www.wise-fhs.org

Volume 12, Number 1 Denver, Colorado January, February, March 2011

Did Your Ancestor Fight at Agincourt?

--Richard Savage

“We few, we happy few . . . ”

The anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt

came round again October 25, a day of nation-

al pride for all British descendants. That

was the date in 1415 when the English, led

by King Henry V, defeated the French at

Agincourt in northern France, a major battle in

the Hundred Years War. It also formed the

centerpiece of Shakespeare’s play, Henry V,

nearly 200 years later.

Have you ever wondered – as a genealogist –

whether you descend from one of the “happy

few,” as Shakespeare called the 6,000 men at

Agincourt? (The French fielded 36,000 men.)

There are at least two partial lists of the Eng-

lish army Henry V led to Agincourt. About 35

of the names on these lists correspond roughly

to the surnames of W.I.S.E. members. The

Agincourt names are:

Radous Alan, John Aleyn, John Barbour, Ro-

bert Barde, Robert Browne, John Burnam,

John de Chambr’, John de Chester, Alan Dal-

by, Andrew Gray, Davy Gray, George Gray,

Henry Gray, Sir John Grey, Richard Habra-

ham, John Huet, Henry Huse, Gerard Johnson,

John Kinge, William Moore, John More,

Thomas de More, Richard Parker, Nicholas

Perche, Richard Peryson, William Porter, Ro-

bert Roos, John Rous, Thomas de Routhe,

John Savage, Hugh Smyth, John Smythe, Hen-

ry Walker, John Walker and John Wilson.

These men are believed to be the “lances”

– the knights, squires and men-at-arms, not

the ordinary soldiers or the archers – who

were an important part of the victory.

However, at http://www.jacksdale.org.uk/

pages/JDHeritage/CastleKnights3.htm you can

read the names of all the men of Derbyshire

led by Sir John Grey of Codnor Castle, 222

men all told, including 162 archers.

Sir John Grey, in the list above, should not be

confused with Sir Thomas Grey, who, in Sha-

kespeare's play (and in

real life) was a traitor,

executed before the army

sailed for France. Like-

wise, some names men-

tioned by Shakespeare

do not appear on the list

– notably, the four “eth-

nic” representatives of

their peoples, Fluellen

(Welsh), Macmorris (Irish), Jamy (Scots) and

Gower (English), nor three ordinary soldiers,

Bates, Court and Williams. Of course, the

W.I.S.E. Members’ Interests list contains

many more names, some of which match the

Agincourt Honors List.

One of the sources is History of the Battle of

Agincourt and of the expedition of Henry

the Fifth into France in 1415, to which is

added the roll of the men at arms in the

English army, 2nd ed., London, 1832, by Sir

Nicholas Harris Nicolas. Good luck on finding

a copy of that.

-- continued on page 6

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President’s

Message

With this edition of W.I.S.E. Words, our

society moves into new territory. We’ve gone

electronic.

Most of you will be receiving this newsletter

by e-mail for the first time. It’s yours to print

or save to your hard drive – or both. You can

read it on your computer screen, or print it

to read at your leisure. Others chose to

continue to receive it via U.S. Mail, but for a

$5 surcharge.

Storing it on your hard drive lets you keep it

indefinitely for easy reference. Keeping a

paper copy is a more certain way to outwit

capricious technology, which changes every

time you turn around and may make hard

drive storage obsolete before you know it.

Maybe you’ll want to store it on a “cloud,”

i.e., a remote storage facility.

To get with the program, as they say,

my household chose to have W.I.S.E. Words

delivered by e-mail to be printed from our

computer. I trust that all goes well with this

big change, whether you chose the digitized

or paper version.

W.I.S.E. moved into the technological age

later than many genealogy / family history

societies, which have been distributing their

newsletters by e-mail for several years. Our

board of directors had discussed this option

for at least that long, but we always

backed off, assuming that members want a

tangible reward for their $12 or $15 a year.

Also, because our members tend to be older

and less confident with technology, we felt

they’d balk at something as newfangled as

reading a newsletter on a computer screen.

But younger members of our board, at ease

with technology, prevailed, and last spring

we voted to go electronic at the start of

2011. In a way, I hated to see the end of the

paper era, if that’s what it was, but eventually

I came around. We must not stand in the way

of progress.

All this concern about technology brings us

to another point: W.I.S.E. needs volunteers

with computer skills to take us into the new

decade. We need backups for certain jobs,

such as editor of this newsletter; additional

aid for our webmaster; we’ve discussed

electronic storage of records such as financial

data. Assuming our treasurer is re-elected at

the Annual General Meeting in January, she’ll

be term-limited and her successor two

years hence will be required to know how

to manipulate the online accounts she’s set

up. Membership lists, mailing lists – both are

handled electronically now and will be passed

on to others sooner or later.

We need you technologically adept members

to volunteer your time and abilities to your

society. I can’t guarantee that these tasks will

take just a little time, a misleading promise

I’ve heard from time to time. As with most

volunteer jobs, the person who holds the posi-

tion will decide how it’s done, apart from

standard procedures, of course. You may see

needs which never occurred to our directors.

Whoever you are, please step forward. You

will be valued.

--Zoe von Ende Lappin

The W.I.S.E. Year in Review --Zoe von Ende Lappin

We started 2010 with Paul Milner leading our

excellent seminar on British Isles research.

But early on we were saddened by the

unexpected death of Gary Routh, our web-

master, as well the loss of members Ruth

Quirke and Michael Savage. Jan Prater

stepped in to fill Gary’s webmaster shoes,

but his other responsibility for W.I.S.E. – pro-

curer of genealogy materials for the Denver

Public Library – has not been filled. I hope we

can do that in 2011. Our website won high

W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 3 --~ January, February, March 2011

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praise from all who sampled it. If you have

not visited it, go to www.wise-fhs.org.

