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James Oscar Byrne and the Luck of the Irish
March 17, 2016
— 1 Comment
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- James Oscar Byrne
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- James Oscar Byrne
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- James Oscar Byrne
James Oscar Byrne (1840 – 1879)
2nd great-grandfather
Sarah Helena Byrne (1878 – 1962)
daughter of James Oscar Byrne
Olga Fern Scott (1897 – 1968)
daughter of Sarah Helena Byrne
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Olga Fern Scott
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse
My second great-grandfather was born in County Meathe, Ireland and immigrated to the United States during the potato famine with his family. He arrived in New York at the age of 7 in 1848. His family took up residence in Wilna, Jefferson County, in upstate New York. I know from notes left to me by his daughter, my great-grandmother, that he and his brother Luke operated a saw mill in Michigan before they moved to Kansas. She wrote that they sent all the wood to build homes in Kansas from that mill. On the Kansas census of 1875 he says he moved to Kansas from Wyoming, which was pretty wild at the time. He was married to Hattie Peterson, age 19, and her parents lived next door to them in that census. James owned a large piece of property, much larger than Hattie’s family, and his profession was listed as farmer.
James and Hattie had 2 daughters born in Ladore, Kansas, where James is buried. After all the adventures he endured crossing the ocean (a voyage during which two of his siblings died), lumber speculating in Michigan, making it to Wyoming, and settling on the frontier in Kansas he died in 1879 at the age of 38, when my great-grandmother Sarah Helena was less than a year old. I don’t know the cause of death. He was probably the only Catholic in his wife’s family, and maybe the only Catholic in my entire ancestry. I was Catholic for a year when I went to boarding school because I didn’t like to go to long Moravian church services and being Catholic was the only way to get out of it. My parents did not object. I wonder if that was some kind of calling from clan O’Byrne that lead me to do that. I will never know but on St. Patrick’s Day I feel proud of James Oscar and his adventurous spirit.
Irish Love
Queen Maeve
March 13, 2013
Tara is the magical center of the Emerald Isle. Maeve is the goddess of Tara. A self affirming magical Irish legend, Maeve was the sensual primal woman. Her name means intoxicated woman. She rules sovereignty as well as sexuality. As a symbol of the sovereign, she temporarily married the Kings of Ireland, and rejected those not up to the job. She is perhaps all legend and may have been a real queen.
Celtic women did not suffer the same unequal status as other Euro women. They held property and went to war. Queen Maeve granted sexual favors to the most valiant members of her army as part of standard operating procedures. She, like Cleopatra, was said to have had a multitude of lovers. Her husband had extramarital activity also. They went to war with each other over a bull. She felt the need to have exactly as much property as her husband, and allowed her lusty passion to turn to war. Her story, not recorded, but passed down in Celtic mythology, warns that hot passion can go either way. This wild, drunken, sexy queen had her way with Ireland, and perhaps still does.
Race Riots
March 11, 2013
Tulsa race riot 1921
Race riot Tulsa 1921
My father, Richard Arden Morse, was a bit of a racist, but did not have any idea of his own pedigree. His great-grandfather came to New York from Ireland during the potato famine with his O’Byrne parents and siblings, who dropped the O’ to assimilate. When asked, my father would say he was Scots Irish. This American term refers to the Ulster Scots, who have all those Orange issues in Northern Ireland. A little flash of orange ribbon drives these people, and their neighbors, completely batty. You would need to be born in Ulster to understand this, I think. The troubles are a completely local phenomena, although both sides have supporters elsewhere.
Richard Arden was born in Independence, Kansas on Feb 18, 1920. In December of 1920 armed violence broke out between white and black citizens of that town. It was a very small town, and this had to be a big impact on the area. In 1921 the city of Tulsa, where I was born, was host to one of the most violent of race wars of all time. The Tulsa racial violence of 2 June, 1921 was distinctly ignored by Oklahoma official history until very recently. I only lived in Tulsa for about 4 years, and my dad also left Independence with his family to live near Ponca City, Oklahoma during his school years.
