Sunday, January 04, 2009

The Search For My Irish Roots, Part 5

The kindness of strangers.

The quest to find my Masseys would not have been possible without the kindness of strangers. Jenny had done all the work of getting me the records from Delgany and it should be remembered that this info was of no value to her, she is not a Massey, she did it for no return. And now Annie would do something equally nice. She got her fathers D.N.A. tested for me. I say she got it tested for me because there was little she could learn from the test. You have to rember that Annie already new her lines were from Delgany. If her father and I were a match it would only tell her she had a few more distant cousins out there, that’s it. But for me it had the potential to finally prove once and for all the question that I had been working on for so many years.

I am a Delgany Massey

So as you may have guessed Annie and I are a D.N.A. match. Not a perfect match as I had hoped but close enough to prove what I had suspected all these years - that Annie and I are related and that my William Massey was almost certainly born in the Parish of Delgany. As you can imagine I was ecstatic. To finally have the answer to a question that had plagued me for so long was a great feeling. I was so happy. For about 10 minutes. Then like a true genealogist I started to think about what I still did not know, and I realized my search will never be over. Because for me it is not just about the answer, it’s about the search itself.

6 comments:

Julie said...

What a great story! Thanks for sharing!

Lisa / Smallest Leaf said...

You've done a wonderful job, Brian, sharing your long quest for your immigrant Irish ancestor. Thanks so much for sharing this great story - it kept me hooked wanting to know the happy ending of your endeavors!

I am happy to share it within the upcoming Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. Looking forward to learning more from you about your search for Irish roots...

Lisa

Kathryn said...

Thanks for sharing you wonderful story! How exciting to finally find where your ancestors are from! Good luck in your future searching!

Brian said...

Thanks for the kind words. I was afraid when I was writing it that it might be a bit long. But I could not seem to make it any shorter.

Sharron said...

I am so glad I used the link from Lisa's site to read your blog. It gives me hope for a breakthrough on my Irish ancestors. Must feel good

Anonymous said...

re Massey near Delgany.
Brian are you aware that Massey family owned the land on which Belvedere Hall Graystones now stands!
It is now used as a school for Spanish students to learn English.
My Ancetors Battley family owned the land after the Massey family and built the Belvedere Hall.
Mr Laguiana the principal has researched the various families who owned the land at different times.
If you would like his contact details email me at ralphgiles37@gmail.com
regards
Ralph G.