Family Gatherings 2005 - Russian River

One year after Hawaii....the family got together again.  Nikki found a couple of houses across the street from each other on the Russian River! 

The Cousins and the next generation....Andi is missing from this
picture, she couldn't stay for the whole week

The two oldest generations! 

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Reflections on Nephews

I just spent a morning at Grandparents and Friends day with the youngest of my nephews.  The youngest of his generation in our family.  I couldn't help thinking how proud Mom and Dad would have been of him and of all their Grandsons.

The oldest of those grandsons, the one approaching fifty, has always been a bundle of energy.  Eager to share his enthusiasm for life with the world.  He was the only one who knew his Grandpa Jim in his better days...he and his mom living with his grandparents for a time and then close for a few more years. I have always thought that being a student in one of his classes would be a true adventure.




Next in line, the philosopher.  Well, kind of sort of.  Wonderfully interesting views of life lead to great conversations, Mom's kind of conversations....I envision the two of them deep in discussion...... and I myself enjoy those conversations, a book discussed, a podcast revisited.  I often regret the fact that by the time he was visiting his Grandpa Jim, the symptoms of Alzheimer's were already kicking in, and noisy kids caused turmoil in his mind.  I wish this nephew had known him in his better days for I think they had much in common in that questioning of the world.. This nephew also won the heart and respect of his Uncle Greg....

Oh, and then the math genius, definitely a throwback to his Grandpa Jim on both the genius front and the somewhat trouble making teen years.  But there the line is drawn.  Well, kind of sort of.  The grandfather allowed to much tension to build and then blow while the grandson is as mellow as one can be.  Easy going, of course, can equate with not quite getting things done ... oh but maybe that too is in common, I remember growing up in a house in construction, never, never done.  But both grandpa and grandson, underneath, kind and caring AND brilliant.



And then that youngest nephew, just sixteen, he never knew his Grandpa Jim. Music is at the top of the list of talents .... I heard just a few minutes of viola practice and was transported with the beauty of the sound, this is his new instrument....keyboards, base and violin have all been mastered.  And....he sings, a good baritone. The singing he shares with his grandpa, I remember Dad singing a lot.  Some of his Irish songs would bring tears to my eyes on any day.  Add to that youngest grandsons talent, intelligence and such poise.  As one who is shy on my best days, I couldn't help but admire the poise with which he greeted young and old alike.  He will achieve whatever he sets out to do in this world.

Yes their grandparents would be proud of each and everyone of these grandsons, and also of the absorbed into the family grandson... families can get complicated.....this nephew is not related by blood BUT is the son of the man who was my sister's husband when she passed on, born of a subsequent marriage. He and his father were as much a part of the family as anyone else...and Mom and Dad would also be proud of the man he has become.


And I their aunt am happy to brag about them all!!!!

Family Gatherings 1997

In June of 1997 the family surprised Mom and Dad for their 5oth anniversary!!

More Pictures 

Actually, I don't have more pictures.  If you do perhaps you could add them to the folder!!

the Derbhfhine

For almost 1,000 years, the main unit of Gaelic society was not the nuclear family as we conceive it, but a very particular version of the extended family, the derbhfhine (true kin), all the descendants of a common great-grandfather. 

Among other things, property ownership rested with the derbhfhine, not the individual. So what you could own – cattle in particular –  depended on who your kin were. No wonder genealogy loomed so large and surnames that signaled kinship were so important.

 "The ancient Irish were among the earliest civilizations to value genealogy. "Those of the lowest rank among a great tribe traced and retained the whole line of their descent with the same care which in other nations was peculiar to the rich and great ", noted John O'Donovan in Miscellany of the Celtic Society, "for, it was from his own genealogy each man of the tribe, poor as well as rich, held the charter of his civil state, his right of property in the cantred in which he was born, the soil of which was occupied by one family or clan, and in which no one lawfully possessed any portion of the soil if he was not of the same race as the chief." (Genealogy and Brehon Law)

In his post How Gaelic surnames were Englished Irish Genealogist John Grenham notes........."The name you bore was transparent to those around you, not just, as today, a convenient marker, but instead laden with resonance: stories, possessions, reputations, feuds, homeplaces . . . Gaelic surnames were deeply ingrained in everyday social interactions, as vital and ordinary as language or weather or food." 

So....if we date ourselves back to a common great-grandfather we would find Thomas Madden and our derbhfhine could contain our our Madden, Marqueling and Thornton cousins as well as our Madden second cousins.

 Genealogy and Brehon Law
The Structure of Early Gaelic Society - The Druid Network (this offers a great explanation of the Irish family system)
Derbfine- Wikipedia 
  

DNA Update

With our second Madden Y-DNA - (Second Cousin) we now have our own descending line on the Kelly Tree.  With Townsend/Kelly/Lloyd on one side and 3 Kelly's on the other we come from BY3040.  As more individuals test this might be broken down even more and perhaps eventually we will find just a small window where our Kelly ancestors became Maddens.

Get a better copy of this chart....HERE

I am still looking for Maddens whose ancestors were in the Great Lakes area to test.  The coincidences in family history make some connection to our family seem possible.  At worst it would be good to rule that possibility out.

Family Gatherings - 2011

Oregon provides a good middle ground for the family.  The oldest generation is spread from Seattle to Seaside.  We have met twice in Sun River, the first time in 2011.  This page includes pictures supplied by many family members. Liam was missing and  only there for a few days, Eric seems to have eluded the camera! Tim, Denise and Mariah stayed home with Mom, who was in the end, not well enough to travel.

 
 

 

 

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EPIC

It is worth a trip to Dublin just to visit EPIC The Irish Immigrant Museum. The technology is spectacular and would thrill everyone from the smallest inquisitive child to old technophobics.

Every part of every room is used: floor, ceiling and walls,  to tell the story of our immigrant ancestors.  

There seemed as many local families there as tourists, but it flows well and never seemed crowded.  There were seats throughout and movies to watch, so you could see it all without getting too tired.

I could go again and again!!