Sandra Ronayne organized first-rate pro-

grams. Highlights for me were Marylee

Hagen’s lavishly illustrated story of research-

ing her Irish ancestors and Richard Savage’s

concise and enlightening presentation on Brit-

ish Isles genetic genealogy.

Our membership rose from 156 to 178. We

researched in Salt Lake City, as we will again

in 2011. We loved participating in the Irish

Festival in July and the Scottish Highland

Games in August. In June, we visited

Cherokee Castle in Douglas County, built to

resemble a Scottish castle. Treasurer Nancy

Craig kept our numbers straight. Secretary

Sandra Carter-Duff kept our records straight.

Judy Phelps continued to produce a splendid

newsletter, and thanks to all who contributed

those original articles for W.I.S.E. Words. As

I’ve said before, if we’re not, we should be the

envy of all genealogy societies for the extent

of member participation in the newsletter.

Can we top that? Maybe, maybe not. At any

rate, as W.I.S.E. members we all have reason

to look forward to 2011. May all our high

hopes be realized.□

New Meeting Time

for W.I.S.E. Programs

The Denver Public Library has eliminated

Saturday morning hours at the Central Branch,

and that means that W.I.S.E. Family History

Society has changed its meeting time. We’ll

now convene at 1:30 p.m., a half-hour later

than usual, to allow us to set up the meeting

room – generally still on the fifth floor – on

our customary fourth Saturdays.

W.I.S.E. members, as well as the rest of the

Colorado genealogy community, were stunned

with the library’s decision to close the Central

Branch on Saturday mornings, effective

December 1, 2010. Not only did that mean

that the renowned Western History and Gene-

alogy Collection is closed to the public at one

of the busiest times, but the genealogy classes

and groups that have met during the

9 a.m. to 1 p.m. hours have had to find other

accommodations. (The W.I.S.E. board

will meet at an off-site locale on Saturday

mornings.) The closure was necessitated by

budget constraints, and we have been assured

by the DPL management and staff that, diffi-

cult as it was, this was the least disruptive

choice for the system as a whole.

W.I.S.E. made every effort to prevent the

library closure, first by writing paper letters --

not e-mails -- to four Denver City Council

members, including the co-chairs of the

budget-writing committee, and to City

Librarian Shirley Amore. In the letters,

President Zoe Lappin pointed out that

Saturday mornings are a top drawer item

for genealogists, who consider the library’s

fifth floor a mecca. Closure would be a hard-

ship for many.

Our secretary, Sandra Carter-Duff, accompa-

nied by Vice President Sandy Ronayne, took

the genealogists’ case one step further: to

City Council. She spoke at a budget hearing

on October 25, expressing genealogists’

disdain at the closure, an issue still in

the proposal stage at that time. She was well-

received, but the plan stood: Denver Public

Library downtown is now closed on Saturday

mornings.

The Western History-Genealogy staff, headed

by Jim Kroll, has worked with genealogists

to find other hours and accommodations,

and made a major exception to the closure:

It will be open for all-day genealogy seminars

in 2011 for organizations that had booked

facilities and / or speakers before the

December 1, 2010, cutoff date. That means

W.I.S.E. has a meeting room for our 2011

seminar next October. And, like all other users

of the fifth floor, we’re hoping that the hours

can be restored.□

W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 4 --~ January, February, March 2011

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W.I.S.E. Annual Meeting

W.I.S.E. will host its Annual General Meeting

on January 22, 2011. At this meeting, officers

will be elected and the budget will be pre-

sented to the general membership for approv-

al. Zoe Lappin, current president, and Nancy

Craig, current treasurer, are standing for re-

election. Their biographies follow.

Zoe von Ende Lappin, candidate for

W.I.S.E. president, 2011-2012

It is with anticipation and

pleasure that I stand for re-

election as president of

W.I.S.E. Family History So-

ciety. In the two years since I

took office, W.I.S.E. has

grown from 123 members to

179 at the end of November 2010. I can’t take

credit for that hefty increase, but I can take

pride in our many accomplishments that drew

new members: We have a website, the quarter-

ly newsletter continues to be a trove of origi-

nal articles, and our programs have been in-

structive and imaginative. We have donated

books to the genealogy collection of the Den-

ver Public Library. When possible, we have

helped genealogical neophytes. We’ve contin-

ued to participate in the annual Irish and Scot-

tish festivals in metro Denver. We have a

logo, which you’ll see on our banner, newslet-

ter, stationery and book bags. We continue to

sponsor an annual research trip to Salt Lake

City and a field trip to a Colorado site with

roots in British Isles culture.

As president, personally, the biggest challenge

has been recruiting volunteers to fulfill the

many jobs our society requires. Mostly, you

have stepped forward to volunteer or those

whom we asked to take a responsibility wil-

lingly have done so.

Some personal details: I was a reporter, writer

and copy editor for a total of 38 years at both

The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain

News. Skills I learned there have served me

well as both a genealogist and as an officer of

W.I.S.E. For instance, one must be alert to all

angles of an issue in research as well as in

leading an organization.

I am a native of Wisconsin and a graduate of

the University of Wisconsin, Madison. My

husband, Jack Lappin, and I have a son,

Michael, and a daughter, Sarah. He lives in

Colorado with his family, which includes our

only grandchild. Sarah lives in Belfast, North-

ern Ireland, with her Belfaster husband. We

visit Belfast at least once a year, branching

from there to the four W.I.S.E. countries. In

2010, we saw Wales for the first time, and I

am still marveling at the beauty of the

lavender mountains of Snowdonia National

Park as we drove east across Anglesey. We

have ancestors from all four countries, includ-

ing both Northern Ireland and the Republic, as

well as Germany and French Canada. My hus-

band also has early colonial settlers in his

background.

I have been a member of W.I.S.E. since 1999,

serving two terms as secretary. I also belong to

the National Genealogical Society, the Colo-

rado Genealogical Society and its Computer

Interest Group.

With your confidence and support, I pledge to

continue to do my best as president of

W.I.S.E. I will strive to keep us growing and

whenever possible, support and encourage

your genealogical pursuits in the British Isles

and among the immigrants and their offspring.

