This is sort of inspired by the heritage thread that was posted about a week ago. However, this one doesn't have as much room for anyone to say anything at the expense of another nationality, so hopefully it will be a little more productive. Post as detailed (or as basic) history of your family as you want. I'll be interested to see how far back some of you can go I suppose I might as well post mine, as far as I know it, to encourage others to do the same. The earliest known ancestor whose existence is supported by more than one account is GilleMaoldònaich mac Donnchadh, who was part of an Irish crew that sailed to Connacht to collect the dowry of the new bride of Domhnall I, King of the Hebrides, in 1249. He was a relation to the O'Cahans of Limavady, and moved to Islay when they married into the Macdonald dynasty, although he acquired a small tack on the island of Cairn na Burgh Mor. He apparently had three children, one male and two female, whose names were not recorded. They continuously inhabited the tack for four generations, upon which, by Gaelic law, it became theirs by right. They changed hands only briefly during Domhnall II's suppression of revolt in the early 1390s, when he revoked any claim to the titles to destabilise the lands of Clan Maclean, who were the main power in the region. They then followed Domhnall's general, Eachuinn Ruadh nan Cath, on his raid on Dublin, and then on another raid on England in 1401, and were also obliged to appear at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411, under the leadership of Fionn Ban, before the tack was returned to their possession. Fionn Ban's son, Diarmaid, then held the tack, and acquired lands and rights to hunt the waters surrounding Rockall, and then the family line passes through his son, Domhnall, then Raghnaill, then Fearghas, then Uilleam. It was taken from them in the rebellion of Aonghas Og in 1490, and, following his murder and the subsequent collapse of the Lordship, they were forced out by the Macleans. They made their way to the coast of Ross, although further Macdonald raids on the province led to them being driven north, into Sutherland, where they apparently stayed, without being mentioned in the history books.
Ok. I'm game. I hail from the sunny island of Puerto Rico in the lush and sultry Caribbean. Playground of the rich, home to the poor. My father's family left Puerto Rico in the early 50's as part of the diaspora to places like New York and Chicago when the sugar cane plantations and the coffee industry in Puerto Rico moved to more economical, if not greener pastures. On my mother's side, I am direct from the island and it appears, by evidence of my maternal patronymic (Reinat is not a Spanish patronymic, but a French) that there is some French heritage on her side of the family, most probably via the Dominican Republic. My father met my mother here on the island when he joined the Air Force and was stationed at Ramey AFB in the city of Aguadilla, PR. Aguadilla is only slightly famous for being the place where Columbus landed when he came to Puerto Rico which at the time was called Borinquen by the Taino natives. In true Puerto Rican style, this honor is argued over by Aguadilla and the neighboring costal town of Aguada. That's it. That's all I know. My nuclear family is rather insular. An oxbow lake of sorts off of the main river of the family, so I don't know much about the rest of them.
Please don't get me going on genealogy .............. please ............ please. Too late. Ingerlam de Braye born about 1220. I have names of others before him but all details are sketchy. I have my maiden name dating back to 1641 when a new arrival to this area started a long line of us. He has a weak link to the main family group that would take us back another hundred years or so but that's it for that name. As to what they did and all that I haven't gone into. Still trying to work out who belongs to who and fill in lots of gaps in my almost immediate family's details. And a useless bit of information: my Dad is a second cousin (making me once removed) of William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies. Writing is in the blood I tell 'e!
Well, my father's side of the family came straight out of Ireland into Massachusetts. He was a stereotype Irish punk who loved to go out drinking and finish with a bar brawl. So my mother left him when I was less than a year old, and I don't really know him. I probably could have tracked him down, but why bother? On my mother's side, her mother was a European WASP mix, chiefly Scotch-Irish. Her father was from a good-sized family of second-generation Dutch immigrants. He got booted from high school weeks away from graduation for smoking, so he never got his diploma. Still, he was good with his hands and a great problem solver. He built the house my mother now lives in, and the woodworking and stonework are top quality. He worked for a quarry and asphalt company as a troubleshooter, and eventually was the third from the top; the other two were the brothers who owned the company, which had half a dozen plants scattered across New York State. When my mother left my father, she moved back in to her parents' house with me. She was a single mother in the 1950s, and became a welfare professional. In the mid 1960s she earned her Master's degree and became a Psychiatric Social worker. She remarried once, briefly, but we won't talk about that lout. I'm an only child of an only child, and independent as hell.
