Tag Archives: Jane Halloran Ryan

EMIGRATION stories from East Clare parishes to the United States will be the focus of a talk at Waterways Ireland Building in Scariff on Bank Holiday Saturday and Sunday, July 30 and 31 during the local Harbour Festival. It will be followed on both days by free individual genealogical sessions to assist people in creating their family backstories or guiding them through stages of that journey. ‘An Epic Journey – from East Clare to Ellis Island’ is a story told through the eyes of professional genealogist, Jane Halloran Ryan, who will explore the reasons why a cross section of East Clare emigrants made the journey through Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century. “I will be telling the story of what brought people from parishes like Scariff, Mountshannon, Whitegate, Tuamgraney, Ogonnelloe and Killaloe, to board a ship for Ellis Island, looking into whether they remained in New York or went elsewhere and what they ended up doing,” said …

THE fascinating history of an East Clare cemetery has been brought to light in a new publication by Jane Halloran Ryan, in association with Clare Roots Society.  A genealogist and history enthusiast, Jane is current researching for a PhD and is one of the team behind the hugely popular annual journal from heritage group Tulla Reaching Out. In recent years, Jane has been following another historical passion and has recently published Clooney Graveyard Inscriptions, containing a wealth of lore dating back to the early 1700s.  This cemetery dates from the early eighteenth century and contains about 150 headstones, with both Catholic and Protestant families from the parishes around Clooney, Tulla and Quin, buried there at one time. The church is believed to date back to the thirtieth century, but it is not known what saint it was dedicated to.  “One of the main reasons that pushed me to record Clooney was the fact that my great-great grandparents are both buried …

More than a thousand people from one East Clare village passed through Ellis Island on their way to a new life in the United States, according to research undertaken on the parish. An online exhibition exploring the Irish emigration experience to America was launched in Tulla at the weekend and focuses on the town’s emigrants and diaspora. The community was chosen as the pilot parish for a research project undertaken by the nationwide organisation, Ireland Reaching Out, with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as part of the Government’s Emigrant Support Programme. The results of the research and the findings of the study were launched in Tulla Courthouse last Friday. As well as the online resource, a curated exhibition featuring eight emigrants was hosted as part of the Tulla Reaching Out Weekend of Welcomes, an annual festival that celebrates local heritage and welcomes the diaspora back into the parish. Epic Journeys Ellis Island brings to life …

TULLA resident Jane Halloran Ryan was presented with the Ireland Reaching Out Volunteer of the Year award at a ceremony held in Limerick at the weekend. Born and raised in Connecticut, Jane’s Irish ancestral connections are in Clare, Cork, Sligo and Antrim. Having always had a keen interest in genealogy and family history, she became involved in the Ireland Reaching Out project in 2011. Speaking about the award, Jane said, “It’s great. I am delighted to be acknowledged but, at the same time, I have to be honest, all of us are great volunteers. The organisation has terrific volunteers working for it. I’m also delighted for Tulla and we joked at the event about it being another All-Ireland. It’s been a great year for us in Tulla and Ireland Reaching Out is a terrific project on so many levels. I think it will go from strength to strength with not only the heritage work but with tourism and with business …