Nancy Craig, candidate for

W.I.S.E. treasurer for 2011-2012

I have been active in history

and genealogy organizations

for many years. Some of my

assignments have been: pro-

grams chair for the Pikes Peak

Genealogical Society; treasurer

and membership chair for the Colorado Welsh

Society, HP / Agilent Alumni Club of Colora-

do Springs, and W.I.S.E. Family History

Society; served on Colorado Council of

W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 5 --~ January, February, March 2011

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Genealogical Societies as the Pikes Peak Ge-

nealogical Society delegate and also as Coun-

cil secretary; registrar for several council and

local seminars; and as chairperson of the Pikes

Peak Book Selection Committee.

My family history includes ancestors from all

the W.I.S.E. countries (Wales, Ireland, Scot-

land, England), Eastern Europe (area formerly

called Bohemia, now known as the Czech

Republic), and (we think, but not quite yet

proven) a link to the Eastern Band Cherokee.

I belong to historical and genealogical socie-

ties in the locales where my ancestors settled:

Alabama, Texas, Minnesota, South Dakota,

and Wisconsin. I enjoy reading, travel, and

crossword puzzles.□

Membership Report

Welcome to new members Marcia and

Norman Whitcomb who joined in September.

He was a W.I.S.E. program speaker in 2009.

Welcome also to Roberta Dice, George and

Hildy Morgan, Lola and Gary Stetesky, and

Elaine Osborn, who joined in October. Ron

Bice joined our group in November.□

In This Issue

Did Your Ancestors Fight at Agincourt? ........... 1

President's Message ........................................... 2

The W.I.S.E. Year in Review ............................ 2

New Meeting Time for W.I.S.E. Programs ....... 3

W.I.S.E. Annual Meeting .................................. 4

Membership Report ........................................... 5

W.I.S.E. Program Schedule ............................... 6

FHL Research Trip Planned .............................. 8

Tracing Your Mayo Ancestors .......................... 9

Sources to Help You Find Your

Ancestor’s Home in Ireland ................................ 9

Who Was St. Patrick? ...................................... 11

New Old Books on the Fifth Floor of DPL ..... 12

Book Review ................................................... 13

Of Celtic Curiosity & W.I.S.E. Weddings ...... 14

Rugby, the Main Game in Wales .................... 14

Photo Album ................................................... 16

Calendar of Events .......................................... 16

W.I.S.E. Family History Society

W.I.S.E. Family History Society is dedicated to re-

search in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, the

Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Attention is also

directed to the emigration and immigration of these

peoples as well as heraldry and one-name studies.

Monthly meetings are generally held the fourth

Saturday of most months at the Central Denver

Public Library, Gates Conference Room, 5th Floor.

Membership is open to anyone with interest in

family history and genealogy. Membership dues for

the calendar year are $12 for an individual or $15 for

a family living at the same address. The W.I.S.E.

Family History Society publishes W.I.S.E. Words four

times per year, and a subscription is included with

membership dues. Add $5 to the dues if you want a

printed copy of the newsletter mailed to you.

© 2000-2011, W.I.S.E. Family History Society, P.O. Box 40658, Denver, CO 80204-0658

All rights reserved.

Visit our website at http://www.wise-fhs.org

Officers and Board Members

President ................................... Zoe von Ende Lappin

................................................... zlappi@hotmail.com

Vice President .................................... Sandy Ronayne

Secretary ....................................... Sandy Carter-Duff

Treasurer .......................................... Nancy G. Craig

Past President .................................. Duane Woodard

Membership ...................................... Nancy G. Craig

Members’ Interest Coordinator ......... Terence Quirke

Publicity Coordinator .......................Cynthia Murphy

Archivist / Historian............................ John Mossman

CCGS Delegate .................................. Cathy Bowman

Webmaster ............................................ Janice Prater

Newsletter Staff

Editor ................................................ Judith S. Phelps

................................................... jasp1@earthlink.net

Book Review Editor .................. Zoe von Ende Lappin

Proofreaders ..............Jack and Zoe von Ende Lappin

Distribution Coordinator .......................... Sue Clasen

Country Editors

Wales .................................................... Samuel Kuntz

Ireland .................. Marylee Hagen and Marilyn Lyle

Scotland ............................................... Ken McIntosh

England ............................................. Richard Savage

W.I.S.E. Words ~ -- 6 --~ January, February, March 2011

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W.I.S.E. Program Schedule

22 January

Celtic History and Weddings – Travis Butterworth

Travis, who is half Scottish/Irish, is a member of the Renaissance Scots,

a non-profit living history group dedicated to educating about life in the

“olde times.” Travis will give a brief history of the Celts from their begin-

nings in Russia through their modern contributions. He will then discuss

Celtic wedding traditions, including handfasting, unity candle ceremonies

and blessing of the family sword.

The annual W.I.S.E. general meeting is also scheduled.□

26 February

History of Ireland in Song and Story – Michael Thompson

Michael, who has ancestors from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England,

is a family researcher, storyteller and musician. His program will compress

10,000 years of Irish history into a short session of song and story. Michael

has performed at the Colorado Irish Festival, the Elizabeth Celtic Festival,

the Evergreen Arts Festival and Swallow Hill Music Association. His Irish

pub band is Mulligan Stew.□

26 March

Heirloom Family Trees – Becky Olson

Becky is the co-owner and founder of KeepsakesFamilyTrees.com. She

also was a corresponding secretary for the Colorado Genealogical Society

and a contributing subject matter expert for the History Channel’s 2001

Film, Family Trees. She has created custom family trees for the Glenn

Miller Family, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and the Molly

Brown House Museum. Becky will discuss historical family trees and show

how British Isles traditions can be incorporated into family trees that will

show your heritage.□

Did Your Ancestor Fight at Agincourt?

