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Kilbride and McAndrew Clues From Ireland

I'm still riding high from a two-week trip to Ireland the Hubs and I just took! We took one morning off from our drive along the Wild Atlantic Way to conduct what the Hubs calls the "Nancy's dead relatives" portion of the trip. We visited County Mayo, the reputed place of origin for many of my Irish ancestors who made their way to the United States after the Famine and settled in Pennsylvania. We had a wonderful guide there, got some valuable clues, and set eyes on places that my ancestors probably saw in their time.    The family background My immigrant Kilbride (the name became Gilbride over time) ancestors were my 4th great-grandparents James Kilbride and Mary Hart . James and many of the couple's children immigrated to America in April 1850. They followed their two eldest sons, Martin, who immigrated in 1846 and Michael, who arrived in 1847. 1 Another of my Irish immigrant couples were my great-great-grandparents Patrick McAndrew and Ann Kelly , wh...
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Tell Me a Story: Using Heirlooms and Artifacts to Inspire Your Writing

At a recent meeting of local genealogists, we discussed the article entitled, "Story Triggers: Finding Inspiration for Writing Family History"—about how our senses can help us tell family stories. The article's author, Sandra J. Crowley, noted that these triggers can fall into several categories aligned with the senses, such as visual, auditory, environmental, etc.1 

As I considered what I tend to gravitate to, I find that artifacts and heirlooms are what inspires me the most: a photo, a piece of crocheting, a baby book, an embroidery, etc. A single artifact can appeal to several senses at once: to the visual, the tactile, and even the olfactory. Think about a fragile marriage certificate that nearly crumbles to the touch, yet is still colorful, and carries a faint smell of old paper. 

I've found heirlooms and artifacts are rich inspiration for my writing, and penned an article, "Tell Me a Story: Using Heirlooms and Artifacts to Inspire Your Writing," for the Texas State Genealogical Society's journal, Stirpes, last year. I included many examples of how I used these items to write about the item's place in our family history, its owner's past, or as a starting point to tell a family story. You can read the article below.

I hope you're inspired to think about the artifacts you own and how they can help you tell the story of your own family. What will you write about? Tell me in the comments.

Until next time...

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2026. All rights reserved. 


P.S. Our discussion group is called Connections. Sponsored by the Denton Public Library, it is modeled after the National Genealogical Society Quarterly's study groups, and uses articles from Stirpes, the Journal of the Texas State Genealogical Society, as the basis for discussion. TxSGS subsequently picked up the model and offers it to their Partner Societies as the Stirpes Study Group. For more info on this program, visit: https://www.txsgs.org/stirpes-study-group/


NOTES

1  Sandra J. Crowley, "Story Triggers: Finding Inspiration for Writing Family History," Stirpes: Journal of the Texas State Genealogical Society, 64:1 (March 2025), 46-48.

 


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  1. AnonymousMay 7, 2026 at 12:53 PM

    Sandra Robertson --the Stirpes article gives many examples of family heirlooms as a means of starting the writing process. I have used some of my treasured heirlooms to write about the person who owned the item as it shows an aspect of their life.

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    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseyMay 17, 2026 at 9:23 AM

      Sandra, you are doing a great job using heirlooms and I'm sure that your family is finding the stories very interesting and enlightening. They will never look at those items the same way again! Thanks for reading.

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