My Irish

[urbpan]

My dad writes long letters and sends them to multiple people. For all intents and purposes he's blogging via the US mail. So I'm reposting. In his most recent letter he wrote on St. Patrick's day, the story of learning of our Irish ancestor:

Decades ago [my Irish friend] challenged me to find my Irish Roots and I discovered one that improved my

Comments

[m0053]

Best st. patrick's day letter! Albeit sad.

[roaming]

what an interesting story! I too wish we could know Philip's life, times, and fate.

[peppergrass]

Jef I'm sorry I hadn't seen this. What a story. It's amazing to me that this chapter in history has been largely forgotten. As the Irish finally began to prosper in the US, perhaps they wish to sweep this ugly chapter under the rug? I know when I went to Scotland to visit my relatives there (who were IRISH but now consider themselves Scots), and I asked family members why they thought it was that their ancestors left Ireland, they looked at me sort of bemused, like it never occurred to anyone else to ask or even wonder about it. My great-grand-aunt sort of winked at me and said "I bet if you were here, YOU'D of asked them!" which I took as a gentle ribbing for me being so nosy. They pride themselves on not mentioning difficult times - including the last world war.