Airman Accounted For From World War II – Welcome home, Staff Sgt. Hubert Yeary. Honored to have assisted with your identification.

The Quest for Annie Moore of Ellis Island – 133 years ago today, Annie Moore of Ireland became the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island. 150 years since her birth and 100 years since her passing, it’s long past time to tell her story. Learn more in “The Quest for Annie Moore of Ellis Island.”

Genealogy Classic: If You’re a Wee Bit Irish – Not long ago, I was persuaded to republish a 2002 article I wrote about genetic genealogy, and much to my surprise, readers loved it. After that experience, I decided to take an occasional dive into my archives and re-share selected old favorites. Some are timeless in nature, but even those that are dated, have some useful insights. I hope you’ll enjoy my “Genealogy Classics.”

Top image: artist José Guadalupe Posada, ca. 1900–10, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York via Public Domain Image Archive

The post Genealogy Roundup, January 8 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Tim Walz’s family hails from Wexford, as 159-year-old grave shows link to village – So this has a paywall that I’m afraid I can’t help with, but for those who might be interested.

Image: screenshot from The Guardian video

The post Genealogy Roundup, October 2 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Dr. George Schweitzer, longest serving professor at University of Tennessee at Knoxville – RIP, Prof. George K Schweitzer. His efforts assisted countless genealogists during his 99 years.

Hey, y’all, Have you tried Google NotebookLM? I just fed it my article on Tim Walz’s Irish roots and had it create a podcast-style discussion between a man and a woman about the research. And you know what? It did a really good job! A couple of minor hiccups, sure, but so much better than a lot of AI I’ve played with. Whether you’ve read that article or not, you might enjoy giving this a listen:

French dig team finds archaeologist’s 200-year-old note – OK, what’s your plan for a time capsule? What message to the future are you leaving and how??

In North Texas, some unclaimed bodies go to UNT for research — often without permission of next of kin – There’s no excuse for this. Shame on Texas.

Jimmy Fallon’s Family Tree – In honor of Jimmy Fallon’s 50th, here’s a peek into his past – and I mean deep past!

Photo Credit: Ronel Reyes under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, September 25 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Independent Directors of 23andMe Resign from Board – More bad news for 23andMe. I’m assuming most reading this have already done so, but just in case not, download your 23andMe data.

Roots Tourism International Exchange Set to Welcome 1,000-5,000 Visitors as Matera Highlights Italy’s Ancestry Tourism Surge – OK, who’s going to this roots travel conference in Italy?

Genealogy Website to Pay $30 Million Over 2023 Data Breach – Whoa, 23andMe has to pay $30 million for data breach.

Airman Accounted for from WWII (Curran, B.) – Welcome home, PVT Bernard Curran. Honored to have researched your family.

Tim Walz of the Tomhaggard Doyles – How a Solitary Tombstone in Wisconsin Solved the Mystery of His Irish Origins – It took me a while to get there, but I did in the end!

Acorn TV Moves Into Unscripted With Jane Seymour-Hosted True-Crime/Genealogy Series – Ah, I see they veered off into a true crime direction. Not a huge surprise, but I hope it’s heavy on the genealogy and light on the crime aspect.

Photo by Jeff Griffith on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, September 18 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Irish roots of Kamala Harris’s running-mate Tim Walz – So Ireland has noticed that Tim Walz has Wexford roots!

Tim Walz’s Irish Great-Great-Grandparents Were Just Like Him

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, August 14 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

6 Things You Didn’t Know about Mark Kelly’s Roots – Countdown! Will Ireland get to claim another?

Woman wins her very own ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ experience and discovers her great-grandfather was a Bristol war hero – This is something that FindMyPast did for a contest winner…a lovely experience for her!

Genetic testing firm 23andMe rejects CEO’s take-private offer – Anyone else nervous about 23andMe? #DNA

Photo by Bo Zhang on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, August 7 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

She’s going back to her acting roots, so I took a dive into her ancestral ones.

