This week, I made a quick trip to visit family in South Carolina. We had a few hours to go do something and I realized that we were just 45 minutes from the cemetery when James Holden is buried. My dad was a good sport and drove us out to Buffalo, Cherokee, South Carolina, while … Continue reading I Found Him!
I first met Mrs. McLeery in the diary of James Black, proprietor of the Randalstown cotton mills in County Antrim, Ireland, and a merchant of Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Black was tangentially connected to my ancestors in Augusta, Georgia. The following entry from 31 August 1841 caught my attention because of Mrs. McCleery's nephew: Attended … Continue reading In Search of Mrs. McCleery
My Pritchard and Wright lines have a history in County Cork that may have started in the late 17th century. Several of my ancestors appear to have benefited from Williamite Wars, obtaining land confiscated from Irish landowners that was sold or given to mostly English Protestants. The Pritchards and Wrights thrived as farmers and tradesmen, … Continue reading County Cork
In preparation for our trip to Ireland, we used this tool from BYU's Family History Lab to identify ancestors that possibly came from Ireland*. It brought several lines up that I hadn't explored yet. One of the lines identified was the Bryan family. FamilySearch identified Joan Fitzgerald, Countess of Ormond, as my 12th great-grandmother. As … Continue reading Not Quite an Irish Princess
Between two hills sits the town of Bandon dissected by the River Bandon. Founded in 1604 during the Plantation of Munster, the town was originally called Bandon Bridge, the translation of the Irish name, Droichead na Bandan, or Bridge of the Bandon. Arriving in Bandon from the north. © Julie Medlock Flake The earliest known … Continue reading The Bridge of the Bandon
Just south of the center of the small village of Cloyne, County Cork, Ireland, stands St. Colman's Cathedral, built in 1250 on the site of the monastery St. Colman founded in the 6th century. A few of my early Pritchard and Wright ancestors married, had their remains laid in the churchyard, and probably worshiped here. … Continue reading Wildflowers in the Churchyard
My Pritchard ancestors lived in Midleton (sometimes Middleton) Parish in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They were most likely of English descent, but it's not known when they first came to Ireland. They seem to be well established in Midleton, neighboring Rathcoursey, and Cork City before 1691. Records list members of the family … Continue reading The Rock at Midleton
