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Finding Irish Origins in Newspaper Archives

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Conroy, Pioneer Residents of Calhoun Observe Fiftieth Annisersary

Those of us researching our Irish roots are always hoping to discover our family’s place of origin in Ireland. But even after searching diligently for every scrap of information possible in U.S. records, we are often left frustrated. Too many U.S. records simply list “Ireland” as a place of origin.

Fortunately, sometimes you can find better information in unusual places. Newspapers are an excellent resource to check. You may have searched newspaper archives for marriage announcements or obituaries, but you should not stop there. Recently I found two examples of unique newspaper articles which named an individual’s origins in Ireland.

The first article covered the celebration of a golden wedding anniversary. In 1909, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Conroy celebrated the 50th anniversary of their marriage, and the event was carried by the local newspaper.1 After detailing the events of the celebration, the article gave details of Patrick Conroy’s life. It stated that he was the son of Patrick Conroy and Margaret Welch, born on 16 April 1833 in Slabe townland, near Mountmellick, County Queens (now Laois).

CELEBRATE THEIR GOLDEN WEDDING Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Conroy, Pioneer Residents of Calhoun Observe Fiftieth Annisersary. Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Conroy celebrated their golden wedding anniversary very pleasantly Wednesday afternoon at their home in Ceresco, by entertaining nearly fifty of their relatives and friends. Among the guests was Fr. Cahalen. At three o'clock a sumptous dinner was served, to which all did ample justice. The tables and rooms were artistically adorned with white roses and yellow chrysanthemums. During their long residence in this vicinity the venerable host and hostess have made many warm friends and the afternoon and early evening was spent in pleasant social conversation, and reminiscences. As a token of their regard the guests presented Mr. and Mrs. Conroy with a generous purse of gold. Patrick Conroy, son of Patrick Conroy and Margaret Welch, was Welch, was born April 16, 1833, in Queens county, Ireland in the township of Slabe, near Mountmillick. He came o America in 1849 when 16 years of age and spent two years near Peekskill, N.Y., after which he settled in Livingston county, near Genesee, N.Y.

The townland name may have been misspelled or garbled in the article, as I could find no reference to Slabe in modern literature. However, Mountmellick is easily found. If Patrick Conroy was your ancestor, you would be delighted to learn this information.

The other interesting article I found was a report of the Thubber Club’s formation in New York City in 1881.2 Created by a group of men from the village of Killenaule, County Tipperary, this social club was formed to “keep alive old associations and recollections.” The men named the club after their local holy well.

The "Thubber Club." A party of some twenty or thirty gentlemen met recently at the house of Mr. James Meagher, 233 East One Hundred and Twenty-sixth street, all being, with two exceptions, from the village of Killenaule, County Tipperary, Ireland. Several of them had made considerable mark in their adopted country in the various pursuits of life. After enjoying themselves for some time Mr. Martin Bowman took the chair and explained the object of the meeting--namely, to form a club of men from the neighborhood of Killenaule, who would meet on stated occasions for social purposes, and in order to keep alive old associations and recollections. After some discussion the club was called the "Thubber Club," in honor of an old holy well near the village. Dr. William O'Meagher was elected President of the Club for the ensuing year, and Mr. Michael Bowman, Secretary. The following members were added in order to form an executive committee, with power to convene meetings, admit members, and select occasions for meetings and social reunions--namely: Messrs. James Meagher, Wm. McCheane and Martin Bowman. Dr. O'Meagher (formerly of the 37th N.Y. Volunteers, "Irish Rifles," and "Meagher's Irish Brigade,") read a lengthy and interesting paper on the genealogical and topographical history of Killenaule and its inhabitants for the last fifty years. He enumerated the principal families, giving several interesting scraps of local history, with short sketches of the clergymen, Catholic and...

I wish I could have been present for this meeting. The program included a presentation on the genealogical history of Killenaule, the names of the principal families, and details on the local history. What a goldmine of information that would have been.

The article concluded by listing the names of all the men in the club. If your ancestor was one of those named, I bet you would do a genealogical happy dance! You can find the full article by following the link in the notes below.

I urge you to explore newspaper archives whenever possible. Note than many newspaper archives require a subscription to access. There are certainly many more wonderful articles out there waiting to be discovered. If you find another interesting article with a place of origin in Ireland, I would love to hear about it.

 

Further Research

Irish Newspaper Archives
American Ancestors members may access a large collection of Irish newspapers. The archive contains 6 million images of pages of newspaper content from titles North and South of the Irish border, spanning from 1738 to the current day. Learn more about external databases from AmericanAncestors.org

Irish Genealogy Research Guide
This free guide lists a wealth of resources for researching your Irish ancestry at AmericanAncestors.org and beyond.

Recorded Lecture: Anniversary of the Four Courts Fire in Dublin
Centuries of Irish history were lost as a result of the Four Courts Fire in Dublin in 1922. In this lecture, Senior Genealogist Rhonda R. McClure delves into the history of the event, details which records survived, and offers alternative avenues for research.

 

Notes

1 “Celebrate Their Golden Wedding,” Marshall News, Marshall, Michigan, 10 Nov 1909, p. 2., col. 5; https://newspaperarchive.com/.

2 “The Thubber Club,” Irish American, New York, NY, 16 Apr 1881, p. 5., col. 1; “CRL Digital Delivery System,” https://dds.crl.edu/item/317191.
Pam Guye Holland

About Pam Guye Holland

Pam has been researching family roots in Ireland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Germany for over twenty years. She is the genetic genealogy director for the Massachusetts Genealogical Council and is a certificate holder from the Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate program. She lectures internationally, is a regular contributor to the NEHGS blog, Vita-Brevis, and has published articles on genetics and genealogy in the American Ancestors magazine. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, she grew up in West Virginia, and currently resides in the Boston area. During her earlier career she earned a BA in International Relations from the College of Wooster and a MS in Computer Science from Northeastern University. Areas of expertise: Irish immigration, Irish records, DNA, church records, German, New York (both city and state), and New England.View all posts by Pam Guye Holland →

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