We have had great fun collaborating with Ged in our endeavours to extend our knowledge of our ancestors, and in particular, our family’s Irish roots. Ged’s encouragement and enthusiasm has been truly infectious.

We had conducted our own family history research at various intervals prompted by the sharing of a “Family Bible” passed down from previous generations. The general story of our great-great-grandfather emigrating from Ireland to New York in the middle of the 19^th century is well established within the family. The bits we weren’t 100% certain about were (1) where exactly did our GGGF come from in Ireland? (2) where is he buried and is there a gravestone? and (3) what happened to some members of the following generation who seemed to disappear without trace at a young age?

After a number of friendly e-mail exchanges, the questions above became Ged’s research brief. However, neither party was pressurised into deadlines or ultimatums on the timing of exchanges of information. We have enjoyed the relaxed pace of research into our ancestry. This gradual step by step approach to furthering genealogy research is refreshing.

Ged tackled the key questions in reverse order. He provided much unknown information on the development and expansion of our family in 19^th century Manhattan and the Bronx. This information supplemented our own local knowledge and regularly provided the impetus for us to delve further into our Family Bible for more clues.

We identified that our GGGF had enrolled for the Union Army and saw action in the American Civil War. Ged was able to explore the US Army military record databases and confirm enlistment dates, regiment, battles of note, etc. On our side, we had an army widow’s pension record for his wife, so everything knitted together.

The highlight so far of a fruitful family history investigation was the day we located the place of burial of our great-great-grandfather (a cemetery in Queens, NYC) ….. and then the burial plot location …. and last but not least, when Ged sent us a record showing who had provided the headstone for the grave. What a find !! A visit to the cemetery proved that all our detective work had been worthwhile when the ancient gravestone was finally found and photographed for posterity.

The emphasis of Ged’s research has now switched to our GGGF’s home county of Cavan in Ireland. The search areas have been narrowed down by using Ged’s logical but time-consuming elimination methods, but we are confident that Ged will identify the homestead location eventually. We fully understand that Irish Ancestry Research works on numerous projects simultaneously. This approach allows expenses to be shared when visits to archive-holders around Ireland become necessary.

Overall, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Irish Ancestry Research. It’s been an educational and highly enjoyable experience.

John & Patrick Reilly, New York City

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