Happy Irish Day Y'all!

Somewhere near this bare spot in an old Catholic cemetery in the middle of my hometown lie my Great -Great Grandparents who came to America from Athlone, Co. Roscommon, Ireland in the 1800's.

There is no gravestone but I know where they rest Thanks to my Auntie Mick, who shares my love of family history and geneaology. Without her, I would not know that they settled first out on the prairie, in the town of Georgesville, very close to my favorite metropark near the (now) Big Darby River. They later lived on Jones Avenue in Franklinton and were a huge part of making Columbus what it would evolve to be. Their son and my Great- Grandfather had 12 kids and one of those was my Grandfather,

Barry Dominic Finneran.

Growing up I always heard from my Mom that she was 100% Irish. Well , then geneaology came along and we found some rare strands of Scotch-Irish, Scotch, English(heaven forbid), French, Dutch, Ukrainian and possibly even a little Mohawk Indian. I still think of my Mom as 100% Irish though, because she truly is. I would love to have a conversation with these first Irish immigrants but visiting their grave made me feel a wee bit closer to them still.

I do hope that (in my lifetime) we can get these ancestors a gravestone.

ART Sunday

Westgate Park Camp Chase Mural