Local Family History
Finding Family in Ireland Written by and photos courtesy of MaryFran McKenzie Stulginsky
My husband Bill and I had been to Ireland before, but never to the village of Bonniconlon, home of my paternal grandparents. On our upcoming trip to Ireland, Bonniconlon would be our starting point. We planned on driving to County Mayo, finding the village, and then what? Wander? I hoped just getting there would be good enough. Then fate intervened.
MaryFran McKenzie Stulginsky (left) with husband Bill (standing in back), in Ireland, with newly discovered Irish cousin Thomas McKenzie and his family
Two months before our planned departure, Bill noticed an advertisement for www.MyIrishFamilyHeritage.com, an online service that traces your Irish heritage. We promptly submitted our inquiry, and soon, Irish genealogist extraordinaire Sean Quinn was engaged in a hunt for my dad’s Irish ancestors, the McKenzies.
in Ireland. Sean also learned my ancestor’s townland (a small division of land like our township system); the graveyard where McKenzies were buried; and the location of houses where the family lived as tenant farmers in the mid-to-late 1800’s.
There wasn’t much to go on, only two death certificates and an application for naturalization. Those documents revealed great-grandparents’ names, possible dates of birth, and a departure city. But Sean somehow discovered the existence of Thomas McKenzie, my grandfather’s only brother who had remained
Sean Quinn doesn’t just research from his desktop: His organization prides itself on their local reconnaissance. Once they discover historical facts, they travel, to personally verify the authenticity of their findings. Sean’s in-depth investigation enabled him to tell me I have cousins still living in Bonniconlon.
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