Ancient Faces

How many people have joined the site ancientfaces.com?  Initially, I thought this was such a great idea.  You've got a library of old family photos at your fingertips.  The only issue is that it's not my family.  I can only offer this suggestion, it does not really add value to one's family tree to have a photo library online when the photo is not directly connected to the actual tree.

Personally, I uploaded one photo to this site as an experiment.  Mary Catherine Flanagan's headstone photo at Tulocay Cemetery was that photo.  I can look at my own uploads and find it but when I search the site, there are just too many photos to sort through to find it in a regular search.  I am glad that I did not add other photos.

A search for other family surnames just does not produce any "finds".  What I mean by "finds" is that I was hoping to maybe find someone of my family line.  Because the photos are not very well identified by location, dates, and the person's full name, it is like finding a needle in a haystack.  I also think the needle is probably not in the stack I'm searching in. 

In my opinion, it's time to move on.   I like old photos but love my own family's old photos.  I'm not likely to post them on that site any time soon.

From Ireland

I was recently surfing the internet for any resources in Ireland that would help me access records.  I found a rather interesting site at www.from-ireland.net.  It seems to divide the information by province (Connaugh, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster) and under each province are found the familiar counites of Ireland.  As near as I can tell, all of counties are there including those that fall under Northern Ireland.

The following is a quote on the site:   "How do you say thanks to people who come and dig your snow, who grit your area of the road just so you can access the main road? Nobody pays them to do this. How do you repay someone like that? Thing is, that is exactly how all our ancestors worked together to survive." - Dr. Jane Lyons

While the site does seem to be a little sluggish in response time (I'm used to a "lightning fast" internet and website.), I have mustered up a bit of patience for this site.  My first test of this site was to review County Louth records.  Can I find my Flanagan ancestors on this site with ease?  Let's see what I can come up with. 

Gravestones Transcriptions - Gravestones, Co. Louth
-No Flanagan's Found
Commentary -  It would appear that this site is reliant on people to transcribe gravestones and submit the information the appropriate adminstrators who provided this information online.   I guess no one has transcribed St. Fechin's graveyard in Termonfechin or maybe it's lost in the search on this site.

I was able to find Maguire's, Bellew's, and Kirwan's indicated as being buried in the Ballymakenny graveyard, County Louth, Ireland.  The full information is published in a book called Seanchas Ardmhaca, by James McGary.  That could be an interesting bit of reference material.   I still don't think that the first place that I should start.

Civil Records:  Birth Register Indicies
Commentary -  Narrowing the search on this, did not produce Louth records.  I'm thinking that the site has an issue.  Instead, I reviewed each and every page without narrowing the search so that Louth records would display.  One of the main things that I noticed here is that the records only go back to 1864.  Also, I did not find any Flanagan's.  There really aren't that many records for County Louth in this index. 

I put my searches aside on this site after checking a few other section of it for County Louth.  I'm sure that this site has merit, I'm just not finding what I'm looking for.  That seems to be the case in searching Ireland.  I'd offer this advice to people about this site.  Give the site a few searches but spend no more than a hour on it.  If you don't find anything during that time-frame about your ancestors, it is unlikely that you will find anything down the line. 

I am making note of this site, just case I can use it again in the future.

Ride for Heroes

Ride for Heroes

A Personal Fundraising Page by Dennis McLaughlin 

Benefiting Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

Link to Ride for Heroes 

 

My Love of Old Photos

I love old photos, especially when they are of my family.   I know that I've said it before.  In reading some of the old letters that I have, I found a wonderful comment about photos made by my great, great uncle.

"It is a most useful art, this photographing, by which one can from one end of the world to the other [send] a pretty correct representation without writing a word about it."

---Michael Flanagan, written in 1873

The Essence of Genealogy

Here you will find a poem that I found in a "Birthday Book" that belonged to my Grandma. It was the book's dedication by Rev. Hugo W. Hoffmann. I think it represents some of what genealogy is all about.

"If stories of dry and learned lore we gain,
We keep them in the memory of the brain;
Names, things, and facts - whate'er we knowledge call -
There is the common ledger for them all;
And images on this cold surface traced
Make slight impression, and are soon effaced.
But we've a page, more glowing and more bright,
On which our friendship and our love to write;
That these may never from the soul depart,
We trust them to the memory of the heart,
There is so dimming, no effacement there;
Each new pulsation keeps the record clear;
Warm, golden letters all the tablet fill,
Nor lose their lustre till the heart stands still