The Irish in America

Tag Archives: McCormack


by 2 Comments

Check this out…

I was recently introduced to a great genealogy blog via Twitter…

Kevin’s Irish Research  is a blog by Kevin McCormack (same name, no relation) from County Cork, Ireland. He is tracing his roots and bringing readers along on the journey. The blog highlights his own research, as well as tips for conducting research in Ireland. His latest post shows how Irish newspapers can provide clues on the origins of the Irish in America.

I appreciate Kevin’s perspective as he is an Irish person in Ireland researching his Irish roots. I particularly enjoyed Kevin’s post on his trip back to his great-grandfather’s birthplace – click here to link directly to the post.

Check this blog out…it is worth a visit!


by Leave a comment

Ireland is a Small Country

Jim takes a moment to reflect on family, genealogy, and Ireland…

Ireland occupies 27,136 square miles of Mother Earth’s surface. As of 2011 about 4,581,269 people inhabit that area. As a comparison Minnesota, where I live in the United States has about 5,200,000 folks spread over about 86,934 square miles. Just how small was illustrated by an encounter I had on a recent trip to the homeland.

One of my goals on that trip was to meet the members of the Loughman/Kelly branch of my McCormack family tree. My grandfather’s youngest sibling Johanna McCormack who was born at Ballyedmond, Queens County (now Co. Laois) in 1874 married James Loughman from Killadooley in 1904. For many years Aunt Johanna, as she was called, corresponded with my aunt Nellie McCormack Marrin in Minneapolis. Johanna’s daughter Catherine Loughman, who would later marry Tom Kelly, continued the correspondence with my Aunt Nellie. As part of my search I had acquired several photos taken of family in Ireland when my cousin Eileen Hamm Garding had visited in the mid 1970’s. I had already identified the people in most of the photos. I was however stumped by a photo in which the only two of seven people pictured that I knew were Eileen and our cousin Kate Loughman Kelly. On my second day in Ireland I met Michael Kelly, Kate and Tom Kelly’s oldest son. The way that meeting came about is a story to be told another day. For our purposes today let it suffice to say that Michael was easily able to identify the other people in the mystery photo.

They were Nan Loughman Wall, Kate’s stepsister, Nan’s son Mick, his wife, and their two daughters. The names are only important because of what happened next.

Regan McCormack, Johnny Delaney, and the cup

Two nights later my family and I were attending a victory celebration in a pub in Clogh. It just so happened that the Hurling team from Clogh/Ballacolla had recently won the County Laois Championship. The reason we were at the party is that another cousin Johnny Delaney was the captain and star of the team.

While enjoying the celebration at the pub I was introduced to a fellow named Mick Wall. The name sounded familiar but I could not place it. I do have about 1700 names in my family tree. After a few minutes it started to come to me. I asked him if his parents were Mick and Madge. Sure enough he was the son of the family in the mystery photo that had just been identified two days earlier. Where but in Ireland could a Yank from St. Paul Minnesota be celebrating with the team captained by a cousin in one of the smallest hamlets in the County run into the son of a man on the mystery photo?


by 2 Comments

Grandfather

Years ago I resigned myself to the fact that I would never knew much about my paternal grandfather, Bill McCormack. He died of a massive heart attack in 1957 and so much sadness surrounded this event and its implications, that people rarely spoke of him. I understood why this was so, but at the same time I wanted to know what kind of man was my grandfather. I had a couple of reasons for my curiosity: 1) I never had a grandpa and I felt like I was really missing out, and 2) I loved to ask questions and get to the bottom of things (What, are you writing a book or something? is the question my dad frequently asks me.)

My dad has thoroughly researched the family tree, and several years ago, he learned that his first-generation Irish American father had visited Ireland as a young man in the 1930s. My grandpa’s first cousin Paddy McCormack (of Rathdowney, County Laois) was a boy at the time and recalled the visit. This intrigued me and of course I had a bunch of questions that no one could answer. By default, my imagination took over and I created a dramatic tale surrounding my grandpa’s return to his father’s birthplace in Ireland.

Last month while in Ireland, my dad and I were chatting with Michael Kelly (see previous post). One of the first things out of Michael’s mouth that afternoon was, “The day my mother received word that Bill McCormack had passed away was a sad day indeed…” I had heard such sentiments over the years, but what made this different was what followed.

Michael went on to say that when my grandfather came to Ireland in 1934, his mother (and Bill’s first cousin) Katie Loughman showed my grandfather all around the area and introduced him to neighbors and relatives. Stories of horse races and touring, nights out and singing – it sounded like they had a fabulous time and Katie and Bill became great friends. Katie also corresponded with Bill’s sister Nellie for many years.

I was thrilled to hear Michael tell the stories of my grandfather’s Irish visit. For the first time I could associate joy, humor, and fun with my grandfather – things I always suspected about him, but I was unable to get past the sorrow of his untimely death.

