Four Green Fields
With the American election heating up, Republicans and Democrats are doing their best to highlight their differences, but there is one commonality among the four candidates for President and Vice President that none can deny their Irish roots, writes genealogist MEGAN SMOLENYAK.
The Kennedy and Reagan names loudly proclaimed the Irish heritage of previous US presidents and gave towns such as Dunganstown, Co Wexford and Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary homeland bragging rights, but the situation is less clear with the current crop of candidates, starting with the somewhat ancestrally confused John McCain.
McCain
Of the four candidates, John McCain's surname would seem to provide the most conspicuous link to Ireland, but in his autobiography, Faith of Our Fathers, he describes the McCains as "Scots Presbyterians" and states that, "The McCains, bred to fight as Highland Scots of the Clan McDonald, arrived in the New World shortly after America gained her independence." Not quite. According to family historian Barry R. McCain, John McCain is actually descended from Alexander McKean who left the vicinity of Coleraine in Co Antrim around 1719, and landed on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border in the 1720s. The slightly misguided tale related by the candidate can be attributed to earlier research that has since been re-investigated, but only after having spread throughout the family and spilled onto the pages of his book. A fresh look at the paper trail coupled with genetic evidence now lead Barry McCain and his genealogical cohort, Jim McKane, to the modified conclusion that John McCain is of Irish ancestry; this is certain, but there is an old link to Argyll and to Gaelic Scotland as well." So he is correct in his assertion of Scottish heritage, but apparently unaware of the detour - possibly as long as several centuries - that his family took through Co Antrim. Nor is that McCain's only connection to Antrim, as the Young branch of his family tree is said to hail from Ballymore. As it happens, he ascribes his family's well-known martial tradition to his McCain and Young lineages, so I'll leave it to the residents of Coleraine and Ballymore to confirm or deny.Obama
It is Barack Obama's Irish heritage that seems to have surprised most, and I confess that I own a t-shirt that sports the title of the Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys song: "There is no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama." That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but even the candidate was intrigued to learn of his Irish roots and has hinted of a possible visit to Moneygall, Co Offaly at some point. Why Moneygall? Because that's where his third great-grandfather, Fulmoth Kearney, lived before heading to Ohio in 1850. Many don't realize that tracing the place of origin for diaspora descendants is usually quite a challenge, and in the case of Obama, I considered myself lucky to find a couple of tombstones in Ohio for Fulmoth's father and brother that steered my research to Moneygall. Their story is a version of the oft-heard famine tale. Members of the extended Kearney family began emigrating to America in the late 1700s, but it was the 1848 death of Fulmoth's uncle Francis in Ohio that sparked the departure of his immediate family. In his will, Francis left land to Joseph, Fulmoth's father, but only if he came to America to claim it. Joseph left in 1849 and Fulmoth and a sister followed in 1850, with Fulmoth's reluctant mother and remaining brother and sister making the journey in 1851. Recent research into earlier generations of the Kearney line by the Irish research firm, Eneclann, has revealed a colorful family history of wig-making, land-dealing and politics, extending to Dublin.Palin
Sarah Palin's selection took everyone by surprise, so there's been less time to snoop into her ancestral past, but it didn't take long to uncover some Irish connections. Her mother's maiden name of Sheeran seemed promising and following it back several generations led to another famine era emigration. Palin descends from three consecutive generations of Michael Sheerans, a chain that was finally broken by her grandfather, Clement. Clem's father, Michael James Sheeran, was born in Minnesota in 1876 to a first generation Irish-American couple, Michael James Sheeran and Maria Ellen Burke. The elder Michael was born in Vermont in 1852 within a few years of the arrival of his parents - another Michael and Mary - from Ireland. According to a local history, this middle Michael learned the art of manufacturing ginger ale, plain and fancy syrups, soda and mineral waters, cider, etc. and eventually ran a firm called Sheeran & Filler Bottling Company which shipped these products and bottled beer "all over the Northwest". (Yes, I realise this invites comment about Palin's spirited past, but I'm trying my best to resist the urge.) Unfortunately, the Sheeran name is one that is generously spread among a number of counties, so some additional sleuthing will be required to determine a place of origin for her Irish roots.Biden
Joe Biden is the most Irish of the candidates in both a cultural and ancestral sense. Based on frequent references, he self-identifies as Irish Catholic and his family tree is at least one-quarter Irish, sporting surnames such as Blewitt, Roche, Finnegan, Boyle, Stanton and Scanlon. Those who have researched his ancestry tend to focus on his Blewitt roots (from Co Mayo) because they seem to be the most indicative of what is to come since his great-grandfather, Edward F. Blewitt, was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate. But I was more curious about his Finnegan roots because Biden himself often says that his political values were formed at the Scranton, Pennsylvania home of his "Grandpa Finnegan" and is occasionally accompanied by his feisty, 91-year-old mother, Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Finnegan Biden. It took some effort to unearth the roots of Grandpa - or Ambrose Finnegan - because he was orphaned by the age of ten. But a little detective work revealed that his parents, James and Catherine (Roche) Finnegan, were Irish-born. James must have been an interesting fellow as he's recorded in various census records as everything from a hotel keeper to a blind musician. James and Catherine had accompanied their respective parents from Ireland as youngsters and married in the town of Ovid, New York in 1866. I used the resources at to locate records that snugly fit the expected Finnegan family profile, so while I can't be completely certain, I believe they originated around Carlingford, Co Louth. When I inspected their arrival records on , I made a curious discovery that reminded me of Obama's Kearney branch. James's father, Owen Finnegan, was a shoe maker who came to America in May 1849 with his family following in 1850. Obama's ancestor, Joseph Kearney, was also a shoe maker and arrived in New York just five weeks earlier in April 1849 with his family following the next year. It's highly doubtful whether this pair of famine era cobblers could have ever fathomed how the paths of their descendants might intersect one day, but one thing is sure - regardless who wins this election, the next President and Vice President of the United States will be of Irish heritage. MEGAN SMOLENYAK, a professional genealogist, is half-Irish and Chief Family Historian for See also:
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