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Irish American Genealogy & Family History Facts Infographic

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Irish American Genealogy & Family History Facts Infographic

In celebration of Irish Heritage Month, here are some interesting facts about Irish ancestry in America.

Irish American Population Statistics

  • There are 34.5 million people who claim Irish ancestry in America
  • Approximately 11% of the total United States population is Irish American
  • There are over 7 times more people of Irish descent in the United States than the entire population of Ireland

History of Irish Immigration to America

There were 2 major waves of Irish immigration to America.

  1. The first immigration period was in the Colonial era of the 18th century. These people set sail from the northern provinces of Ireland looking for new lives as American pioneers. The migration consisted of approximately 250,000 Scots-Irish who were predominately Protestant. The major ports of entry for these incoming Irish immigrants were in New York and Philadelphia.
  1. The second wave of immigration was between 1846 and 1900. During this period approximately 2,873,000 people fled to America from the southern provinces of Ireland. This was primarily due to the Great Irish Potato Famine, which caused poverty and starvation throughout Ireland. These new arrivals were predominately of Catholic denomination. The major American ports of entry were in New York and Boston. The Irish also arrived on trains and ships from Canada, which was then called British North America.

Origins of the Saying “Luck of the Irish”

During the 1848-1855 California Gold Rush many Irish immigrants headed out West to mine silver & gold. Many Americans said the immigrants’ mining success was due to luck, not skill—hence the saying “Luck of the Irish.”

Common Irish Surnames

Here is a list of the top 10 most common Irish last names and their meanings:

  • Murphy – Sea Battlers
  • Kelly – Bright-headed Ones
  • O’Sullivan – Hawkeyed Ones
  • Walsh – Welshmen
  • O’Brien – Noblemen
  • Byrne – Ravens
  • Ryan – Little Kings
  • O’Connor – Patrons of Warriors
  • O’Neill - From a Champion, Niall of the Nine Hostages
  • O’Reilly – Outgoing People, Descendants of Reilly

Percentage of Irish Americans by State

The Northeastern United States has the highest concentration of Irish Americans. The following 9 states all have more than 15% Irish ancestry in their total populations. The states are listed in descending order from highest to lowest total Irish population percentages. Massachusetts has the highest percentage in the United States with 22.5% of its residents claiming Irish ancestry.

  1. Massachusetts
  2. New Hampshire
  3. Rhode Island
  4. Delaware
  5. Connecticut
  6. Vermont
  7. Pennsylvania
  8. New Jersey
  9. Maine

The following 9 U.S. states also have high Irish American populations of 12-14%. Montana has the highest in this range with 14.8% of its population claiming Irish ancestry.

  1. Montana
  2. Iowa
  3. Nebraska
  4. Wyoming
  5. New York
  6. Missouri
  7. Ohio
  8. Colorado
  9. Illinois

11% to 11.9% of the residents in the following 7 states claim Irish ancestry.

  1. Oregon
  2. Maryland
  3. Kansas
  4. Washington
  5. Minnesota
  6. Nevada
  7. West Virginia

The remaining states have less than 11% Irish ancestry in their total populations.

Famous Americans Who Are a Wee Bit Irish

From presidents to outlaws, there have been many famous Irish Americans throughout U.S. history. Here are a few of them:

  • John F. Kennedy a.k.a. JFK: 35th President of the United States
  • Henry Ford: Founder of Ford Motor Company
  • Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States
  • William Henry McCarty Jr. a.k.a. Billy the Kid: Outlaw
  • Judy Garland: Actress & Singer
  • Bill O’Reilly: TV Host & Political Commentator
  • Conan O’Brien: TV Host & Comedian
  • Grace Kelly: Actress & Princess of Monaco
  • Walter Elias Disney a.k.a. Walt Disney: Film Producer & Co-founder of the Walt Disney Company
  • Danica Patrick: NASCAR Driver
  • Eddie Murphy: Actor & Comedian
  • Mel Gibson: Actor & Film Producer

Top Irish Genealogy Records

The top genealogy records to trace your Irish roots are:

Did You Know?

Civil registration in Ireland didn’t begin until 1864, although some non-Catholic marriages were recorded as early as 1845. Fortunately for genealogists, Irish American newspapers routinely published the news of Irish births, marriages and deaths for more than half a century before Ireland started recording them.

Got a little Irish in you? Discover your Irish American ancestry at http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ethnic/irish_american/

Follow GenealogyBank on social media with hashtag #IrishHeritage for more Irish American genealogy facts throughout Irish Heritage Month.

Sources:

http://www.biography.com/people/groups/famous-irish-americans

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb13-ff03.html

http://www.edwardtodonnell.com/

http://www.energyofanation.org/waves_of_irish_immigration.html

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/The-10-most-popular-Irish-last-names-2-133737553.html?page=3

http://names.mongabay.com/ancestry/st-Irish.html

http://www.udel.edu/soe/deal/IrishImmigrationFacts.html

http://www.wikipedia.org/

Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Charles Dickens’s Birthday

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This week marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles John Huffam Dickens, the famous English novelist who created such memorable characters as David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Tiny Tim.