--continued from pg 1

Another source found on the Internet is

http://www.nltaylor.net/things/agincourt_list.

htm. It claims that Sir Nicholas copied the list

from three original sources, one in the British

Library, one in the College of Arms, both in

London, and another in the Bodleian Library,

Oxford. The Bodleian copy is in the hand of

Robert Glover, Somerset Herald, 1571-1588.

In the manuscript Glover states that he copied

the list from a longer original, which had con-

tained the names of archers as well as the

900-odd lances named (knights and men-at-

arms). So, sadly, the list is very incomplete,

lacking the really important guys, the archers

– unless Glover's source turns up again some-

where.

A popular on-line source is http://www.family

chronicle.com/agincort.htm, where you’ll also

find a well-written account of the battle. As

the Family Chronicle authors say:

“(King) Henry had planned his expedition

carefully and his army was not typical of the

times. Throughout Europe it was normal for

an army to be made up of a number of knights,

who regarded warfare as almost sport, and as

many peasants as the local feudal levy could

raise. In contrast, Henry's army was specially

recruited; his men were well-paid, well-trained

W.I.S.E. Words ~ -7-~ January, February, March 2011

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and disciplined. Most of his army comprised

expert archers using the English longbow.

Henry preferred a small, professional army to

a large untrained force.”

If you’d like a fictional, but realistic version of

the story, the latest is by Bernard Cornwell,

Agincourt, Harper, 2009. The novel focuses on

ordinary men, especially archers. Incidentally,

one of the names on the Honor List is Corn-

wayle, appearing four times. Ancestors of

Bernard Cornwell, perhaps? Mr. Cornwell, a

modest man, doesn’t claim the honor.

One of the names that Shakespeare uses to

good effect is (Sir) Walter Hungerford, whose

remarks on the battlefield have been pre-

served, regretting that:

“… they had not but one ten thousand of those

men in England who do no work today". Alas,

poor Sir Walter. His honest statement, facing

five or more-to-one odds, has been appro-

priated to the Earl of Westmoreland, cousin of

King Henry, who replied, “Wot you not that

the Lord with these few can overthrow the

pride of the French?”

Shakespeare is more elegant:

“If we are marked to die, we are enow

To do our country loss, and if to live

The fewer men, the greater share of honor …”

I can't, of course, pass the name of John

Savage without some comment. I wish I could

claim his ancestry – I can't – but some Ameri-

cans in Virginia, North Carolina and other

eastern states can. Their DNA study substan-

tiates that they are descended from a Norman

ancestor. John Savage (merely a squire at

Agincourt) was from the Cheshire family

of Thomas le Sauvage, one of William the

Conquerer's adventurers. John Savage was,

according to legend, knighted on the battle-

field by Henry himself. The Savages benefited

greatly by John's status as a hero of Agincourt.

They became mayors of Chester, and a son

of John led the left wing the army of Henry

Tudor, earl of Richmond, at the Battle of

Bosworth in 1485 at the end of the War of

the Roses, establishing the rule of the Tudor

dynasty. (See http://www.geni.com/people/

John-Savage/6000000003378552256).

It's also interesting to note from the list how

English names – once Saxon or Celtic or

Norman French – were changing. Alongside

John de Chester we find William Chesterton

(William of Chester Town) – both names iden-

tifying the men by their place of origin, one

in an older style (“de Chester”), one in a new-

er. There are many Fitzhughs and Fitzhenrys,

as there still are today, Fitz being the old

Norman “son of” appellation. And, John a

Wode (or John at Wode) sounds old Celtic to

me. There's a William Paternoster on the list,

whose name means “Our Father” -- taken from

the Latin Mass – though I suspect he wasn't a

chaplain.

There's also a Lowis Robesart, perhaps an an-

cestor of Amy Robsart, the first wife of Robin

Dudley, master of horse in the court of Queen

Elizabeth I, and her reputed lover. When Amy

died of an accidental fall, under mysterious

circumstances, insinuations of murder and a

coming royal marriage swept the courts of

Europe. The scandal made such a marriage

impossible. Speaking of royalty, did the House

of Windsor lose any ancestors at Agincourt?

Yes, indeed, 26 ancestors of Prince William

and Prince Harry died at Agincourt – all on the

French side.

And, of course, it's instructive to scan the eth-

nicity of the names. What of Shakespeare's

claim of broad British Isles membership? We

find Lewis Cadowen and Davy Cawardyn

(Welsh) on the list, with Lewys Cornwayle

(Cornish), Edward Mackwilliam and Nichasin

Scot (Scottish) and James P'drich (Irish?).

Apparently true, though Henry was concerned

with military competence, not political cor-

rectness. The complete list, including the

archers, would certainly show many more

Welsh members.

The list even tells us something of social

structure, revealed in the father-son names of

John Cheyne Sr. and Jr. – professional, mer-

W.I.S.E. Words ~ -8-~ January, February, March 2011

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cenary soldiers. After all, Agincourt was

a triumph in the Hundred Years War, and mili-

tary expertise was a way of life. I wonder

if they're related to former Vice President

Cheney. There's also a Clynton (Clinton) on

the list.

The Hundred Years’ War actually was a series

of wars, 1337-1453, in which England lost

all of its possessions in France except Calais,

the region that included Agincourt. Was

Agincourt a notable victory? Yes. Did it

change English history? Yes, and many would

say with unfortunate consequences for it cul-

minated in England’s transformation into an

aggressive, militaristic state. After the French

revival under Joan of Arc at about this

same time in the early 15th century, English

militarism turned inward, in the War of

the Roses – Lancaster against York, English

against English. As Shakespeare put it in

Henry V:

“Whose state so many had the managing

“That they lost France and made his England

bleed.”□

FHL Research Trip Planned

W.I.S.E. is sponsoring our annual research trip

to Salt Lake City next spring. It is scheduled

May 1-8, Sunday-Sunday, with accommoda-

tions again at the Carlton Hotel.

Margaret Kadziel and Dorothy Coltrin talk about

research results in the Family History Library.

