Family Gatherings 2007

Cruising Alaska

In 2007 the venue was an Alaskan Cruise.  We set sail from Seattle, with stops in Juneau and Skagway, then through the inner passage and a final stop in Prince Rupert.  

More Pictures

Limerick

Limerick City dates to the Vikings about 1830.  The Irish Historic Towns Atlas has a great history of Limerick online that tracks the city through the centuries.  The  Limerick Archives has a digital collection of Government and Private papers dating from the early 1700s on.

Portion of Hardiman Map of Limerick 1590 - Limerick Archives

By 1841 the City of Limerick had 48391 residents.  In 1851 that number had grown to 48785.  The increase no doubt was due to the fact that so many who had been forced from the townlands to the cities for looked for work or perhaps emigration possibilities. From that time on the population decreased, reaching a low of 37115 in 1891.

Limerick county's population shrunk by less than 25%, from 330,029 to 262,132 in 1851.  While this is a smaller decrease than elsewhere in Ireland, it is still significant. 

James Madden left Limerick in 1850.  We believe that Anna and a child Willie followed shortly thereafter, just a few of the many that left due to the great famine. 

The area of Limerick city where we believe James lived was not likely to have been included in the city numbers above, or in the county numbers for that matter, as it seems he lived in the greater city area but in the County of Clare.

How long James had been in Limerick is also unknown.  With no Y DNA connection to any Madden family and no christening or marriage record found, it is impossible to place him in a family, all connections are supposition. 

• Irish Historic Towns Atlas Online: Limerick 
• Limerick Archives
• Brief Timeline of Limerick History
• History of Limerick - Wikipedia 
• Limerick in Dropbox