Interviews and blog posts for “Novel Research” are focused on
interesting topics that participants have researched before or while
composing a written work - whether fact, fiction, or family history.
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My ancestors from Tipperary, Ireland have the name McKeough. The family, including my gggrandmother Margaret, emigrated from Ireland to Canada and later settled in eastern Wisconsin. Generations later, I heard my relatives pronounce the name as "McKey". While delving into the Irish branch of my family tree, I researched the purpose of beginning a name with the prefix Mac, Mc, or O, I learned the following:
In ancient Ireland the population was much smaller than it is today and the mass movement of people was uncommon. Therefore, for a person to be known only by one name was usual. This single name system began to break down during the eleventh century as the population grew and there was a need for a further means of identification. The solution was to adopt a prefix such as Mac (Mc is an abbreviation) or Ó.
Mac means "son of" whilst Ó means "grandson of".
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| Idyllic Irish Farmland |
In the years before my ancestors left Ireland, many rural families in Ireland lived in single-room cabins made of mud and without windows or chimneys. People often lived together in communal clusters called clachans (a small settlement or hamlet) spread out among the beautiful countryside. Up to a dozen persons might occupy a cabin, sleeping in straw on the bare ground, sharing space with the family's pig and chickens.
In the 1840s, my ancestors moved from Ireland to Lower Canada, later known as Quebec. No records of movement for free emigrants to Canada were required until 1865. (The USA required these records since 1773.)
Engaging in genealogical research and then writing a novel based on the information garnered from the research - SHARDS OF MEMORY Oral History in a Heartbeat - is my idea of an exciting pastime. It's not climbing Mount Everest, or kiteboarding on O'ahu (no, that's not me on the water!) but the "high" is still there.
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| Kiteboarding (or kitesurfing) with Mōkapu Peninsula in background |
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What names of relatives or locations have you researched in your family tree?
SHARDS OF MEMORY
Oral History In A Heartbeat
is available at Amazon.com in print and ebook
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I've never done any research on my family tree!
ReplyDeleteI know my roots trace back to China though as I'm a third generation Malaysian Chinese.
Veronica, research on your family tree would offer some fascinating topics and locations to explore, even if you don't have records for ancestors in China.
DeleteMy family tree goes back some 500 years, no research needed :)
ReplyDeleteThe first names are as important as the last in fiction imho - would reader engagement be the same if Scarlett had been called Nellie or Jane or something plain?
Nila, you are blessed to know the far-reaching depths of your ancestry. Although some of mine is lost to the ages, others I have not yet attempted to plumb.
ReplyDeleteSo true that first names add weight to a character's role. Names that come to mind are Hercule (Poirot) Kinsey (Millhone); and Dorian (Gray). Also Cinderella, and other fairy tale names. Your comment creates a wave of interesting thoughts. Thanks for visiting today.
I'm always fascinated by genealogy as my family tree (due to forced immigration and lack of records etc.) is sadly lacking.
ReplyDeleteLike you, Nilanjana's comment about first names has got me thinking too:)
Arti, so much family history is lost due to wars and immigration, and in one case for me, a church fire. My genealogical novel is based on family research but much is fiction heavily woven throughout gossamer threads of fact.
DeleteMy not-pen-surname comes from my Indigenous stepfather-in-law. I imagine it was a name a landholder called a distant relative of his and it stuck (that was often how Indigenous people came about their anglo names). But it does have me intrigued so I will have to remember to ask him next time we're chatting.
ReplyDeleteAJ, many of the names I used in my genealogical novel are the original spelling of family names that went through several changes over the centuries. Learning the origin of your surname might make an interesting blog article. Keep me posted!
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