The hotel, where W.I.S.E. has had its head-

quarters for several years, caters to genealo-

gists. It is three blocks from the Family

History Library, a pleasant walk, and also pro-

vides scheduled van service to the library in

the morning and evening. It’s known for its

friendly staff, cozy rooms, airport transport

and hearty breakfasts. Room rates are: $270

per person double occupancy, $440 for single

occupancy, and $210 per person in a triple, of

which there is a limited number. Breakfast --

ordered from the menu, not dished up from a

steam table -- is included in the price. So is the

van service to and from the airport and library.

Pat Allen copies family history information from

one of the many printed genealogies.

Atlas Travel of Golden is handling hotel res-

ervations; participants will make their own

travel arrangements. A $50 non-refundable

down payment on the room reservation is re-

quired by March 15 with the balance due by

April 15. Questions may be directed to Sally

Garcia at Atlas Travel, at 303-234-1040;

or SallyGarcia@atlastravelinc.com, or Zoe

Lappin, W.I.S.E. president, at 303-322-2544

or ZLappi@hotmail.com. The form for regis-

tration will be available on the W.I.S.E. web-

site at www.wise-fhs.org, and paper forms will

be available at W.I.S.E. program meetings, on

the fifth floor of the Denver Public Library

and at other locations popular with research-

ers. Also, the form will be coming to members

via e-mail after January 1. Zoe Lappin and

Sandy Carter-Duff are organizing the trip.□

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Tracing Your Mayo Ancestors

--Marilee Hagen

Flyleaf Press has released a new resource for

genealogists: Brian Smith, Tracing your Mayo

Ancestors -- New Edition (Aug. 2010) 160

pages, hardcover, €13.00. This book sets out

the records available, where they can be ac-

cessed and how they can be used in tracing

Mayo families.

In comparison with most other Irish counties,

Mayo has fewer records of value to family

historians. This makes it important to use the

existing records to their best advantage. The

main Mayo families include Burke, Bourke,

Connor, Conway, Durkan or Durkin, Doherty,

Gallagher, Gibbons, Higgins, Joyce, Kelly,

Lyons, MacHale, MacHugh, McHugh, Moran,

Murphy, O'Malley, Reilly or Riley, Sweeney,

Sweeny and Walsh.

Other Flyleaf Press family history and

genealogy titles include:

Tracing your Galway Ancestors -- New!

County Longford & Its People

Tracing your Cork Ancestors

Tracing your Donegal Ancestors

Tracing your Dublin Ancestors

Tracing your Kerry Ancestors

Tracing your Limerick Ancestors

Tracing your Roscommon Ancestors□

Save the Date for the Next

W.I.S.E. Seminar

Saturday, October 15, will be the date of the

2011 W.I.S.E. Family History Society semi-

nar. The topic will be Scottish genealogical

research and the speaker will be Barbara

Baker of the British reference staff of the

Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It

will be an all-day event at the Central

Denver Public Library. Watch for details in

upcoming newsletters and save the date.

Sources to Help You Find Your

Ancestor’s Home in Ireland --Marilyn Lyle

On-line research has come a long way for

genealogists – and that includes Irish

researchers. Those of us researching in Ireland

from the mid-1800s to the present can find

the title Applotment books, Griffith’s Valua-

tion and now the 1901 and 1911 censuses

online. If we could find the General Valuation

Revision (aka Cancellation Books or Annual

Revision Books) on-line, we would have

it made.

The earliest records most of us who are

researching in Ireland can find are the Tithe

Applotments which were conducted under

The Composition Act of 1823. Tithes were

taxes levied to support the established

church, the Church of Ireland. It was a very

unpopular tax especially for those who were

not members. The tithe was previously paid

in kind, but from that time on, it was to be

paid in money and this made the tax

even more burdensome. The benefits of this

tithe for us are that the information taken

was county-wide and included the townland

name, the landholder, the area of land and

the tithe.

The Tenement Act of 1842, designed to

provide a uniform valuation of property in

Ireland, was executed by one Richard Griffith

(hence, its name), Griffith’s Valuation. His

completed reports included the householder

name, townland, and name of person from

whom the property was leased, a description

of the property, acreage and valuation. These

valuations were compiled in 1842, 1848 and

1864. You will need to know the name of the

county and townland or parish to get your an-

cestor’s valuation.

Use this website: www.askaboutireland, to

find your Griffith’s Valuation. View the whole

entry which also allows you to see the map of

your ancestor’s home in Ireland. These are

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Google maps copied from the original Ord-

nance Survey Maps of Ireland.

The method of finding your ancestor’s house

or land starts with finding the location (county

and townland) of your ancestor in Ireland

which will be on the Griffith’s Valuation for

that ancestor. This is a big step since it details

the occupant of the land, the house and the

description of each and tells us the name of

the landholder or landlord of the property.

See below: Parish of Tullyfern of County Do-

negal. Under the Townland of Clooney, find

Alexander Davis as the occupier and Sir James

Stewart as the lessor of the land. The descrip-

tion shows that there was a house, offices

(actually the out-buildings) and land. The rest

of the line details the land and buildings and

the valuation. On the far left column you

will see numbers and letters that reference

the Ordnance Map. You will need those num-

bers to find your ancestor’s land and house on

the map. Item 3b would be the reference for

Alexander Davis.

Next you will need the General Revision

Books for that townland. These are also called

Cancellation Books or Annual Revision Books

and you can find them at the Valuation Office

in Dublin, at Public Records Office of North-

ern Ireland in Belfast or you can order the mi-

crofilm versions from the Family History

Library in Salt Lake City at any Family Histo-

ry Center. Check www.familysearch.org.

The Valuation Office was set up to carry

out the original Primary Valuation. There are

actually two sets of books, (1) Cancellation

Land Books and (2) Current Land Books.

These records detail the changes that have tak-

en place regarding the land from the time of

the Griffith’s Valuation until today. The first

set of books holds the original notebooks used

by the surveyors and contains the field books,

house books, and tenure books. The house

books recorded the occupier’s names and

measured the holdings. The tenure books list

the annual rent paid, the legal basis of the

holdings and the year of the lease.