My grandpa Bill McCormack, great-uncles Jimmy Flannery and Jim McCormack, early 1940s

Thanks for the stories, Michael Kelly. I am that much closer to learning about my grandfather.

Next time, guest blogger Jim with his observations on family history and his recent trip to Ireland.


by 2 Comments

The Proof is in the Picture

“You know, Jim, my brother Paddy met you before. It was in the early Seventies at Nellie Marrin’s home in Minneapolis,” Michael Kelly told my dad one afternoon last month shortly after we arrived in Ireland.

“I don’t think so…he must have me confused with someone else…I really don’t remember that at all,” my dad replied shaking his head.

Regardless of whether Paddy met my dad, I was curious how Paddy Kelly found himself at my grand-aunt Nellie McCormack Marrin’s house in South Minneapolis. I had heard my dad mention the Kelly name when he referenced his genealogy work in recent years, but this was the first time I had met a Kelly.

Paddy and Michael’s mother, Katie Loughman Kelly, was a first cousin of my grandfather Bill McCormack and his sister Nellie McCormack Marrin. This makes my dad, Paddy and Michael second cousins.

Michael shared a number of entertaining stories with us that afternoon. Over the years, he collected stories from his mother Katie, and passed her memories on to us with keen understanding and insight.

Katie considered her American cousins Nellie and Bill “kindred spirits” and enjoyed a life-long correspondence with Nellie. Katie never met Nellie in person, but Bill visited Ireland in 1934-35 and the two of them became good friends.

Michael invited us to dinner the following Sunday. We had a great time at their lovely home. Michael’s wife Moira is known for her culinary and hosting skills and the entire Kelly family was delightful.

Paddy Kelly stopped by and after introductions were made, Michael mentioned to Paddy that my dad didn’t remember meeting him. Paddy stood his ground – indeed they had met – and he went on to tell us how Nellie sat in her rocking chair, closed her eyes and recounted the name of every family on the road from Ballyedmond (County Laois, where her father’s home) to Rathdowney. This was truly a stroll down her father’s memory lane – the families Nellie listed were her father Andy McCormack’s neighbors before leaving for America. Nellie must have heard her father’s litany often enough for her to commit it to her own memory.

Paddy turned to my sister, mom, and me and said that he also met the three of us that day at Nellie’s.

Paddy let us stew a few minutes before pulling out a photograph taken at Nellie Marrin’s in 1972:

Jim, Eileen, Regan, and Aine McCormack - 1972

Sure enough…the four of us posed for a photograph for an Irish cousin (I am the camera-shy one on the right!) We had all met a Kelly before.

I don’t blame my dad for not remembering. After all he was twenty-seven-years-old, busy with his young family and his life.

So often people lament not talking to older relatives about family history or not asking more questions when they were young and there were people still around who could answer them. I say don’t be so hard on yourselves! As young people, most of us don’t care that much about what old people have to say, and sometimes the old people don’t want to talk anyway.

The photograph Paddy produced reminded me of the dozens of old, unidentified photos in my family collection. I think I will begin labelling them all as “cousins” of whichever relative they most closely resemble!

Next time I will take a look at the other side of the family history obstacle – when no one wants to talk about it. When we were in Ireland I finally learned a few things about my grandfather.


by Leave a comment

Just around the corner…

Adjacent to cemetery at Erke, County Laois

In less than a month, we leave for a two-week visit to Ireland.  Naturally, I can’t wait.  Although this is my seventh trip to Ireland, I think I am as excited as I was the first time I visited as a sixteen-year-old high school student in 1988.

Quite a bit has changed in the past twenty-three years, and each trip I’ve taken to Ireland has had its own unique flavor.  I have stayed in all types of accommodations (except this one…would love to try it!) and visited nearly every county in the Republic, as well as the North.

On previous trips, there may have been times when we’ve tried to do and see way too much, but not this time.  We are staying in the same place for the entire two weeks, and I am content to remain within a 15-mile radius of our rented house.  I will have everything I love in Ireland in that zone – brown bread, ruins, a good pub (or two), family, farmhouse ice cream, chocolate, a museum, and cows.  Now, the ice cream is a bit outside of the 15-mile zone, but it is still in County Laois.

Can’t wait to see the McCormack relatives.  We will be a few short miles from the farm my great-grandfather left behind when he came to America at the end of the nineteenth century.  My dad has been in touch with more relatives in the area, so he is planning another get-together (read about our first adventure in entertaining back in 2009 here.)  This makes me a little nervous…maybe last time was a case of beginner’s luck?

I am excited for Tuohy’s Bar, and I hope we can make it to the Monday night sing-a-long on our first night in Ireland.  I have never quite mastered the tricks to dealing with that initial day of jet-lag.  I never know if it is best to take a nap at some point and risk not waking up or to power through and nearly fall asleep at dinner.  I don’t want to snooze away my first day in Ireland, nor do I want to be so tired I see double.  Maybe I will actually get some sleep on the plane this time!