It’s been a while, but Meg Ryan, America’s rom-com queen, anointed through her memorable roles in When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail, is re-emerging with What Happens Later, a movie she co-wrote, directed, and stars in. I’m among the many looking forward to getting snowed in at the airport with both Ryan and her co-star, David Duchovny, but in the interim, decided to climb her family tree.

Born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra, she assumed her maternal grandmother’s maiden name of Ryan when she became an actress, and those with Irish ancestry will recognize Meg (as well as Peg and Peggy) as a nickname for Margaret. As I researched, it slowly dawned on me that her original name reflects three generations of her direct maternal line since her grandmother was named Margaret Mary, her great-grandmother Emily, and her great-great-grandmother Ann. What a lovely tribute.

After some digging, I arrived at the following roots recipe for Meg Ryan: 31.25% Irish, 25% Rusyn (from present-day Poland), 25% Polish (from present-day Lithuania), 12.5% German, and 6.25% English. Yes, I know it’s confusing that her Rusyn ancestors were from Poland and her Polish ones from Lithuania (welcome to the dynamic borders of Slavic genealogy), but for now, let’s focus on her Irish portion.

As I delved more deeply into her Ryan line, it started ticking all the classic New York Irish boxes, starting with her immigrant, great-great-grandfather, Timothy Ryan, who worked as a bartender. This was likely with his brother, James, who was a liquor dealer and associated with a billiards saloon.

1880 census for Timothy Ryan and family (Ancestry)

Timothy’s son, Thomas (Meg’s great-grandfather), had intended to become a lawyer, but inspired by Theodore Roosevelt, joined the police department instead and worked his way up to Inspector. Spending about four decades on the force, he was known for being dedicated and squeaky clean.

Obituary of Thomas T. Ryan, Daily News, 26 November 1936 (Newspapers)

WWII draft registration for Thomas T. Ryan (Jr.), (Ancestry)

The Daily Star, 22 July 1932 (FultonHistory)

So bartender, police officer, and fireman. You can’t get much more New York Irish than that. Or can you? One of Thomas Jr.’s sisters, it turned out, was a Rockette. In fact, Emily was one of the original ones known as Roxyettes when the dancing troupe migrated from St. Louis, Missouri to New York. The Ryan family is rightfully proud of this, but Thomas must have been especially grateful since he met his wife – whose sister also happened to be a Rockette – through this connection.

It seems the Ryan line also introduced the entertainment gene as high-kicking Emily married a pioneering NBC radio star whose name (Charles O’Connor) might be recognized today if he hadn’t died young. And then there was Thomas and Emily’s sister, Lucille.

This great-aunt of Meg’s was a hospital recreational worker for the Red Cross, serving in Africa, England and France during World War II. Instead of returning home at the end of the war, she joined the American Forces Radio Network as both an announcer and actress. Working primarily in France and Germany, she was the only female announcer on the network, and her show (“My Gal Saturday”) was broadcast across much of Europe.

Long Island Star-Journal, 23 July 1946 (FultonHistory)

That’s all well and good, I can almost hear readers in Ireland saying, but where in Ireland do the Ryans come from? In this case, it’s O’Briensbridge in County Clare that gets the bragging rights.

1833 baptism of immigrant great-great-grandfather, Timothy Ryan (Catholic Parish Registers at National Library of Ireland)

And for those who might be hoping to claim Meg Ryan as a distant cousin but have no Ryan ancestors, there’s still a chance. As I mentioned at the outset, she’s 5/8ths Irish, so other names and places come into play. If your family tree includes Duggan, Keliher, Luby/Looby, McManus, Thomas, or Whyte/White, you could potentially be related – particularly if your Duggans hail from Macroom, Cork or your Lubys from Clonmel, Tipperary.

Now you’re equipped to watch What Happens Later being well versed on what happened before.

The post Meg Ryan’s Irish Heritage appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Cool article in this month’s CostCo Connection (p. 100 if you have the hard copy!). Delighted to be interviewed. Am a long-time customer of CostCo’s so it was a kick!

Pls join me on 11/9 in FL! Pinellas Genealogy Society: Megan Smolenyak to Speak at Pensacola

Wrong message to send during The Gathering. Irish Roots via @IrishTimes

The post Genealogy Round Up, October 14 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.