These books can be helpful in pointing to the

date of emigration and identifying a living

relative. Information on a possible living rela-

tive may be found in a later census and since

the census is now online, you can check

both the 1901 and the 1911 censuses at:

www.census.nationalarchives. You can view

the census information by Household Return,

House and Building Return, Out Offices and

Farm-Steadings Return, or Enumerator’s

Abstract for a Townland or Street. Look at all

of them for additional information.

The procedure to locate your ancestor’s

home in Ireland seems very detailed and there

are a number of steps, but much of it can be

done online now. Gather as much information

as possible before you contact the Valuation

Office in Ireland to request a map or a Revi-

sion Book search which can be costly. Its ser-

vice fees are on its website: www.valoff.ie.

I have followed one of my ancestors (Rebecca

Davis, daughter of Alexander Davis) in

Donegal in this way. I first found her marriage

certificate which indicated the Parish (Tully-

fern) and Townland (Clooney) in Donegal and

named her father. Next, I checked the

Griffiths’s Valuation Books at Salt Lake City

and found Alexander Davis there. You can

now do this online at www.familysearch.org

and many other websites. This showed the

details of the house, land and offices and

buildings there as well as the landlord, the

acreage and other details. Using the Map

references on the left side of the page, I was

able to get the Ordnance map of the area from

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Valuation Office in Dublin and view the

Revision or Cancellation book. This showed

me that the land passed to Richard McElwee

who was the son-in-law of Alexander. Finally,

I checked the 1901 and 1911 censuses for

Ireland and found this family on both census

years. There are many details on these

census records and it may be possible to

follow the family through one or more of the

children.

You may have also heard of The Surname

Indexes or Householder’s Index which was

put together in the 1960s. It was a project

of the National Library of Ireland to index

the surnames found in the Griffith’s Valuation.

We now call this the Index of Surnames

or Householder’s Index and it is also available

on-line. It is not a census and not so valuable

if the surname is a common name. More

recently a full name index has been produced

on CD ROM.

If you have many ancestors to work on in

Ireland, make a chart and tabulate the

land information at one time. This will make

it easier for you if you do have to order

records from Ireland.□

Who Was St. Patrick? --Eileen Langdon

Just who was St. Patrick, the man who lent

his name to schools, churches, colleges and

even parades? One would think that his name

was inherently Irish, as he is patron saint or

guardian of Ireland, and the name is found in

most of our Irish families.

However, his name is Patricius, and he was

born in Britain, about 389, where his wealthy

family was Christian and his father, an alder-

man. This could have been at a time when

there was still Roman influence in Britain,

hence the Latin name. He was captured by

pirates when he was sixteen, and sold to a

chieftain in Ireland. He worked as a shepherd,

but he planned to convert the natives around

him. When he escaped after 6 years of being a

slave, he went to a monastery in Lérins,

France to become a priest.

Returning to Ireland as a missionary in 432,

Patricius preached in northern and western

Ireland, where no one had previously taught

Christian doctrine. He is said to have estab-

lished more than 300 churches, and baptized

120,000 souls. He wrote of

his spiritual development

in Confession, which is

still extant. And he wrote

Letter to Coroticus, in

which he criticized a raid

on Ireland, led by the

named British chieftain. In

it, he complains about the

way British clergymen and

noblemen treated the Irish.

Many would wish that the British had heard

the message of Patricius / Patrick in the 400s.

Patrick lived and preached in Ireland for the

rest of his life, reportedly dying in 461.

Legends have sprung up around him; the

main one is that he drove all of the snakes of

Ireland into the sea. Since there is no proof

that snakes ever lived in Ireland, due to the

geography of the island, perhaps that is a

metaphor for the driving away of pagan gods

or of devils when he converted the people of

Ireland. Snakes symbolized evil in Judeo-

Christian stories; for example, a snake tempted

Eve in the Garden of Eden with fruit.

Patrick is also said to have used the three-leaf

shamrock to illustrate the three beings in one

God, the Trinity, as he preached. Three leaves

of the plant come together to become the sha-

mrock, therefore a symbol of Christianity. The

Irish adopted the shamrock as a national sym-

bol. That shamrock is seen in so many places

in Ireland, and in so many signs and maga-

zines, on beers and exports, such as cheese.

When the Irish in America united to celebrate

their roots, they often formed societies, which

in turn sponsored parades and parties, espe-

cially on the reputed date of Patrick’s death,

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March 17. New York City has had the largest

in the world throughout the 20th century, hold-

ing their 49th parade in 2010. In Denver, thou-

sands of people dress up to celebrate and pa-

rade throughout the city. After all, everyone is

Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.

Traditionally, the seventeenth of March was a

religious holy day in Ireland, but borrowing

from the Americans, Dublin and some other

cities of Ireland now have big parades.

This past year saw only the 40th celebration in

Limerick City, in western Ireland.

St. Patrick was a holy man, who converted the

Irish to Christianity and is still remembered

and celebrated throughout the world.□

New Old Books

on the Fifth Floor of DPL --Zoe von Ende Lappin

The Boulder Genealogical Society’s extensive

donation of books to the Denver Public

Library has enriched the collection in ways

both broad and narrow. Here are brief descrip-

tions of three of these:

First, of broad interest to those researching in

England, Scotland and Wales (not Ireland), is

a handsome volume of 1982 Ordnance Survey

Maps. It’s glossy and appealing, and in addi-

tion to 126 pages of large scale maps – an inch

to five miles – you get a survey course in his-

tory of Great Britain and of the famous maps

themselves. The text covers both human and

natural geography, all in historic context,

though the book is too old to include anything

about the revolutionary approach to demo-

graphics that’s now possible through genetic

studies.

