If you are a FamilySearch dot com member and want to find out quickly if you and I are related, click this link to find the answer. It's a new feature based on every members' GEDCOM.

I visited Ireland in October 2013, loved the great scenery and had lots of fun driving some 650 miles around the south end of the island on the left side of the road before joining a group in Dublin led by professional genealogist Donna Moughty for eight days of research. Donna specializes in Irish genealogy and I highly recommend her.

Researching your Ireland ancestry is a bit difficult for certain groups, but some think the Four Courts fire in 1922 destroyed "everything." That's not true! Read this: 'All Irish genealogical records were destroyed in the 1922 fire': Myth or fact?

An important aid for your Irish ancestor research is linked here. It has townland, civil and Catholic parish information and databases that provide valuable information, all in one site.

My maternal surnames total less than my paternal ones due to the difficulty of tracing 3 lines past the 2nd and 3rd great grandparents - O'Brien, Madden and Smith. The first two are certainly Gaelic Irish and Smith might be too, but in all 3 cases, the lines hit a wall.

Note that I have done some of the research on this site but some of it was done by others. I have credited them for their information but may have missed some, so kindly let me know and I will make it right. Anyone with conflicting information is welcome to email me and cite references, etc. It's all about getting it right, hey?

Recent research has established a pattern of migration to both Ireland and the British Colonies (soon to be the USA). The latest gem was a post by a researcher in the Scotland DNA Facebook group. A 9th great grandfather I already knew a bit about was actually a Scot captured by the English after their victory at the Battle of Dunbar and transported to the colonies as an indentured servant. The prisoners were bought, transported and sold into servitude for a profit. George Darling was one of them. Check it out here: Scots Prisoners and their Relocation to the Colonies, 1650-1654

My Darling line is a twig on my Miller limb - George Henry Darling & Isabel Muckle > George Darling (Battle of Dunbar prisoner) & Catherine Gridley > John Darling & Naomi Flanders > John Darling & Mary Page > Judith Darling and Benjamin Cilley > Aaron Cilley and Elizabeth Dodge > Jane Cilley & Eliphalet Green > Jane Warren Green & Jeremiah Green Miller > Rev. Charles Carroll Miller & Miriam Cross Dyer > Frank Augustus Miller & Cora Adaline Fenn > Ruth Mary Miller & Alphonsus Edward Ward Sr. > Robert Hudson Ward & Marjorie Jean O'Brien > Me.

Many surnames I assumed were Irish or English have their origins in Scotland due to migration to and from both countries. Lazell/Lasell/Lassell, Austin, Brown, Darling, Robson, Duncan, Cummins and probably Miller and Walker had Scottish roots. Ancestry says 56% of my DNA is Scottish. My research confirms that estimate.

My GEDmatch number is DE4361004 and my FTDNA Kit number is 371374. That's the Y-111 test. Also, a combo kit is SP595864C1. My ward-1 tree in both Ancestry and Family Search is public. My Family Search PID is LV57-PVM. I don't have my full tree at Family Search because they allow other members to change the information I have and worked on for over 23 years. That has relegated FS to the dog house and I use the site only for research.

My Y-DNA Haplogroup is R1b and the subclade is R-M269, same as a lot of other people who have primarily western European and British Isles ancestors. If you are in the mtDNA haplogroup J1c3a1 and have Irish ancestors, please contact me through the Contact form above!

• My Cleveland, Paine & Doane Ancestors
• Greats, 12 generations of ancestors (The ones I know about).
• Land transaction records from Drummond and Montague Townships in Lanark County, Ontario, Canada in the 1824 - 1843 time period by my Ward rellies.
• Keatings in County Wexford, Ireland
• My Hudsons and Peels of Perth
• My Wilsons of Mallet Creek, Medina County, Ohio.
• My maternal line, Grandma Evelyn's ancestral line, and her nasty grandfather.
• Inez Bellows Strouse This is a redesigned & updated page about my father's cousin, Inez Bellows Strouse, daughter of grandfather Alphonsus Edward Ward's half-sister, Mary Alice Peel Bellows. My Uncle Ed, the late A. Edward Ward Jr., did some genealogy research in the 1970s, some of which is noted here.
• My Dibble ancestors and their siblings
• My Gardner ancestors and their siblings.

• My Mayflower Ancestors I have ten ancestors who were passengers on that famous boat!! Three families - The Brewsters, the Tilleys and son-in-law John Howland plus Richard Warren and the Hopkins crew.
• My Madden Conundrum - Problems with My Madden line.
• DNA matches and issues. Some don't like using less than 7cM matches.
• My Stickney, Cleveland and Chute connections.
• My Beach-Churchill Connection page
• "Dear Ancestor," my favorite genealogy poem.
• "Millers In Maine - My 17th and 18th century Miller ancestors in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Ancestors who served in the military. Click the link for a pic.

• Revolutionary War: Reuben Stickney, Sergeant, NH Volunteers; Ralph Cross, Colonel, Essex Regiment Commander at the Battle Of Saratoga (General Burgoyne's Surrender) and Lemma Bartholomew; Hendrick LaRue; Daniel Dibble and Enoch Dockham, Orange County NY Militia; John Wood, Captain, New York Militia (Source: DAR); Samuel Spencer (Source: DAR)
• War of 1812: Alpheus Madden, Private, Thomas Bartholomew and Robert Parks, rates unknown.
• Civil War: Charles Emmet O'Brien, 27th Michigan Infantry, Company H. National Park Service Battle Units link. Also, Amos Smith, Private, 2nd Michigan Cavalry, Company H and Heman Dockham, Private, 14th Michigan Infantry, Company I. All lived in Deerfield Township, Lapeer County, Michigan.
• World War One: Frank Richard O'Brien Private, US Army.
• World War Two: Robert Hudson Ward, Staff Sergeant, USMC.

Jim's Family Photo Album

Paternal great-great grandfather Patrick Ward. See my Ward page.	Paternal grandmother Ruth Mary Miller Ward at about age 18.	GG-Grandfather Rev. Charles Carroll Miller, grandfather of Grandma Ruth Mary Miller Ward.
Maternal grandfather Frank Richard O'Brien, abt. 1917 in WW1 uniform.	Maternal great grandmother Lodema Beach Spencer.	Maternal great grandparents Frank Emmet and Hattie Smith O'Brien, about 1933.

More Family Photos

Maternal grandmother Evelyn Spencer O'Brien.	Lodema Beach Spencer and children.	Maternal grandfather Frank R. O'Brien.
Father Robert H. Ward at 15 months.	3rd G-Grandfather Daniel Dibble Fenn.	2nd G-Grandmother Miriam Cross Dyer Miller.