Sunday 4 July 2021

My Conundrums of the Surname and Lineage

Conundrums:
Why does the woman change her surname when she marries a male?
Why does a child of this union take on the married surname?

Think about this...
A child grows in a womans womb, therefore he/she is 100% a product of that woman's lineage.
The male/spouse may in fact not be the other half of this child.
Shouldn't the woman carry the surname of "her" line and pass it on to a child?
In fact, I believe that is the way it should be!

You can have the best paper trail confirming your lines, step into DNA and a person's world can unravel.

I have had an unenviable situation where I tested a male cousin to confirm our Lucas line.  His DNA results came back and it turns out he is a name "only" child of this line.

Added: 4 Jul 2021
Last year I also had a complete change of one family line, the mother had a child to her former brother-in-law, DNA brought this one to the surface, imagine telling the person his father isn't his father.  It was hard!  Although before his passing he did get to know his half-sister a little.  Precious time was had.

I'm Back, where have I been?

Hey everyone.  I am back!  Where have I been?  Read on...


I've pretty much taken a 3-year hiatus from doing much with genealogy and DNA, however, the baton has been picked up, the site will be refreshed and research has already re-started.


After Mum passed I really struggled with doing the research.  She was my research partner in the earlier years and in the latter my sounding board, go to person to nut scenarios and details out and just share the joy and tribulations.


I had to re-evaluate whether I had been doing it for her or myself and whether I wanted to continue.  Add to that medical issues which make computer time difficult it was a HUGE decision.  I swear she keeps throwing people at me from beyond, its like a knock-knock I've sent you this "NOW GET BACK TO IT GIRL!".  Nag for eternity?  MAYBE, I love you, Mum.


I started researching in 1983 when my firstborn was cooking, I had corralled my in-laws (consistently) and dragged information out of them.  Then there was my paternal grandfather, before he passed, oh boy did we have discussions.  I was so disappointed not to find the stories as he told them at first, but with fresh eyes and remembering it was "his" story I looked and researched again and found most of what he said in one form or another.  Research tells a slightly different story (thus far), you know what?  That is okay, in fact even joyous, because they were "his recollections from his memories” which he took the time to share with me and I hold that time very dear.


I will also be posting random “blogging” type posts, not just genealogy, this is at the request of my daughter, she reckons I need to put it in writing, some great ideas hiding there so we’ll see what happens.


Welcome back, I look forward to sharing, connecting and getting to know new cousins.


I do have a couple of Facebook Groups to help each other out and share information, feel free to join the relevant one, would love to see you there!


  • Leahy Genealogy & Family History for all searching for Leahy’s and derivatives.
    • Lahey and Leahy originate from two different Gaelic surnames. Lahey, Lahy, Lahiff, Lahiffe, Laffey, and Lahive all originate from the Gaelic surname O Laithimh, which itself is a variant of O Flaithimh. O Flaithimh derives from the Irish word flaitheamh, which means lord or ruler. By the 16th century, the name was found in Galway, Clare, Tipperary, and Kilkenny.
    • Leahy, Leehy, O’Leghy, and O’Leahy stem from the Gaelic surname O Laochdha. In Irish, laochdha means heroic. O Laochdha is an old Munster surname, which, by the 1890s,  was found throughout Ireland. It is still most common in the counties of Munster: Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary. (Source: irishamerica,com : Roots: A look at the Laheys and the Leahy’s.)



Lastly, there is also a Facebook page where I post interesting stuff for all to peruse.


Cheers

Rhonda