Genealogists would appreciate the book most

for the meticulous maps, a la 1982, and the

every-place index, but they won’t find obso-

lete place names such as those for Scottish

townships. Perhaps most valuable are two

maps that show county boundaries of England,

Scotland and Wales before and after 1974

when the lines were redrawn and some coun-

ties renamed. These will help place localities

in both the past and present. The volume’s

official title is The Ordnance Survey Atlas of

Great Britain, published by Ordance Survey

Country Life Books.

Next, we have a neat little volume of some-

what narrower interest: Births, Deaths and

Marriages of the Nottingham Quakers, 1680-

1889, by Alice L. Beard and published in 1989

by Family Line Publications, Westminster,

Maryland. The title may be misleading, how-

ever, for the records cover not Nottingham,

England, but instead the Quakers in Pennsyl-

vania and Maryland who originated at Not-

tingham, England. The author scoured the

monthly records of six meetings, as their ec-

clesiastical groups are called, for genealogical

material. The records are separated into two

sections, births and deaths combined, plus

marriages. Birth records were drawn not from

birth records, per se, but from death records

which often list the vital statistics of each

child of the deceased. From marriage records,

we learn the names of the principals and par-

ents as well as witnesses, of which there can

be as many as 100. The author wisely pro-

vided an every-name index. This 296-page

book would be a worthwhile resource for any-

one who has, or thinks she has, Quaker ances-

tors who settled along the Pennsylvania-

Maryland border.

The third volume here reviewed is of limited

interest except to those who can tie themselves

to one William Moncrief, 1721-1794. He was

a Scot, perhaps from Perth or Fife Shire,

who apparently lived in Ireland for a while

and settled in Salem, New York, in 1764. The

book is entitled Moncrief -- From the Scottish

Highlands to the Nebraska Prairie, by Laura

Moncrief Lee, 1980. William the progenitor

had three children, Mary Creighton, William

Jr. and Hugh, and it’s from William Jr. that the

author descends. She tells the reader at the

outset that it covers families with seven sur-

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names besides Moncrief: Gould, Laing, Mack,

McLeary, McKnight, Miles a Safford, though

perusal of the book and its every-name index

reveals many more. This admirable effort

would have been enhanced with better charts –

a four-generation chart showing the immi-

grant’s descendants would have simplified and

clarified the rich detail. Otherwise, no com-

plaints: The research appears to be first rate,

the author a skilled sleuth, and the book worth

a look by anyone with any of those surnames.

Granted, it’s 31 years old, but as valuable now

as it was at first blush.□

Book Review

Durie, Bruce, 2009, Scottish Genealogy,

The History Press, London, 288 pages.

Dr. Bruce Durie’s book

entitled Scottish Geneal-

ogy claims to be a tho-

rough guide to research-

ing genealogy and fami-

ly history in Scotland.

Dr. Durie teaches Gene-

alogy Studies at the Uni-

versity of Strathclyde in

Glasgow, Scotland, and

is the author of several books on local history

and subjects related to genealogy, so one

would tend to believe that the claim is valid.

What I am offering up herein are the results of

my examination of Durie’s 300-page book in

the form of key findings. We should start

simply with the 19-chapter table of contents to

give you an insight into the work as a whole. It

is as follows: Preface, Introduction, The Scot-

tish Censuses of 1841 to 1911, Statutory Reg-

isters of Birth, Marriage and Death (BMD)

Post-1855, Old Parish Registers, Census

Substitutes, Trades, Crafts, Professions and

Office, Courts, and the Scottish Legal System,

Charters, Local Records, Scottish Wills and

Testaments, Land, Feudal Land Tenure and

Baronies, and Titles, Church and Religious

Records, Paleography, DNA Testing and Ge-

nealogy, Clans, Families, Crests and Tartans,

Resources, Internet Resources, Scottish Mo-

narchs: Reigns and Genealogies, and Orga-

nizing Your Research.

Taking in just what Durie explains in the Pre-

face and Introduction sections of the book is

important. He indicates that his book is not a

listing of books, archives and websites, al-

though many are listed. It is rather a working

manual with worked examples directed at a

wide audience. He also tells the reader that he

examines subjects not routinely covered in

most genealogy books, such as interpretation

of medieval documents and Latin inscriptions.

He also stresses the ideas that

genealogy isn’t the same as family history

(family histories are found in many

sources)

we need to be clear about our goals and

stick to these

we need to not forget about the female line

(one of my pet peeves too)

we need to understand that not everything

is on the Internet, and that

public records are very important.

His three basic starting steps are “start with

what you know,” “get charting (either manual-

ly or electronically)” and “arrange (and docu-

ment) your material.” No big news, but often

neglected.

Following is what I deem most significant for

us to consider in his first chapter, The Scottish

Censuses of 1841 to 1911. Censuses tell us

where people were at a particular time. From

there you can work backwards to births and

marriages, and forward to marriages and

deaths, and along the way to occupations and

land ownership. Durie also recommends using

local censuses as well as researching prison

hulks (ships) that were used to transport pris-

oners to the American colonies and later

Australia.

Durie points out the various problems with

specific sets of census records. He also

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reminds us that, to comply with privacy laws,

census records are released every 100 years.

So the 1911 census will be released in 2012.

He goes on to list various sources of census

data.

A key point to consider anytime, but especial-

ly in Scotland, is onomastics. (I know, a new

word for me too.) It simply means the naming

practices of a particular group. He talks about

the use of given names and naming patterns

which can be a source of confusion, but also

useful if understood.

Finally in this chapter, Durie compares Scot-

tish censuses to their English and Irish coun-

terparts. He makes particular note that until

1922 Ireland was one country, and part of the

United Kingdom. We should therefore not

expect all records relating to Northern Ireland

to be in Belfast or Republic records to be in

Dublin. Each repository has records from both

the North and the South.

Durie’s book is well worth purchasing.

-- Ken McIntosh□

Of Celtic Curiosity

and W.I.S.E. Weddings --Cindy Stewart Murphy

May you strive for the health of the salmon,

a long life, a full heart, and a wet mouth.