He was for sure Irish, and when Mr. Scott married Ms Byrne, he was trending Scot again. However, I do not think he knew what any of this meant. I believe that my father’s racial prejudice was a karmic and cultural affliction. He did not openly dislike anyone because of race, but his actions betrayed his deeper ethics. To his credit, he and my mom made an effort not to pass the racist culture on to my brother and me.
Bridget OByrne (1808 – 1880)
is my 3rd great grandmother
James Oscar Byrne (1840 – 1879)
son of Bridget OByrne
Sarah Helena Byrne (1878 – 1962)
daughter of James Oscar Byrne
Olga Fern Scott (1897 – 1968)
daughter of Sarah Helena Byrne
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Olga Fern Scott
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse
Bridget O’Byrne was typical, but lucky. She survived the passage to New York, and most of her kids did also. She had a home in upstate New York. Sarah Helena, her daughter in law, wrote the notes I used to start my tree. The O’Byrnes of Wilna, Jefferson, NY gave their estate to a Catholic church there, and left the records of their family history with that church. A treasure hunt awaits me in upstate New York that may reveal all the Irish information I can handle, including Bridget’s family name. The Catholics of Wilna have my bingo card, and I am grateful.
Irish Heritage
March 10, 2013
— 7 Comments
Grandmothers
The lady on the far right, Emiline P Nichols, was born in Pennsylvania in 1837, moved to Ohio, and then to Kansas. Her daughter, Harriet Peterson (to her left) married an Irishman, James Oscar Byrne, of County Meath. James died the year his daughter, Sarah Helena Byrne (big lady in the middle) was born. He is buried in a Catholic graveyard in Kansas. Without the hardship and adventure endured by James O’Byrne I would not have the luck of the Irish, so I am eternally grateful.
Elizabeth Darcy, 19th Great Grandmother
January 17, 2013
Elizabeth Darcy
My 19th great grandmother came from County Meath, Ireland, just like the O’Byrnes of the potato famine on my father’s side. She was a fancy lady with very famous ancestors herself. She was described by an historian as a wise and honorable lady.
Elizabeth Darcy (1331 – 1390)
is my 19th great grandmother
Johanna Hertforth (1345 – 1428)
Daughter of Elizabeth
Ellen Urswick (1364 – 1459)
Daughter of Johanna
Richard Molyneux (1386 – 1460)
Son of Ellen
Sir Richard Earl Sefton Molyneux (1422 – 1459)
Son of Richard
Thomas Sir 8th Earl of Sefton Molyneux (1445 – 1483)
Son of Sir Richard Earl Sefton
Lawrence Castellan of Liverpool Mollenaux (1490 – 1550)
Son of Thomas Sir 8th Earl of Sefton
John Mollenax (1542 – 1583)
Son of Lawrence Castellan of Liverpool
Mary Mollenax (1559 – 1575)
Daughter of John
Francis Gabriell Holland (1596 – 1660)
Son of Mary
John Holland (1628 – 1710)
Son of Francis Gabriell
Elizabeth Holland (1652 – 1737)
Daughter of John
Richard Dearden (1645 – 1747)
Son of Elizabeth
George Dearden (1705 – 1749)
Son of Richard
George Darden (1734 – 1807)
Son of George
David Darden (1770 – 1820)
Son of George
Minerva Truly Darden (1806 – )
Daughter of David
Sarah E Hughes (1829 – 1911)
Daughter of Minerva Truly
Lucinda Jane Armer (1847 – 1939)
Daughter of Sarah E
George Harvey Taylor (1884 – 1941)
Son of Lucinda Jane
Ruby Lee Taylor (1922 – 2008)
Daughter of George Harvey
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Ruby Lee
Elizabeth Darcy
Elizabeth Darcy, Countess of Ormond (3 April 1332- 24 March 1390), was the wife of James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, and the mother of his six children, including James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond.
