From Kerry To Canada

Last month I came across the My Kerry Ancestors website. Run by Kay Caball, a professional genealogist, it has a great blog all about genealogy in Kerry. One very interesting post concerns a migration of people from north Kerry to Canada.

The post focuses on the book The Kerry Chain, The Limerick Link by Carol McCuaig. This book goes into great detail about emigration from north Kerry over the course of the 19th century.

You can read the blog post by clicking here. More generally, the blog is a great read if you have ancestors from Kerry.

Disclaimer: Kay is a graduate of the Certificate in History of Family and Genealogical Methods course at the Irish Ancestry Research Centre (IARC), University of Limerick (UL). UL is my alma mater and I am a research associate at IARC.

A Michigan Gaeltacht

Beaver Island, Michigan, and Árainn Mhór (Arranmore), Donegal are two places separates by thousands of miles, yet they have a strong bond. In 2000, the two islands were twinned due to the huge numbers of Árainn Mhór natives who settled on Beaver Island, beginning after the Famine.

More in-depth information about this can be found on a number of websites such as donegaldiaspora.ie, a University of Notre Dame blog about Historical Archaeology of Irish America, and AineMcCormack's The Irish in America. An article on this topic was also published in The Irish at Home and Abroad Vol. 4. No. 4. 1997.

A brief examination of the 1880 U.S. Federal  census shows that over one third of residence in Manitou County[1], MI had the name Boyle or Gallagher[2], names usually associated with Donegal[3]. The arrival of these Donegal people saw the development of a Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) all through the 19th century, until its demise in the early years of the 20th century.[4]

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[1] This county was disbanded in 1895 and replaced by Charlevoix county. Both counties include(ed) Beaver Island, and surround islands.

[2] "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1417683); Boyle search 33 names, Gallagher search 50 names, Total Irish born in Manitou county 257 names; search carried out 3 September 2013.

[3] MacLysaght, Edward. The Surnames of Ireland. Dublin: Academic Press. 1985.

[4] Fernandez, Laura. Beaver Island Lumber Company and Culture Change on Historical Archaeology of Irish America. 2011; http://blogs.nd.edu/irishstories/student-projects/summer-projects/beaver-island-lumber-company-and-culture-change/ : accessed 3 September 2013