DNA Connection

My upcoming trip to Ireland is a catalyst for working on my goals with family history.  It's my top priority.  Even if the trip was canceled for some reason,  I still appreciate the fire kindled in me to seek out my Irish roots.   I've spent quite a bit of time trying to unearth information on sites such as FamilySearch,  Ancestry, My Heritage, rootsireland,  geni.com, Findmypast, Irish national library, Irelandxo reaching out, and books on the shelves at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  It's been like digging for treasure and pretty much making a bunch of holes in the dirt without finding the prize. When I find records with the names I'm looking for, I can't claim them.   It's a Peter.  It's a James.  It's a Winifred.  But they're not MY Peter, MY James, and MY Winifred.  ARRGGGH!  (pirate voice emphasized.) 

The volunteer Ireland consultant specialist at the family history center suggested I also use DNA testing as an additional tool for finding family and extending my genealogical lines.  I had never made having my DNA tested a priority.  However, the prospect of potentially knocking on the door of a would-be cousin in Ireland, intrigued me.  Since I've been focused on my O'Malley line, I had my brother do the "Y" test with familytreedna and I did autosomal tests with Ancestry and MyHeritage.   

Once the results were in, I first emailed my 1 and 2-step connections (Y DNA) in the hopes of finding a distant common ancestor.  It was my back-door approach to finding Peter, James, and Winifred.  The line might pitter out with them, but if I can go back far enough, I might be able to reconnect the severed line going in the opposite direction.  It was so exciting to receive email responses from so many who were willing to take the time to respond and share information about their O'Malley ancestors from County Mayo!  Liam O'Malley wrote he was willing to meet me in Westport and share some information on his relatives. That's pretty much like knocking on a cousin's door right?

With my Y DNA results and my autosomal DNA matches, I started to do research on their family lines in hopes of figuring out a potential family connection.  I scribbled my way down each rabbit hole filling up an entire notebook of names, dates, and places of potential Irish ancestors.  It's a huge mess of tangled information. It's like I created a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle with many random puzzle pieces from different puzzles thrown in "just for fun."  Try putting that together!  I absolutely HATE puzzles, probably because I'm better at making problems than solving them.  Nevertheless, each puzzle piece represents a real person that lived, died, and may or may not be related to me.  But they are worth the time.  

Owen O'Malley of Burrishoole (1728-1804) is one such person.  This is Ian's relative. I think I'm going to the Burrishoole graveyard overlooking Clew Bay to see this inscription:

SECTION B.  GRAVE NUMBER 128.  I.H.S.  FLAT SLAB.  BE MERCIFUL O'LORD
ON THE
SOUL OF OWEN O'MALLEY OF BURRISHOOLE WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE JULY 29TH
1804, AGED 76 YEARS. HE WAS DUTIFUL HUSBAND A TENDER PARENT A CORDIAL
FRIEND IN PRAYER AND HEAVENLY IN CONTEMPLATION.  A SIDIOUS H IS CHARM
CONSTRAIN AND UNAFFECTED.  HE LOVED HIS GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS AND M - -
AS HIMSELF. MAY HIS VIRTUES BE REWARDED BY THE PROMISE OF CHRIST IN THE
GOSPEL. 

Now that's an inspirational description of a life well lived.  I studied his family tree briefly on geni.com and followed links to discover that Owen's family, according to my scribbled notes, was a "big deal."  Descendant of "Capt. O'Malley, Austin (Owen's 2nd son) was also an officer in Bonaparte's Irish Legion, married the French commander's daughter, and had a son who also distinguished himself in military service.  Follow the link to be impressed.

 Austin O'Malley

Another one of Owen's sons, Joseph, was hanged as a rebel according to a personal letter from an O'Malley daughter living as a nun to her relative as she wrote her recollections of family history.   Now I can't even remember where I read it or how to access it again.  Wow.  I am a pretty reckless researcher.  But I remember her tone.  This was a letter from a real person from a very personal perspective.  I also found a great article in one of the books I looked at about Owen's grandchild, Sean Sean the Blacksmith (1777-1887).  I need to print that out. This information might not have anything to do with me, but it may be extremely valuable to someone else.  

My ancestry results haven't led me any closer to James, Winifred, or Peter O'Malley, but I'm making connections to my living relatives.  I heard from a relative that used to come to our Welker gatherings at my mom's house in Long Beach. I heard from my 2nd cousin on my dad's side, a cousin I didn't even know I had.  She is living in Utah and we talked about getting together in the future.  I also learned heartbreaking family stories from real people with real problems.  If I claim royal blood, I also have to claim criminal blood as well.  It's all in there in my DNA.    

  

Related or not, people's stories matter.  DNA tells a story.  It tells my story.  Come to find out, according to my DNA, I'm a lot more Scottish than Irish.  Maybe my next trip will be to Paisley, Scotland- the birthplace of my ancestor Agnes Dock.