The story of my great-great-great-grandmother Maggy Tighe is a story of Ireland’s Great Famine. A story of Liverpool’s slums. A story shared by millions of her countrymen and women who fled Ireland in desperate starvation. A story of tragedy, loss, and pain. A story of survival. She was my grandfather’s great-grandmother, a woman he never Read More…
Tag: liverpool
Using Google Earth Pro to Travel Back Through Time
Old maps give extraordinary insights into the layout of a town and what daily life may have looked like in the past. You can get a real sense of how far an ancestor had to walk to Church or to school or, as in the case of my Liverpool ancestors, to the riverside docks where Read More…
Building History Out of LEGO
You know that feeling of excitement when you find a thrilling new piece of information about an ancestor and can’t wait to share it with family? But their reactions are, shall we say, not quite as enthusiastic as you’d hoped? I’ve been researching my Liverpool ancestors, trying to better understand the living conditions of their Read More…
Blurring the lines between “good” and “bad”
My grandfather never said much about his mother; he never even mentioned her name. All he ever told us was that she was an alcoholic and regularly beat him viciously, which is partly why he ran away from home at the age of fourteen. I never gave her much thought beyond that and certainly when Read More…
Unraveling my Grandfather’s Mysteries
Below is the story of how we discovered my grandfather’s secret life and true identity. It’s what kick-started my love of genealogy and desire to learn more about my roots and help others find theirs. I’ll warn you now: it’s a long one. I didn’t want to cut corners, although there are still so many Read More…