A bit of a diversion during the next month or so as we look at some Americans in Ireland, but I will also keep my eye on the Irish in America…


by 1 Comment

Family Ties

Can you identify the American in this photo?

Long before our 2009 visit with our McCormack cousins in Ballyedmond, County Laois, the family was welcoming American relatives back to the farm and home place.  We were not the first McCormack Yanks to make contact with our Irish cousins, but it seemed our family suffered from a bit of historical amnesia.  Much the same way that people don’t keep in mind the lessons learned by their parents and grandparents and proceed to make the same mistakes (war, high heels, trusting that a boom economy will last) my family lost touch with its history for a generation or so.

In 1934 my grandfather Bill McCormack, first generation Irish-American, visited Ireland with his Uncle Pat who had emigrated to the United States in the 1890s, and had designs on moving back to Ireland.  Poor health ultimately prevented Pat from returning to stay, but at least he was able to have one last visit home.  My grandfather’s cousin Paddy McCormack of Rathdowney, County Laois was a young man at the time and remembers this visit.

Paddy and Maura McCormack, far left.

My grandfather passed away in 1958, and while his sister Nellie stayed in touch with the family in Ireland, this connection was lost for my father and his sisters.  Also lost were the stories my grandfather could have shared about his trip to Ballyedmond and our Irish relatives.  I can think of one inquisitive granddaughter who would have relished these stories!  My father became interested in genealogy in the 1990s and after much research, new generations of the American branch of the family connected with the Ballyedmond McCormacks.  Initially I had the sense that my father had “discovered” our family roots, but of course they were always there, it just took a little digging.

I would love to see a snapshot from the 1934 visit, but to my knowledge there is no photographic evidence.  Instead, I share a photo from 1975 when another McCormack relative visited Ballyedmond (see top of post.)  The American I challenged you to identify is Eileen Garding, a first cousin to my grandfather Bill.  Andy McCormack is the gentleman in the shirt and tie – my grandfather’s first cousin who lived in the house in the background, the house in which my great-grandfather was born.

McCormacks -- 2009 (Ellen McCormack from first photo is seated at far right)

The 1975 photo provides a bridge from my grandfather’s visit in 1933 to my own family’s visits to Ireland. In 2000 when I first met my Irish relatives, I met Tess McCormack (pictured next to her husband Andy) and her daughter Ellen (next to Tess, at left end.)  I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Ellen’s brother Martin pictured next to Andy in the blazer, but her other brother Jimmy and his wife Helen have graciously welcomed us back to Ballyedmond.

Two Jimmys by old house (same house in 1975 photo)

My sister remarked to me after the 2009 party in Ballyedmond that she felt like she had known our Irish relatives her entire life, not simply met them once or twice.  I felt the same way.  I guess that is what can be great about family, when you can pick up where you (or your grandparents) left off and move forward.  Hopefully my nieces will not need to recreate the family tree forty years from now.  I think the internet and computer files may have solved that problem!

Jimmy and Martin McCormack -- couldn't resist including this slice from the seventies...

Check out related posts…

Week of Welcomes: McCormack Style (Part I)

Week of Welcomes: McCormack Style (Part II)

Read my story that appeared on IrishFireside.com about our 2009 parties with the McCormacks — click here.


by Leave a comment

A Photo of the Irish Diaspora in Minnesota

Jim, senior researcher for Archival Solution, writes about how his quest to identify all of the individuals in this photograph has resulted in new discoveries about his family research and new family connections.  He shows how photographs can often serve as catalysts in our research, leading us to dig deeper and develop a richer, more comprehensive understanding of our family’s history.

McCormi(a)ck Family Unites

Aine’s stories on her blog The Irish in America always motivate me to keep working on my own family project. For the past twelve years I have been researching the family of John Cormack who was born at Lochmoe in County Tipperary, Ireland in the last decade of the eighteenth century. According to family tradition he drifted up to Ballyedmond in Queen’s County (now Laois) where he married Catherine Purcell and started a family that would give several sons and daughters to the United States. My study has raised and answered many questions.  Among those was: “What is the reason for the multiple spellings of the family name? Why are there some “McCormicks” and some “McCormacks”? That answer is for another day however.

One of the other long-standing questions involves a picture given to me by a cousin about seven years ago. I knew it was a photo of a family function and there were 107 people in it. Of those I knew the identities of five individuals, including my Grandfather Andrew McCormack and his brother Mike McCormack, always known as our Uncle Mike. Uncle Mike’s wife, Katie Hannon and two of their first cousins were the others that I recognized. Being rather new to family history at that point I set a rather lofty goal for myself.  I decided I would identify all 107 people in the photo.