Born on Feb. 7, 1812, Charles Dickens remains one of the most popular and beloved writers in the world—in fact, his stories have never gone out of print!

One of the pleasures of doing family history research in a large collection of historical newspapers like GenealogyBank’s is that you can also find material about famous people. Not only can you explore their lives and trace their family trees in newspapers—you can get priceless information about famous people that isn’t available from other genealogical resources.

For example, two days after the famous author’s death these impressive words were written about Charles Dickens in a newspaper obituary published by the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio), 11 June 1870, page 4:

“Without the slightest tinge of exaggeration it may be said with solemn meaning that no announcement could have created a profounder feeling of sorrow and regret than that which conveys the intelligence of the death of Charles Dickens, the eminent novelist—the friend of humanity.

“The event, while it was not altogether unexpected—for Dickens was a man of years, of full habit and many ailments—yet it came like an electric shock which deadens for an instant and is followed by a somber gloom.

“A potentate of Europe might have passed away and created no ripple, save in his own immediate circle; but the death of one so great and good as Dickens is a world-wide calamity, and it will be felt wherever the English language is spoken—wherever human impulses are felt.”

On the 100th anniversary of Dickens’s birth the Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) ran this page-long chronology of the life of the beloved author, published 28 January 1912, page 4.

Charles Dickens 100th Birthday Anniversary Newspaper Collage

Oregonian | January 28, 1912

You can discover the facts about Charles Dickens at GenealogyBank. Visit our historical newspaper archives today to explore the life and death of the world-renowned author Charles Dickens: http://bit.ly/AobNT9

Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar …

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“Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar, all who love obits stand up and holler!”

That is probably not the way you heard that cheer – but genealogists sure do love obituaries.

I came across this obituary for Louise Cloutier (1789-1889). It was published in the 13 November 1889 issue of the Daily Inter-Ocean newspaper.

Born in Canada in 1789, she died 100 years later in Chicago.

Click here to read the entire obituary.

What information and clues do we get from this obituary?

1. Name
2. Place and year of birth
3. Name of the cemetery
4. Date & place of the funeral & burial
5. Names of her 3 living children – where they lived and their position in the birth order of the children
6. Names of the towns where she had lived & how long she lived there
7. Age of husband at his death and how long ago that was
8. Details on the longevity of her father (110 years) and grandfather (90 years)
9. Count of her descendants – by generation
10. Best of all: her picture as rendered in a wood-cut engraving.

GenealogyBank your best source for old newspapers on the planet!
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Finding Your “Roots” at Alex Haley Museum Opening

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Alex Haley home dedicated as a genealogy library and museum.

When 17-year-old violinist Joseph Matthews performed at the dedication of the Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center, he had no idea he would discover his family roots. Joseph, a high school senior from Memphis, Tennessee, was among hundreds who participated in two days of festivities at the Interpretive Center located behind Mr. Haley’s boyhood home in Henning, Tennessee. The center was dedicated on Friday, 13 August, 2010.

Mr. Haley, who passed away in 1992, received a Pulitzer Prize for his 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The book tells of his ancestors being sold into slavery in West Africa and their migration from North Carolina to Tennessee. The following year a TV series of Roots, described as “eight straight days of the Super Bowl,” aired and remains the highest rated TV miniseries in television history. Among the significant impact of Roots was a surge in interest throughout the world in family history research.

TIP: Search the Largest Collection of African American newspapers is in GenealogyBank.

Inside the museum Joseph and his family visited a FamilySearch center sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through the free online program FamilySearch.org, Joseph explored his ancestral lines. “Basically we were able to type in my grandmother’s mother’s and father’s name, and from there we searched their records and we were able to find information about their parents as well as their siblings, birthdates, wedding dates, things of that nature,” said Matthews. “We made a couple of steps to where we can make some pretty good discoveries in the future as to our family lineage. We’re going to find out a lot more about our family and where we came from.”

According to Art Johnson, FamilySearch area manager, the placement of the FamilySearch center within the Alex Haley Museum is a perfect fit, “I think it’s a great opportunity to simply share the message of family history and genealogy to individuals that come in and commemorate the accomplishments and successes of Mr. Haley’s life. It’s an opportunity to simply bring people in and help them understand their heritage the way that Mr. Haley did.”
William Haley, Alex’s son, said that resources available through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are very valuable in searching African-American ancestry. “I always send them to the LDS Church. I say, ‘Well find an LDS Church with a history portion and go in there and they will help you find out who you are and it doesn’t matter what country or anything, they will help you.’ Folks are very surprised at that, but it’s true.”

This is one of several related projects supported by the Church. In 2001, FamilySearch released the Freedman’s Bank records on CD, a unique searchable database documenting several generations of African-Americans immediately following the Civil War. In 2006, FamilySearch participated in the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society’s (AAHGS) national conference in Salt Lake City. An African-American family history conference is held in Salt Lake City each year.

The Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center and FamilySearch center are located in Henning, Tennessee, about 45 miles northeast of Memphis.
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Celebrity News: Michael Jackson Tells His Story

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Read the news as it happened.

You can easily find the back stories of your family or celebrities – it is all in GenealogyBank.

GenealogyBank has over 9,000 articles about Michael Jackson.

Like this article from the 3 July 1995 issue of the Afro-American Gazette where Michael Jackson tells his own history.

Or when:

Michael Jackson sales top $11Million – Chicago Metro News 16 January 1988

Michael and Randy Jackson joined a tea ceremony - Chicago Metro News 6 June 1973

Editorial columns like this one by Ferman Becless: Between Michael Jackson and (Grambling coach) Eddie Robinson. 20 October 1984 – Chicago Metro News.

Or the grim report of his death.

GenealogyBank gives you access to the backfiles of newspapers whether your ancestors were unknown or world famous.

Wow! Meryl Streep, Stephen Colbert and other celebrities trace their heritage

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Those “Wow” moments in genealogy.

GenealogyBank readers write us all the time with their “WoW” moments – telling us what they found.

This new PBS television series let’s you see the wow moments as Meryl Streep; Stephen Colbert and other celebrities discover their roots for the first time. The genuine awe and surprise is real.

“Faces of America” – is filled with “Wow” moments – watch this

The series starts this coming Wednesday – February 10th and runs through March 3rd in the 8-9pm (ET) time slot.

The series will trace the ancestry of:

Meryl Streep, Stephen Colbert, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Queen Noor, Yo-Yo Ma, Louise Erdrich, Kristi Yamaguchi, Mario Batali, Eva Lonigoria Parker, Malcolm Gladwell, Elizabeth Alexander and Mike Nichols.

It’s not often that genealogy is in the spotlight – get your family & friends to watch – maybe they’ll catch the genealogy bug too.

It’s a great day for genealogy!

Sign up for GenealogyBank now and see what you’ll find about your family!

Wow!

Was TV Series Who Do You Think You Are? Inspired by Minnesota Newspaper Series?

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The popular British TV series – Who Do You Think You Are? is now in it’s seventh season. It has focused on tracing the family history of UK movie stars and celebrities.

In sifting through the old newspapers I found this regular column – Whom Did He Marry? by Mary Adrian. Was it the inspiration for the hit series Who Do You Think You Are? (Duluth News Tribune 13 Dec 1921).

Probably not. Just like Ralph Edward’s TV series – “This is Your Life” — the newspaper series “Whom Did He Marry?” and the TV show “Who Do You Think You Are?” all appeal to everyone’s basic interest in family history.

Mary Adrian wrote hundreds of “Whom Did He Marry?” articles, semi-genealogical vignettes about the wives of the famous and the obscure in her weekly column that appeared for years in the Duluth, MN – Duluth News-Tribune.

You can look up these articles by going to GenealogyBank’s Duluth-News Tribune search page and putting the worlds “Whom Did He Marry?” (in quotes) in the other search terms box. Your search will quickly pull up nearly 200 articles.
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Congratulations to my cousin Sarah Heath Palin!

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Genealogists will love the fact that the new Republican choice for Vice President – Sarah Heath Palin is a descendant of multiple Mayflower passengers: John Tilley, John Howland, Stephen Hopkins, Elder William Brewster, Richard Warren and other well known New England families.

I am also descended from those Mayflower passengers …. so we’re cousins.

She is also a descendant of the Rev. John Lathrop – famous to genealogists as the “gateway” ancestor of many US Presidents, inventors, actors and celebrities.

No doubt in the days ahead we will see stories of how she is related to our other cousins: George Bush, Queen Elizabeth, Barack Obama, John Kerry, Dick Cheney, George Washington, King George III, King Henry VIII, Abraham Lincoln and the list will go on and on.

It’s a great day for genealogy!

Patsy Leaves Family History TV Show over Gangland Grandpa

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Uncovering our family history can reveal saints and sinners as we dig through old newspapers. Genealogists using GenealogyBank become used to finding a scoundrel here and there on the branches of the family tree.

But British actress - Patsy Kensit was not prepared for what she discovered while filming a TV show for the BBC.

She was the featured star of an upcoming episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?” a UK TV show that uses the family history of celebrities in a format reminiscent of Ralph Edward’s long running TV show This is Your Life.

Patsy Kensit became so upset when she found out that her Dad (who died when she was a teenager) and her grandfather were criminals – that she walked off the set while filming the show.

The show got her to come back and finish the filming after telling her that the segment would also highlight her praiseworthy ancestors – one who was an Anglican Priest, recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury and another a respected local constable.

You can read the entire story in the UK newspaper the Daily Record (5 Aug 2008) - Patsy Kensit left in tears as BBC show reveals her family’s gangland links.
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