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Grandma Gilbride's Date & Nut Bread, 1974

Date & Nut Bread is Santa-approved! Our genealogy writing group is getting together this week and some of us are going to bring a holiday goodie to share. One of my absolute favorite holiday treats is my Grandma Gilbride's Date & Nut Bread. Grandma Gilbride was born Mary Josephine Baker (1911-1981) in Cleveland. She married my grandfather, Joseph John Gilbride (1910-1990) in 1934 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. I don't have any real memory of Grandma Gilbride making this bread though we probably enjoyed some on a holiday visit to my grandparents' house. Clearly Mom thought it was a winner and asked for the recipe and she started making this bread when I was in my early teens. The recipe card I inherited is dated 12/21/1974.  When baked the bread usually has a peak running down the length, which cracks open a bit. It's moist, dense, and sweet, with a little crunch of walnuts and nuggets of diced dates. The bread is perfect with a little cream cheese spread...

An Irish Perspective on Scranton


You may have heard that President Joe Biden traveled to his ancestral homeland in County Mayo, Ireland back in April. President Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, also the birthplace of several of our Gilbride and McAndrew family lines, who likely also trace their roots back to County Mayo. At least one ancestor, my great-great grandmother Ann Kelly McAndrew, reportedly was born in County Mayo, though her exact birthplace is yet to be discovered.1

While in Ireland, President Biden visited the North Mayo Heritage Centre, dedicated to preserving and promoting the rich heritage of the region. The Centre's April 16, 2023 publication—Mayo Heritage Newsletter—profiled Scranton and its links to Mayo, in honor of President's visit.2 

I asked Centre staff for permission to include this article here, as it is interesting to see Scranton through Irish eyes. Many thanks to the North Mayo Heritage Centre staff for allowing me to reprint their newsletter article. 

If you prefer to read the article in PDF form, click here and download "Newsletter 16/04/23." Find an archive of past newsletters at the same webpage.

Until next time...

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NOTES

All links accessed 16 May 2023.

1 State of Ohio, Department of Health, Certificate of Death 68240, Ann McAndrew, 16 December 1925; database and images, "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PKD-RJM : 16 May 2023); citing County Courthouse, Cleveland.

2 "Scranton," Mayo Heritage Newsletter, Vol. IV, #16, 16 April 2023; digital image, North Mayo Heritage Centre (https://www.northmayogenealogy.com/latest). Images used with permission.

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