The Irish in America

I discovered this map at a site dedicated to Irish genealogy. The Irish ancestors I know about, the Boals and Shannons, came from County Derry in Northern Ireland, and earlier from possibly County Donegal. It’s nice to have this map, as most of the 1890 census originals were destroyed in a fire. ajh

Irish Intrigue

Baron Carrickfergus, a royal title recently given to Prince William, is causing some consternation among some Irish folk. The British decision to revive the title and clearly make sure that nationalists who live in the town are under His Royal Highness is a curious one. Is it “a deliberate effort to state categorically that a [...]

The Boal Family & Ireland

For years I had been searching for material on my great-great-great-great grandfather, John S. Boal. He was a veteran of the American Civil War and died a young man at the age of 40 or 42. (There’s some confusion as to when he was born, 1836 or 1838.) I don’t know in what unit he served [...]

Family Name History

I came across a Family Name History feature at a site called nameLab, so I decided to lookup a few surnames. VAN NOTE Americanized spelling of Dutch Van (der) Not, a habitational name for someone from a place called Ter Noot, for example one in French Flanders. VAN OORT 1. Dutch: habitational name from any [...]

What Do Northern Ireland, Pennsylvania, Iowa & Australia Have in Common?

Some distant Boal cousins from Australia responded after finding some of my posts on John S. Boal. We then began communicating via email. They tracked down connections, which I had never successfully made before. The family came to Iowa from Pennsylvania. Some of them then left the United States for Australia. Prior to this they [...]