Tag: Patrick Ryan

John Ryan (Bef. 1785) and Wife Margaret Oates of County Kilkenny, Ireland: A Report on Research at National Library of Ireland

October 14, 2025

Or, Subtitled: Payments to Flax Spinners and Rent Rolls: Filling in the Blanks re: Early 19th-Century Irish Ancestors My last posting noted that I was preparing for a trip to Ireland on which I intended to do genealogical research. I said that I’d be doing research at the local history center of County Clare in … More John Ryan (Bef. 1785) and Wife Margaret Oates of County Kilkenny, Ireland: A Report on Research at National Library of Ireland

Some Notes on the New FamilySearch AI All-Text Search Tool

August 1, 2025

In my posting here two days ago, I noted that this past April, the quarterly newsletter of the Tuscaloosa County Alabama Genealogical Society published an article I had written discussing the new FamilySearch all-text search tool. The article was entitled “A.I. & Genealogical Research: FamilySearch Full Text” and was published in Roots and Branches 50,2 … More Some Notes on the New FamilySearch AI All-Text Search Tool

A Woman’s Lot: Three Generations of Maternal Forebears

March 11, 2025

Or, Subtitled: “A Woman’s Lot“ The collage above, which shows the three generations of female ancestors prior to me, happened to be on my Ancestry page when I opened it on International Women’s Day (8 March). Ancestry had prepared this collage from photos in my tree, and, though I doubt that Ancestry did this to … More A Woman’s Lot: Three Generations of Maternal Forebears

New Information re: the Family of Mary Brooks (d. 1787) of Frederick County, Virginia – & New Wrinkle

October 13, 2024

“The Last Will and Testament of James Brooks Deceas’d was … Ordered to be for further proof” There’s a Murphy’s law in genealogical research that I’ve found proven true over and over – at least in my own research. Maybe your research hasn’t yet encountered this law. I hope that’s the case.

Family Stories and Surprising Ways New Documentation Can Confirm Them: The Story of Robert Allen Sumrall and Margaret and Catherine Ryan

August 6, 2024

Or, Subtitled: “May her soul rest in peis.” This posting tells a story. It tells a story about a story, one told to me in my formative years. It also tells a story about how sudden genealogical surprises can either confirm or disprove our long-cherished family traditions. So that we do well to keep ourselves … More Family Stories and Surprising Ways New Documentation Can Confirm Them: The Story of Robert Allen Sumrall and Margaret and Catherine Ryan

Family of Valentine Ryan and Bridget Tobin of County Kilkenny, Ireland, and Grant County, Arkansas: New Information

April 1, 2021

Or, Subtitled: Things Are Seldom Quite as Simple as One Would Like in Genealogical Research, Are They? Throwback Thursday they call it, right? This posting is a throwback to a series of posts I did in April 2018, which began with this posting entitled “In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, … More Family of Valentine Ryan and Bridget Tobin of County Kilkenny, Ireland, and Grant County, Arkansas: New Information

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (5)

April 24, 2018

In my previous posting, I told you that I’d follow up by providing a summary of what I think I know of John Ryan and his family apart from what’s to be found in the records of Templeorum Catholic parish in County Kilkenny, Ireland, which document the baptisms of five children born to John and wife … More “In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (5)

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (3)

April 17, 2018

In my previous two postings in this series, I’ve explained how I eventually found my Ryan ancestors’ roots in County Kilkenny, Ireland, after many years of searching. I now want to tell you what I found, once documents began to open to me after I had determined a specific place of residence for the family and a … More “In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (3)

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (2)

April 15, 2018

In my first posting in this series, I began telling you how, after years of searching, I eventually located the specific place in County Kilkenny, Ireland, from which my Ryan ancestors emigrated to America in 1852-3. My family had long known that Valentine  Ryan and his wife Bridget, my great-great-grandparents, brought their family from County Kilkenny … More “In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (2)

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (1)

April 12, 2018

In two previous postings in my series about Patrick Ryan (here and here), I’ve shared a few pieces of information about Pat’s Irish roots. As I told you in those postings (the first link has a copy of his baptismal record), his parents were Valentine Ryan (1810-1881) and Bridget Tobin (1818-1873), who married 21 September 1836 in … More “In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (1)