States. One of my favorite web sites to research my ancestors is http://islandnewspapers.ca. It's a web site managed by the Robertson Library at the University of Prince Edward Island. Newspapers are digitized back to the early 1800's through the early 1990's. My favorite newspaper to find obituaries and other articles is The Guardian. It contains a wealth of information, including information about current events going on at that time throughout the world. Sadly the newspaper articles aren't indexed like other newspaper sites (think: Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank). I would love to help out on an indexing project for this site to help make a database available. Optical character recognition software was used to digitize the newspapers that is used through the search function. This site can be compared to Old Fulton Post Cards...

Today Ancestry launched the genetic communities feature for current Ancestry DNA testers. Ancestry defines genetic communities as "groups of AncestryDNA members who are connected through DNA most likely because they descend from a population of common ancestors, even if they no longer live in the area where those ancestors once lived". My current genetic communities show below, which I previously confirmed through research to be accurate. When you click on each genetic community, a map comes up like below showing the countries and regions where you match with other AncestryDNA users for that community. When you're on the Story tab, you can see a history overview and a more detailed timeline for the area on the left hand side. I have a genetic community in Northern Ireland, where my father's line descends from. When you click over to the Connection tab, you can drill into your DNA matches that share that same community. I can view my matches as we...

St Patrick's Day is coming up quickly this week. It's the time of year where I use the family recipe for Irish soda bread. It was passed down from my grandmother, Rose Alice Corcoran, who was passed down the recipe from her mother, Bridget Connelly. Who knows how far back this recipe has been passed down? I was taught the recipe from my aunt Rose as my grandmother passed away when I was a little girl.  I'm reminded of Steve Rockwood's speech about family recipes at RootsTech. He shared his grandmother's rocky road fudge recipe that has become a holiday tradition. Recipes can be captured online as memories through FamilySearch at  https://familysearch.org/recipes . Here is the Family Recipe:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Sift together the following ingredients: 5 cups of flour 1 cup of sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 heaping teaspoons of baking powder tip of teaspoon baking soda Mix in 1 bar of butter with fingers (try to soften the butter prior - makes it eas...