Family and lineageElizabeth Darcy was born on 3 April 1332 at Platten, County Meath, Ireland, the daughter of Sir John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Knaith, Justiciar of Ireland, and his second wife Joan de Burgh. Sir John was a veteran of the Battle of Crecy. He held the offices of Constable of Nottingham Castle, Constable of the Tower of London, and Sheriff of Lancashire. From 1341- 1346, he was Chamberlain to King Edward III. Elizabeth had a brother Sir William Darcy, who married Catherine FitzGerald, by whom he had issue. She also had numerous half-siblings from her parents’ previous marriages. Her father’s first wife was Emeline Heron, by whom he had eight children, including his heir, John Darcy, 2nd Baron Darcy of Knaith. Elizabeth’s mother’s first husband had been Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare, by whom she had three sons, John FitzGerald, Richard FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Kildare, and Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare.Elizabeth’s paternal grandparents were Roger Darcy and Isabel d’Aton. Her maternal grandparents were Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and Margaret de Burgh, daughter of Sir John de Burgh and Hawise of Lanvaley.One of her maternal aunts was Elizabeth de Burgh, wife of Robert the Bruce.Marriages and childrenOn 15 May 1346 in Ormond, Ireland, when Elizabeth was fourteen, she married her first husband James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond (4 October 1331- 18 October 1382), the son of James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond and Lady Eleanor de Bohun. He was Lord Justice of Ireland in 1359, 1364, and 1376. He was also Constable of Dublin Castle in 1349. He was known as the Noble Earl, however, the Irish called him The Chaste.Upon her marriage to the Earl, Elizabeth assumed the title of Countess of Ormond.James and Elizabeth had six children: 1. Ralph Butler 2. Eleanor Butler (died 1392), married Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, by whom she had issue, including the 4th and 6th Earls of Desmond. 3. James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond (died 6 September 1405), before 17 June 1386, married firstly, Anne Welles, Countess of Ormond, daughter of John Welles, 4th Lord Welles and Maud de Ros, by whom he had issue, including James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. He married secondly, Katherine FitzGerald of Desmond, by whom he had further issue. In 1391, he purchased Kilkenny Castle. 4. Thomas Butler 5. Catherine Butler (born 1361), married firstly, Thomas Reade, by whom she had one son, Richard, and secondly, Thomas Fleming of Slane. 6. Joan Butler, married Tiege O’ Carroll
James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, died on 18 October 1382 in Knocktopher and was buried in Gowran Church, Co. Kilkenny. Elizabeth married secondly, Sir Robert de Hereford, Seneschal of the Liberty of Tipperary, between 28 December 1383 and 30 March 1384.
DeathElizabeth Darcy died on 24 March 1390. She was not quite fifty-eight years old.
References 1. ^ Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham,Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. p.161 2. ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Ormond * http://www.Tudorplace.com.ar/DARCY.htm * http://www.Tudorplace.com.ar/BUTLER.htm * Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Ormond * Elizabeth Darcy at ThePeerage.com
Mumming and Masquerade
October 8, 2012
— 4 Comments
The traditions that exist around costumed rituals abound. Mumming may be from the Irish, may be from the Celtic, but now is interpreted by many modern Brits to honor an ancient tradition. The costumes are significant both in the way they change and in the similarities to ancient customs. Straw boys represent good luck, and are sent to visit newly married couples. There are specific plays and characters for Christmas and Halloween in modern mumming that are uninterrupted traditions from ancient history.
Today people have avatars, play games as super heroes, and give themselves any title they please in their on line lives. I think it is interesting that there are so many groups passionate to preserve the costuming and cultures from history, from Civil War reenactments to the merry mummers of the British Isles, to Helldorado Days in Tombstone, AZ. The tradition of mime is related to the mummers. The costume tells much of the story, just as it does in many Naive American dances. Will you dress up for the end of October? Will you do anything special to honor the dead? It is the perfect time.
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