Welcome
to this blog celebrating the histories and cultures of Ireland,
the Czech Republic,
England, Scotland, Spain,
and the USA,
that land of opportunity which has shone as a beacon of hope and freedom for
many generations and continues to serve as my home still. Blog entries may vary weekly and touch upon an array of subjects that include: biographies, family trees, recipes, cultural traditions, genealogical research tips, stories, historical tidbits, and pictures. My wish is that you will find them very entertaining, extremely inspiring, and educational
whether you actually find yourself on one of the trees or not. But if you do, then welcome! You are part of a proud heritage as we are descended from rebels, soldiers, ranchers, farmers, government
officials, land speculators, bankers, salesmen all sorts, contractors,
builders, housewives, pioneers, and the list continues. Ordinary and everyday-type people who lived
their lives from one day to the next, leaving their mark on the continuum of
time.
One of the main focuses will be to highlight and preserve my genealogical research and family lore collected over the past twenty-eight years. I never
came to fully realize how important family history was as I grew to adulthood. My first exposure to the world of genealogy
came during my sophomore year at Bishop
Lynch
High School
located in Dallas, Texas,
in 1978. Part of the required curriculum involved
taking a sociology class. Our main
assignment consisted of creating a family tree and short history by the end of
the semester. Of course, I asked my parents,
my Grandmother O’Rourke and others for assistance. Immediately upon receiving my request,
“Granny O” contacted various members of her family to see what if anything
might be known. Because of her quick
call to action, I succeeded in compiling and preserving some vital information on
my father’s Irish, English, Scottish and Spanish lines including the O’Rourke, Salmon,
Little, McKnight, Byrne, Gregory and Curran families, ultimately saving
precious bits of stories from permanent extinction.
In contrast I quickly realized that the task of building my mother’s Czech
lines including the Polasek, Kubin, Bobal, and Mares families would be daunting indeed as
all appeared to be nothing but brick walls. Memories wash over me to a day years
ago as Mom and I sat on the porch swing and I asked her to name her grandparents. With head shaking sadly, she recounted that she
had no memories of any of them as all but one had died years before her birth. The time spent with her remaining Grandfather Polasek
of Granger, Texas
had been special part of her young life but had ended abruptly when he died in 1940. Of course, I was properly shocked and appalled
at this revelation but vowed that one day, I would find out their names and
where they had resided.
Regretfully
I did not keep a copy of that school report nor remember my grade. I did, however, keep my original family tree
grid written by hand fitting only on one single sheet of paper and containing
very few names and places. When I come
across it periodically, I chuckle at its smallness. Now thousands of names grace my trees with myriads
of dates, places, stories, and sources included! I work on it as the mood strikes and twenty-eight
years later I am still accumulating new data weekly. The time spent has been well worth it! Yet my
quest continues as I discover many more people and tales to “unearth.”
Another focus will be to highlight the wonderful cultures which my family claims members of especially those from Ireland and the Czech Republic. My youth was happily filled with yearly pilgrimages to Ennis, Texas for the Polka Festival in May and occasionally to the West Fest in West, Texas in September to celebrate my Czech heritage. Feasting on kolaches, apple strudel (the Czech way!), klobase, and BBQ, remain some of the highlights of these days, all enjoyed to the toe tapping beat of the polka music.
Even though my Czech heritage is very special, the Irish culture fills my whole world! My Grandmother O'Rourke demanded that we celebrated St. Patrick's Day every year with her corned beef, cabbage, buttered potatoes, carrots, soda bread, and green sherbet and Irish coffee (always made with Paddy's Irish Whiskey) for dessert! A meal that certainly lives in infamy! With the North Texas Irish Festival being held here in Dallas, Texas the first weekend of March, my appetite for "things Irish" has been well fed by lively music, fun food, and centuries old traditions As an active Irish dancer, I have been very blessed to have performed there for many years! Amazing!
During these past few years, the
pursuit of my family history led me to travel extensively to places I would
never have seen otherwise. Many a weekend, my parents and I would load up the van and travel all across north and south Texas and Louisiana in search of family tidbits hiding away on some library shelf or graveyard proper. My most memorable trip was the glorious week I spent in Ireland retracing the routes of my Byrne family even the house where generations lived and died! Amazing!
I am
grateful for this privilege to meet an vivid array of people along each route and plan to share that special piece of the puzzle they helped to solve. To many of
you, the people comprising these trees are, at least for now, just names. To me, however, they represent living;
breathing individuals who helped shape our lives and our world as it exists
today. I invite you to step into their
world for awhile, meet them for yourselves, and get to know them if even just
for a little while.
If you
find any errors in the facts and figures contained herein, please let me know
as soon as possible so the original data can be corrected. I have worked diligently to keep errors at a
minimum but alas, there will always be something that refuses to be found. Also if you have additional data on any
family line, a new recipe, or want to share a story or how your family
celebrates our shared cultures, let me know and I will add it accordingly. Just
like a real tree, a family tree never stops growing and reshaping. Remember, the information contained herein
represents years of research already done but it is but a tip of the
iceberg. There are plenty more
stories, data and people to find, so come along and join the journey. Anyone who would like to help and be a part
of this project is extremely welcome!
To contact
me: leave a message on this blog or email me directly at: Orourketraditions@outlook.com.
Thank
you for all your support and best wishes about this project.
No comments:
Post a Comment