-- Irish wedding toast

My daughter, Erica Maureen Murphy, recently

married her love of seven years. Reflecting her

personality, Erica’s self-planned wedding fea-

tured a curious mixture of formal and casual,

traditional and “who cares?” solemnity and

abandon. It was, in a word, wonderful.

With her Irish heritage in mind, Erica wanted

to incorporate the wedding horseshoe tradition

into her nuptials. She was having trouble

locating a small porcelain horseshoe to tie into

her wedding bouquet, so she called for back-

up. That would, happily, be me.

I was able to find the perfect Irish wedding

horseshoe in the form of a Christmas ornament

from Belleek. As the Irish tradition calls for

the horseshoe to be a gift, I made it my present

to the bride. No “something old, something

new, something borrowed, something blue”

existed in Erica’s eclectic plan. As my daugh-

ter also inherited my Scottish practical nature,

she was delighted that the wedding horseshoe

could afterwards be used on the family

Christmas tree each year to remind the couple

of their special day and its meaning.

As W.I.S.E. Family History Society members,

we are interested in tracing our British Isles

roots. It only stands to reason that many of us,

and many of our children, are interested in

keeping our Celtic traditions alive as well. If

this is true of you and yours, be sure to mark

your calendars now for our W.I.S.E. meeting

on Saturday, January 22.

Travis Butterworth, who is half Scottish / Irish

and a member of the Renaissance Scots, will

speak to our membership on “Celtic History

and Weddings.” He will give a brief history of

the Celts from their beginnings in Russia

through their modern contributions. Travis

will then discuss some Celtic wedding tradi-

tions, including handfasting, unity candle

ceremonies, blessing of the family sword and

others.

In the meantime, enjoy your winter holidays

and, as the Irish wedding toast above festively

advises, don’t let your mouth get too dry.□

Rugby, the Main Game in Wales --Samuel Kuntz

Rugby is the national sport of Wales, and it

has many seasons. In November, national

teams from the Southern Hemisphere come

north to play the teams in the Northern

Hemisphere. February is the start of the two-

month Six Nations tournament for the national

teams of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, England,

France and Italy. In the summer the national

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teams from the Northern Hemisphere travel to

the Southern Hemisphere. The Ireland team is

made up of players from both Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland.

The birth of rugby can be traced to a game of

medieval football in Rugby, England, in 1823

when a player named William Webb Ellis ran

with the ball instead of kicking it. The game

has two styles or codes, rugby union and rug-

by league. Rugby union is the more popular,

and this article is about that style.

The Rugby Union World Cup is held every

four years. Twenty teams will meet in New

Zealand in September 2011 for the next World

Cup. Another four-year event is the British &

Irish Lions tour to the Southern Hemisphere –

the next one will be to Australia in 2013. The

Lions is an all-star team made up of players

from the W.I.S.E. countries: Wales, Ireland,

Scotland and England.

American football is somewhat similar to

rugby union. A rugby team scores by either

one of two ways: crossing the goal line, called

a try in rugby and a touchdown in football, or

by kicking the ball between the uprights or the

goalposts, called a conversion in both sports.

It is interesting that in rugby to score a try, the

player must not only cross the goal line but

must touch the ball down on the ground. In

football, the ball must just cross the goal line.

In rugby a try is five points and the conversion

two. In football a touchdown is six points and

the standard conversion is one.

However, there are many differences between

rugby and American football. There are 15

players on a rugby team whereas a football

team fields 11 men. Rugby players wear very

little if any padding. A rugby game has two

40-minute halves, and play is never inter-

rupted by television commercials. A rugby

game is usually finished in two hours, whereas

a football game is longer than three hours.

Terms unique to rugby in addition to try in-

clude scrum, ruck, lineout, touch line and

hooker.

In addition to the national teams, each country

has one or more regionals, that play in leagues

against teams from neighboring countries.

Wales has four regional teams, Ospreys from

Swansea, Scarlets from Llanelli, Dragons from

Newport and the Cardiff Blues. The regional

teams in Wales play in the Magners League

made up of teams from Scotland, Ireland,

Wales and Italy. Three of the teams from

Wales also play in the Heineken Cup league.

This league is made up of teams from Wales,

Ireland, Scotland, England, France and Italy.

The Welsh rugby regional teams also play in

the LV Cup league against teams from Eng-

land. The play in all leagues runs from Octo-

ber through May.

Players from one country may play on

regional teams of another country, but the

number is limited. Only players who were

born in the country or have parents or grand-

parents who are nationals may play on that

country’s national team. Thus, some players

have the choice of more than one national

team.

In Wales there is also club rugby, organized in

both semiprofessional and nonprofessional

leagues. The game is also played in colleges

and high schools and at the many parks

throughout the country. Most countries also

field women’s rugby teams. The Six Nations

Rugby Tournament is for women with games

on Fridays before the men play.

In summer 2009, two teams from Wales

came to Glendale to play the Glendale

Raptors at Infinity Park. One of the teams,

the Welsh Warriors, was made up of players

from various club teams. A group in Wales

is working with the city of Glendale to sche-

dule trips for teams from Wales beginning

next June.

Watch the Glendale city website for the next

Welsh rugby game there. Fans also may watch

televised international rugby during the season

at Fado Irish Pub near Coors Field in down-

town Denver for a fee of $20 a day.□

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Photo Album

W.I.S.E. Holiday Gathering

Calendar of Events

Date Time Place Speaker Topic

January 23 1:30 pm. Denver Public Library

5th

Floor Gates Room

Travis

Butterworth

Celtic History and

Weddings

February 26 1:30 p.m. Denver Public Library

5th

Floor Gates Room

Michael

Thompson

History of Ireland in

Song and Story

March 12 10:00 a.m. 49th

Annual

St. Patrick’s Day Parade N / A Celebrate Being Irish

March 26 1:30 p.m. Denver Public Library

5th

Floor Gates Room Becky Olson

Heirloom Family

Trees

For details about upcoming programs sponsored by W.I.S.E., please turn to page 6.