Looking For Frodo (A Search for Long Ago Ancestors) Prologue

 After a very long and trying Wisconsin Winter, dealing with surgery, COVID, and other "Complaints", I recently decided to shake off the cobwebs and get back out On The Road.

So, I'm heading off to Ireland, Starting Next Week.  

The pretext for this trip is to do some family history explorations.  The place I am initially focused on is in County Carlow, around a hamlet named St. Mullins.  I found a map of the area that looks like something out of The Hobbit.

St. Mullins is on the east bank of the Barrow River and west of the Blackstairs Mountains.  The area was once part of the ancient kingdom of Osraige.  According to Wikipedia, this small kingdom was originally founded around the time of Christ and lasted for well over a millennium but was eventually absorbed during the medieval times by the adjacent larger Kingdoms of Munster and Leinster.  

Map of the Old Kingdoms

For centuries, my family area was in County Carlow. They departed in the 1830s, nearly 15 years prior to the Potato Famine of 1846-47.  So They probably were not in a horrible state as were the refugees who fled the island during those terrible years.

Of course, Ireland was terribly poor, even without a famine.  It was difficult for the native population of the country to own or transfer property as a result of the "Penal Laws" imposed by Britain.  So many opportunities lay overseas and many Irish were emigrating  to North America starting in the 1700s.  

Cold Case Investigation

I think nothing is a "Colder Case" that using the old files of previous genealogical investigations.  These are all multi-generational searches.  With the ability to pull together records via the internet, DNA testing, and the ability to fly back to localities, it's possible to gradually build a file of facts, documents, oral histories, and 'hints' for future researchers.

The effort reminds me of trout or salmon trying to make their way back up old 'familiar' streams and tributaries, fighting against the current, looking for bends in the river.  It is a funny little itch that beckons occasional scratching.