The picture was taken in July 1946 at the celebration of the 50th wedding anniversary of Phillip J.K. McCormick and his wife Ellen, nee Craven. Phillip was my 1st cousin two times removed.  My Cousin Zack Krueger, Phillip and Ellen’s grandson was very helpful in providing names for many of the faces. Every time I meet or correspond with a relative I pull out my photo and try to jar their memories. As of May 25, 2011 my goal is in sight.  I have identified all but eleven of those pictured. Complicating the process is that there are both McCormick and Craven relatives as well as many friends and neighbors of the family. Another problem is that there are people in the photo that are related to some of my relatives but not related to me. For example out of the fifteen Dalys shown in the photo I am related by blood to about half of them.

A recent meeting with some of my Nugent cousins provided the identity of several more of the celebrants. Researching the faces in the photo has been very rewarding for me. By putting faces on the names many of the McCormicks, Dalys, McDonalds, Burns, Nugents, Peteks, and Kruegers, have become real people and not just names found on old census and church records, as well as birth and death certificates


by 3 Comments

Belle of the Ball

Guest contributor Jim McCormack shows us how family history research can lead us in unexpected directions.  Jim’s research has extended from his direct lineage to learning about the earlier wave of McCorma(i)cks who came to America – the families of his grandfather’s uncles.

One of the fun aspects of family history research is you often get sidetracked by interesting stories or people. A good example involves my study of the family of Patrick McCormick. Patrick was one of my grandfather’s uncles and an early settler in Camden Township, Carver County, Minnesota. Patrick and his wife Catherine Glendon had a total of fourteen children. My search for Andrew Francis, the couple’s sixth child took me from Carver county Minnesota to the mountains of Tuolumne California where he died in 1911.

Andrew McCormick was born in 1864 and was a graduate of the State University Law Department. The promising young attorney was tall, handsome, and athletic.  On July 10th, 1894 Andy was married to the lovely Belle Hagen, the best known and popular young lady in Camden.  Within three years Andrew had uprooted his young family and taken them to the gold fields of California. By Jan 1st 1911 Andrew was dead and Belle was responsible for raising their five children. My search for Andrew (which I will discuss in a later post)and the California branch of the family introduced me to a cousin in California Rosemary Arca. Besides sharing many stories of the family, she graciously shared treasured family photos. Among those were photos of Belle Hagen McCormick, Belle’s mother Ellen Sweeney Hagen and a photo that I think is of Isabella Sweeney Ellen’s mother. Whether it was the similarity with my own mother who was left a widow with young children to rear or all of the feminists in my family or seeing these photos, I began to dig into the Belle Hagen McCormick story.

Ellen Sweeney Hagan - Belle's mother

Isabelle (Belle) was born in 1870 to Ellen Sweeney and Peter Hagen. She was the second of three children born to the couple. According to Peter’s obituary Ellen died in 1874. In the state Census of 1875 Peter and the three girls were living as a family in Carver. By 1880 the three Hagen girls were living with their Grandmother Isabella Sweeney and their father Peter had been committed to the State Hospital in St. Peter, Minnesota. Luckily for Belle she had a loving grandmother to raise her after the two terrible losses of her youth.  One can only speculate on how she was affected by her mother’s death and father’s mental problems. In 1885 Isabelle Hagan was living with Grandma Sweeney with no sign of the other two girls.

Belle Hagen McCormick

Despite these early setbacks Belle apparently adjusted quite well. Prior to her marriage to Andrew, Belle was known as one of the most popular young ladies in the County.  Newspaper accounts of the time described the wedding as almost fairy tale like.  The Norwood Times described “a very impressive ceremony complete with flowers and wreaths decorating the church in Norwood.  The Times reported that the bridesmaids were Misses Margaret McCormick, sister of the groom and Mary E. Hagen of Ft. Snelling, sister of the bride. The groomsmen were Philip McCormick, brother of the groom and Daniel Sharon, a cousin of the groom (and boyhood friend).  After the ceremony a sumptuous repast was served to the family and relatives at the home of Senator Craven.  After their wedding tour the prominent young Chaska attorney and his beautiful wife took rooms in a trendy new addition in Chaska.”The honeymoon apparently did not last long. Within three years Andrew Belle and Lenore their first child had moved to California. By the time Andrew died Jan 1st 1911 the family had grown to five children. Sometime that same year Belle married Lott Walker Savage in Tuolumne. In Oct 1912 their daughter Francis Ellen was born. At some point after 1920 the blended family moved to Oakland where the family remains today.


Ellen Sweeney Hagen grave marker

Peter Hagen grave marker

Grave markers for Belle’s parents, Ellen Sweeney and Peter Hagen.

Please leave a comment if you would like to ask Jim a question.  He will share a bit more about Andrew McCormick in a future post…make sure you check back!