The old country...
So where do your folks come from, if you go back far enough...
My father is an Ulsterman (Ireland). My mother was part Maori, part English. We have some American whalers in our ancestry too...(no, not Herman Melville though )
I'm proud of all my ancestry on both sides of my heritage line. I have my own cultural 'identity' which is partly heritage, partly who I see myself as, and partly how I want the future to be.
Personally I'm one who delights in immigrants or descendents of immigrants continuing to celebrate (and not lose sight of) their ancestry, wherever that may be.
We can be proud of where (and who) we are without forgetting where we came from.
So...
* where do everyone's ancestors come from?
* have you ever made a pilgrimage to the 'old' country to see where your folks came from originally
Saundra Kane Traveller in the arts
Posts: 19
(1/20/02 3:38 am) Reply
Re: The old country...
My grandparents are my father's side came from Ireland....I think County Galway and County Mayo. On my Mom's side they trace back before the Revolutionary War so I don't know. As of yet I haven't gone to Ireland. My cousin did and he found the cottage that my grandfather grew up in. He was going to buy it but it had been damaged extensively by fire and thought it would be a bad purchase.
Traveller in the arts
Posts: 9
(1/22/02 11:57 am) Reply
Re: The old country...
My dad's family has lived in the eastern US for over 400 years, but before that, they came over from England. My mom's family came over from Sicily at the turn of the century.
~Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc~
Traumaddict Traveller in the arts
Posts: 65
(1/23/02 7:09 am) Reply
Re: The old country...
Ohh Cool! I love this question. I agree that ancestry is so important, not to mention interesting. I like to know what people's ethnic backgrounds are, don't know why. I always envied my grandma as a child - she could hear someone's last name and know what country his ancestors hailed from, or at least where the name came from. I eventually began to figure it out for myself.
Maternal: Great-Grandma & Grandpa Minn hailed from Belfast, Ireland. Great Grandma & Grandpa Sanfilippo from Campo Felici, Sicily - about 50K from Palermo.
Paternal: Grandma's mom & dad I think were Irish & German. Grandpa's were Slovak.
I usually just say I'm Irish and Italian, tho.
Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. - Helen Keller
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