Under a potato bush... Part 1

I am half Slovak, a quarter Irish, just under a quarter French and a skoshy bit English… this last bit a recent discovery. 

While I’ve found or have been given information on the Slovak, French and English ancestors, finding the Irish in us has been a major challenge. I keep telling everyone that they must have been born under a potato bush because finding my great-grandparents has been virtually impossible. 

Searching for John McCarroll from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, has been a major test. Mary Duffy is even more difficult because of her common last name. She was born in County Meath, Ireland.  So many questions… What prompted them to come to America? What was going on in the two parts of Ireland… not near to one another, but the same dilemmas? Did they each come alone or did they travel with family members? Was it a result of the potato famine in 1845? Was it politics? Was it religion? Was it that the roads were paved in gold in the United States? They didn’t land at Ellis Island, it wasn’t there yet. Was it Castle Garden? How do I find those records? Or did they even land in New York?

My father told me one my great-grandparents spoke Gaelic, something he tried to learn but it was too difficult. Mary came to Detroit a few times. I have photos of her sitting by the Belle Isle fountain with my grandmother, father and uncle. But I don’t have any photos of John in Detroit. There are photos of family trips to Long Island and the beach, photos of the family group around the home on Maple Avenue in Glen Cove. People in photos were identified, thankfully. 

Based on the 1900 census, the couple didn’t arrive together, or even married. Thanks again to the 1900 census, John came in during 1884 and Mary in 1887. The fact that they settled on Long Island in New York presents another challenge. That state has next to no digital images online. So it’s a drive to a Family Search center or a trip to the Big Apple to find out more information.

In 1997 I wrote to my father’s cousin, the oldest of that generation and about 75 at the time. I sent along a questionnaire and a self-addressed stamped envelope. 

She kindly filled out the form and added information I didn’t think to ask, like the birthdates of her father and his siblings, the year John and Mary were married and a story about her grandparents that only she could tell.

What I don’t have is the names of their parents or the cities they were born in. Their siblings were identified by first name only, except for John’s. Dad’s cousin gave me a name for his sister and her married name. I have the names of the cities where the siblings settled.

So where do I search? Who can I contact? The Irish generation before me is almost gone. There’s only one of my father’s cousins left and he’s 87. Growing up in Michigan with occasional trips to New York also proves to be an obstacle to overcome. So each trip to ancestry.com includes another search for any iota of information on John and Mary. This is the genealogist and family history writer’s worst nightmare. 

And then… a hint… a record… and hope.