Irish DiasporaBoth of my grandpartents on my father's side came to the US from Ireland. On my mother's side, they came over earlier, from the Mandevilles. My grandfather was born and raised in Lisduff, County Limerick near the town of Adare.
My Grandmother, (nee Gannon), was born in Galway and came to the US as a little girl after her father died. They ran a grocery in Galway, now the Galway Arms. We gave the pub owner of picture of them standing in front of the store at the turn of the century.
The Mandevilles are of French extraction and our Mandevilles come from the Mitchelstown area of County Cork. We claim decendance from John Mandeville, the gentry who sided with the Irish peasants and jailed for this crime. He died from his time in jail..
Rob took a three moth sabbatic between leaving the Teamsters and starting at Cornell University. He came over for Eileen and Paul's wedding and stayed, touring the West. It was a spoecial trip, one that we hope to repeat before too long.
Tom Hickey of Croom, County Limmerick, recently had a collection of his poetry published. Tom is currently in hospitol, we ask that you keep him in your prayers. We included a verse of Tom's poem to his American cousins as part of my dad's funeral mass program. For samples of Tom's poems with some of my photos of the places he writes about, follow the title link.