Irish Fest

32nd Milwaukee Irish Fest is August 16-19, 2012

Countdown to Irish Fest...



Next Meeting

Our next meeting is on

Monday, June 4th at 7pm at the Irish Cultural & Heritage Center



Edie Falco Finds Roots in Milwaukee


Watch Edie Falco travel to Milwaukee to find her roots on "Who Do You Think You Are?"

1940 Census Records Are Online!


(AP) April 2, 2012

The 1940 census records were released this morning, and the National Archives website buckled under the load.

About 1.9 million users hit the archives servers in the first four hours the data went public, but many of those users got no further than a screen that said "Preparing Image."

20 Years Ago the IGSW Was Formed

Click here to read the original article written by our founder Jane Mahar Maher.

Irish genealogical site unearths
Walt Disney's Irish roots


An Irish family history website have discovered records which reveal that Walt Disney's ancestors rented 33 acres of land in County Kilkenny.

Dublin based website findmypast.ie have uncovered documents clearly showing the family's links to the small parish of Rathbeagh.

The cartoonist has long been rumoured to have ancestry in Ireland, but the newly discovered records show, in detail, Disney's family history.

Prohibition

Click here:

to Watch the Ken Burns Prohibition Documentary on PBS.

Milwaukee Irish Fest: Wild Mountain Thyme

In 2010 Milwaukee Irish Fest celebrated its 30th anniversary. In doing so the festival brought in many great musical friends that have graced the Irish Fest stages through these years. The Ward Irish Music Archives put together a film to document this occasion. Using the iconic song Wild Mountain Thyme as our theme, this film highlights one of the great gatherings of Irish musicians in one moment in time, always the third weekend in August.

Byron Kilbourn

Byron Kilbourn At our September meeting, Frank Matusinec gave a presentation on how the body of Byron Kilbourn was exhumed in Jacksonville, Florida and returned and buried with his family in Milwaukee back in 1998.

Who Do You Think You Are?

Rosie O'Donnell travels from Jersey City to Ireland on an emotional ride to discover her mother's roots.

John McCabe at Irish Fest

We were honored to have John McCabe with us at the genealogy tent for the 2010 Irish Fest. He was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. Before the Plantation (1612) Enniskillen Island was the Headquarters of the Maguire Clan. Today the original Enniskillen Castle complex where the Maguire's resided, incorporates the local Museum.

In the early 1960's he established a genealogical research service the basis of which was to assist overseas residents to trace their ancestors in Ulster Province. This Province includes the six Counties which today form Northern Ireland viz - Counties Antrim, Armagh, Derry/Londonderry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone.

In addition to his work, he enjoys identifying 'hidden' records relating to Irish emigrants, migrants, transportees from Ireland and military personnel. The most successful outcome was the finding of some seven hundred families, mostly Irish, residing in Bytown (Ottawa) in 1829. In 1988 he delivered the Houston Memorial Lecture at Seminar 88 in Ottawa which included photocopies of the above mentioned 1829 list. This source was published by the Ontario Genealogical Society as the McCABE LIST - EARLY IRISH IN THE OTTAWA VALLEY. Editor Bruce S. Elliott.


Irish center faces loss of building





The Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, 2133 W. Wisconsin, is a local and national historic landmark. The center finds itself in a financial situation where the board may have to put the building up for sale.





Jane Maher (left), director of the library, and Mary Kay Kuhfittig, a volunteer librarian, study a map of Ireland. "The very idea to be losing the home for this library is unbelievable," Maher said.