Tag Archives: Ireland

What does St. Patrick’s Day bring to mind? Many would say shamrocks and parades, or a pinch for forgetting to wear green. For us Irish folks it’s a celebration of our heritage. But the deeper meaning is that Saint Patrick really lived. He was a Roman, not an Irishman, and ...

In the 1880’s, four Irish brothers set out for America, along with their sister, Mary Anne. They were Henry, Adam, Robert, and my great-grandfather, James. They hailed from the Northern Irish coastline, having been born in Kilkeel in County Down. My great-grandfather’s passage information lists him as a watchmaker in ...

Patriotism embodies the stories of many throughout our history. It is the story of a young watchmaker who came to America from Northern Ireland with strong hands and a willingness to work hard and wait years to become a citizen of his new country. It is the story of a ...

He was a young sailor when he sailed with the Spanish Armada in the year 1588. Sadly, what was at first an adventure would soon be his demise. Sailing aboard one of the fleet’s finely built ships near the coast at Antrim, Ireland, a fierce wind destroyed the vessel and ...

Among my father’s things we found a letter dated May, 1886. The handwriting had faded, but the words of Robert White, minister at Sea-View Cottage in  County Down, Ireland, still attest to the character of my great-grandfather, James. In the letter, the minister bore testimony to the “honest”, “industrious”, and ...