" In each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts, but instead breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the storytellers of the tribe. All tribes have one.We have been called as it were , by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us; "Tell our story!". So, we do.In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and wept? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors ; "You have a wonderful family. You would be proud of us? " How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt, somehow,there was love there for me ? I cannot say, it goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who I am, and why do I do the things I do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying "I cant let this happen. The bones here are my bone and flesh of my flesh." It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish, how they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses,joy and grief,their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth. Without them , we could not exist and so, we love each one, as far back as we can reach that we might be born who we are, that we might remember them.
So we do,with love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to the one called in the next generation, to answer the call, and take my place in the long line of family story tellers," TOM DUNN
My own journey into the past began in January 2008 and I have come or gone a long way . I have already had a few surprises. No doubt there will be more.In the course of my research I have found many relations I did not know existed and have now made contact with some of them. I need to acknowledge the contribution made to the expansion of the range of the family information by Deirdre Barr Kushner in California and her brothers Kevin and Paddy in Ottawa. They provided photographs which are slowly arriving on the site.My own family in Belfast have given me loads of help, Information and photographs and I want to thank them all.Further family details have been provided by Ginette Muldoon, Frank Maginn and Margaret Killyleagh and to them I will be forever grateful.My Hughes relatives [Uncle John,s children and grandchildren]have also now become involved and their contribution and interest is much appreciated. Obviously this a time consuming project and I am slowly adding notes and descriptions to all the photos. If you revisit the site from time to
time you will be able to see exactly who is who. Be patient. I hope all visitors will get some pleasure
and enlightenment from the site. My search continues.THIS IS HOWEVER STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS AND If any of you visitors can fill any of the
gaps or give me some further direction please contact me . You have my e-mail address. Genealogy begins as an interest, becomes a hobby, continues as a vocation, takes over as an obsession and in it's last stages is an incurable disease.