Hi Roger, What a surprise. I had no idea that you are located in Baltimore, MD. I just presumed you are located in Ireland. And you've been here quite a while. I was married in 1971 (to an Irish/American -- Ken Nolan, a Nolan/Enright). Since I don't have any idea what I'm doing when it comes to researching my own Irish roots, I have not attempted to start a search on my husband's families. His lack of Irish information is similar to mine, except he knows that his Enright family landed in Canada (somewhere) and crossed from Canada into the US (somewhere). In the end, they put down roots in Chicago, and, from that point on, he has family information. However, like me, all those years between leaving Ireland and taking up residence in Chicago is a mystery. I don't think has any information on his Nolan side of the family.
Anyway, I was glad to hear from you. Please excuse me if I'm replying a second time to your email. I am not very computer literate so I may have responded to you a few days ago. I thought I was pretty sure of my gr. grandfather's birth date (and gr. grandmother's) because it was inscribed on the cemetery headstone. However, with this new information you've given, it just could be that Patrick's parents adopted the name and birth day to agree with the feast day of St. Patrick because their baby boy was born close to that feast and didn't go by the date on the calendar. Now, that's really religious. Thank you for telling me about old customs. I've often wondered if it was a coincidence that my gr. grandfather was named Patrick because he was born on the actual feast day. I may never know for sure since keeping track of births was dependent on the midwife years ago. Eventually, I presume, the midwife would have reported her information to the church. I understand that it was quite a bit later before the government stepped in and collected birth and death information, but there was no place that was 100% safe from fires, floods and civil unrest and some things have been lost forever. Same for the US, but our American records don't go back nearly as far as Ireland's. But, a loss is a loss, and is regrettable.
I need to locate my Ancestry.com DNA information. I remember being disappointed with the amount of information they provided and probably just filed the paperwork. I don't remember that Ancestry provided me with the names of possible relatives, but, if so, not much more was offered. It didn't cause me to search. I remember thinking that it wasn't worth the $100 and the wait time, which was close to 6 weeks.
Even though my relatives didn't write letters or keep records in a Family Bible, I have had pretty good luck by using the US Censuses in my American part of the search. However, I have not been able to work backwards and get information on Patrick's Irish life, and his family's life, before immigrating in 1850. As a starting point for my US search, I do believe he immigrated in 1850, then got himself to Missouri somehow. Do you think he would have traveled via train or wagon train? And to where? The East Coast (Maryland?) to Chicago? I have no idea what means of travel would have been available at that time. He must have researched and found out that wagon trains left from Missouri, probably St. Joseph, and headed West. I understand that families joined wagon trains, but I wonder how single guys traveled. I wonder if Patrick would have met and then traveled with a family, or if he would have just tagged along. I believe he made it to the gold or silver mines in California, but don't know how long he stayed or how much (in money) he found. Evidently, he found enough gold or silver because he traveled back East and ended up in Northern Illinois, settled in Homer Township (rural area near Lockport, IL), about 35 miles southwest of Chicago, and bought some farmland, which was in the family for 3 generations. From this point on, I can find Patrick in the US Censuses and found him listed in the 100th Ill. Infantry from 1862 - 1865. I'm very surprised that he joined and left the War as a Private because his unit saw quite a bit of action. I'm thankful that he survived the War, but surprised that his rank didn't change after 3 years in combat, mostly in Tennessee and south.
Well, I've filled you in on Patrick's later life in the US, but I would appreciate any information you can provide on his prior life in Ireland. I'm hoping that the information you provided on possible family members might be correct. It makes me feel good to know the names of his mom and dad and siblings. Is Leighlinbridge a rural area or town with businesses? What kind of jobs would people have then? I envision that Patrick's dad was a farmer. Would a farm consist of keeping sheep, cows, chickens, geese, a garden and some land for crops, like wheat? I presume that farmers lived off the land and sold any excess. Did folks get around in horse carts on gravel roads? When I watch the "Quiet Man", which I've seen quite often, I watch mostly for the scenery, clothes, manners, houses, etc. and try to envision my relatives living there. What kind of education would people have during those times? Could the common person read and write? Patrick was Catholic, but would most of the families in his area be Catholic too? What did people do for fun? Was the pub 'the place' to go on Saturday nights? Were women allowed in pubs? Did the towns have festivals? Saturday night dances? I'm sure that the churches held religious festivals (like Christmas, Easter). How did families get mail? Delivered or did they go to the post office? If they couldn't read/write, what could they do? Did they have local banks? Or, were most people fairly poor and not have enough to keep in a bank? How did people go about acquiring a house or farm? Was property passed down in families (to the oldest son?), or was it common for people to buy/rent a house or farm? (Patrick owned his farm in US, which makes me wonder just how much money he was able to 'pan' in California.)
I could go on. I will never make it to Ireland so I have a million questions. I am sorry if I'm overwhelming you. If you would like to contact me directly, my email address is blnolan3@comcast.net. I thank you for whatever information you can offer. Barb Nolan
