My venture into genealogy began when I decided to simply make a list of the children at our family gatherings, and who they belonged to. I was only going to make a list, but the project grew as I became interested in our immigrant history. It became a great detective game. Checking public records, genealogy libraries, and finally enlisting the help of a Dublin genealogist who uncovered the fact that there was another brother and a sister who stayed on at the family farm near Carrickmacross, county Monaghan , after my grandfather left in 1887 for San Francisco.
Finding the origin of my surname and its meaning in the Irish language was exciting for me. I had thought it might have been a variation of trainer and possibly our ancestors were horse trainers because they were horseshoers and blacksmiths, named for their trade, like the bakers, carpenters and smiths. The Irish name was Treanfhear (strong man or champion). I was pleased it didn't have an undesirable meaning, such as CONNOR, from Cairach, meaning "scabby". Probably many different tribes had a treanfhear, so I'll never know which ancient sept or clan mine came from.
Another thrill was when I learned from the Dublin genealogist just a short time before going on vacation to Ireland, that we had Traynor relatives still living on the same farm where my grandfather was born. In 1987 I had written to a few people with my surname whose addresses were found in an Irish phonebook at the library. Fortunately I knew the townland my Grandfather came from, so I picked those living close to it. One of the people drove 12 k. (my relatives had no phone) to my relative's home and handed my letter to Johnnie Traynor, the son of my grandfather's brother. He gave me the address and I wrote to Johnnie . Since I would leave on vacation before I could receive a reply, I told him the hotel I would be at in Dublin. I had no idea if he got my letter or if he would be interested in seeing me, but upon arrival at the hotel I got a phone call inviting me to visit. I met Johnnie, his wife Maggie, his sister, and his son, "Patsy". After 100 years the Irish and American relatives were united.
Johnnie showed me around, and the family's forge and anvil were still there. He took me to see my GGrandparents headstone. His son had worked at the cemetary the day before, clearing a path through the 6 foot high thatch covering the grounds. I had hopes of hearing about our more ancient history, but I even had to tell Johnnie who his uncles were. He said his father had never talked about his brothers and sisters, that he could remember.
When I asked my mother if anyone had the family tree on my father's side, she told me that Aunt Agnes had all that information. So I thought, "Well good, I'll get that from her one of these days". I wasn't interested enough to go and talk to her about it until it was too late. I then discovered from her son that she had it all in her head and never wrote any of it down. But all was not lost. The little anecdotes and bits of information that make a family history a little more personal were still available in the able memory of my Aunt Rosalie. She has furnished me with much of the oral history of the Irish family. Her memory has proved to be quite accurate. Now, at last, whatever is known now or discovered later will be put down in writing for future generations.
(by Pat Traynor)
