Irish history has many fascinating roads down which we can travel. One I followed in compiling my own version of my family tree was this.

Apparently, when he was “the Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland,” Oliver Cromwell did not have fond feelings for the Irish. He sent troops there and kidnapped many thousands of Irish women and Irish men to work as slaves in islands in the Caribbean, especially Barbados (where Irish descendants came to be known as “Red Legs”), Antigua, and Montserrat.

I had an ancestor on my mother’s side who, in Barbados, became a “Master Carpenter,” and did so well that he was able to purchase his freedom. He, along with landed gentry, went to “Charles Town” (now Charleston), South Carolina in 1670 and became a kind of “executive officer” to one of its founders, a so-called “Lord Proprietor.”

He maintained relations with relatives in Ireland and sent for some of them, but mostly they stayed home because they were more comfortable with their old Irish ways.

Tracking down this ancestor on my mother’s side was great; then, when I decided to get into the “high timber,” I was able to do a similar investigation on my father’s side. Wow!

So, I truly envy your skill and dedication in following your genealogical passions. I enjoy your writing, too; it’s immensely entertaining and enlightening.

Many thanks!