A day to recognize Irish heritage...and just have fun

A few posts back, cousin Mike remarked:

"Bob and I share some ancestry. I have it on good authority that it comes with the cousin gig. He is much more informed on it than I am, so I'm taking a bit of a risk here. I believe we have some Irish ancestors which makes the following story of interest."

Mike's been reading a book on the Brooklyn Bridge, and he went on to post about an Irish protest during the time approaching the Bridge's dedication (sounds like an interesting book, by the way).

I've been remiss in taking so long to respond. Then again, what better day to speak of one's Irish ancestry than St. Patrick's Day?

So Mike, that wasn't a risky statement at all. Our grandfather, Ira ("Poppy") Moore was Irish. Oh, you want details? That's where it starts getting tricky. My mom told me once that her dad was "half Scotts-Irish and half black-Irish". I didn't know what to make of that at first, until she explained that Scotts-Irish people were part Scottish and had red hair, and that "black-Irish" referred to a person who was Irish mixed with some ancestry other than Scottish. So instead of red hair, they were brunette - hence the "black" referring to hair color.

How much of each kind of Irish, and what were the other nationalities? Ask a genealogist and he or she will tell you that's not always easy to determine. Which is to say, I'm still working on it. In addition to the Irish and Scottish in Popppy's ancestry, it looks like he had some ancestors from England, and at least one who lived in Wales. I have to give credit to cousin Trish (Mike's sister) for that information, as she found it and passed it along to me.

And I doubt that Poppy knew any of that, except for the Scotts-Irish part. Our grandma had interest in family history, but not Poppy so much. Mom told me once that he said he wasn't interested in looking into that "because he might find a horse thief".

While that's interesting to me, a list of nationalities alone can be just names and labels. It doesn't shed light on the goodness of these people, their caring hearts and their sense of humor. But if I started on all that, where in the world would I quit? Another time perhaps, for the family stories.

Anyway, I'm wearing green today, not because I feel I have to, but because I want to. It's just fun. Whether you're Irish or not, here's my wish for a happy St. Patrick's Day to one and all!