Tracing their Tipperary heritage

Growing up outside Chicago, we knew that we had deep roots in Ireland. Last month five cousins (Dan Weldon, Kristyn Dorney, Dennis McGady, Courtney Curtis and John Enders) spent eight days in County Tipperary digging up those roots. What we learned and experienced was more than we could have asked for or ever imagined. While this adventure ended just weeks ago, it began in 1908.
In 1908, our great-grandmother Mary Maher left her home at the Lissenhall Estate, where her parents worked, and headed for Chicago. The exact reason is lost to history, so all we can do is guess the reason she left. What we do know is that she met and married another child of Ireland, William Darcy, and that is where our story begins. Mary and William had two daughters in Chicago, one of which was our grandmother, Catherine Darcy.
Catherine grew up with her sister and parents in Chicago and married another first generation Irish-American, Richard Dorney. William and Catherine had eight children and lived in the town of Elmhurst, approximately 20 miles from the city of Chicago. Those eight children had 17 children (including us), who in turn have produced 14 offspring of their own, so far.
The profound love of our Irish roots leads us to what got us here this year. Last winter, Dan visited Ireland and met Margaret Egan of Capparoe who told him about Kilmore Cemetery. Believing this to be the burial place of our family, he went to the cemetery in search of familiar names. To his amazement, he found a headstone that referred to brothers, Denis and Patrick Maher, whom he thought to be the brothers of our great-grandmother, Mary.
This past summer, John travelled to Ireland with his mother and another cousin. While there, they left a note at the grave Dan found. Some time passed before they received a response from Anna O’Brien, and the response was shocking. The Denis and Patrick Maher that Dan found were not the brothers of our great-grandmother. This was a rather upsetting turn of events. Some more time passed and Anna reached back out with some amazing news. While these were not the Mahers we sought, they were second cousins to our great-great-grandfather Patrick Maher, the father of our great-grandmother Mary. These were the roots we were looking to dig.
Anna referred us to Kitty Maher, another relative, who took the reins and began digging some of those roots for us. When we arrived in County Tipperary, Kitty and another relative, Michael Cunneen, met us for dinner. The following day, Kitty, with the help of her brother Dinny, Michael Cunneen and another relative, Martin Quinn, showed us around town, visiting Capparoe, Killoscully Cemetery, Glown, the Silvermines Mountains and parish, Kilmore Cemetery, the Lissenhall area, and ultimately the home that our great-grandmother left for the United States. Kitty’s brother Dinny recalled visiting the home as a young man and knowing two of my great-grandmother’s brothers. Forgotten by time, all that remains now is a small pile of stone, a remnant of what it once was. After a long day exploring our roots, Kitty introduced us to more of our Irish family (Nellie Franley and Kay O’Donoghue).
At dinner the following evening, Anna’s husband Christopher told us that he reached out to another person that might be closer in relation than the family that we had met already. As if this adventure could get any better, on our last day in Nenagh, we met five of our grandmother’s first cousins - people that we did not know existed just days before. Like the family we had already met, my grandmother’s cousins were very welcoming and eager to meet us and hear about their family in the United States. It was great hearing about their family and experiences. We were touched to hear that they had tried in the past to find out more information about us. Their father Denis and his sister Mary in Chicago wrote to each other for many years. They were able to find out that Mary had married and had two daughters, but were unable to find out any further information about us.
For a family of Irish descent, this is the kind of adventure that we all dream of. To walk in the footsteps of our ancestors is not something that everybody can accomplish. To have been able to do all of this is more than any of us could have ever imagined or dreamed. This trip was so impactful, its significance is difficult to properly explain.

THANKS
Kitty, Dinny, Michael, Geraldine, Martin, Anna, Christopher, Nellie, Kay, Mary, Anne, Eileen, Bridget, Denis, Alex, Yovanka, Margaret, and all the other amazing people of Nenagh that helped us uncover our roots, there are no words strong enough to adequately convey our gratitude. Thank you all.