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  • Feb10

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    The real surprise in John McCain’s family tree: His grandfather was his own father!

    John McCain's Tree
    I suppose the Finding Your Roots team may have done this for clarity when using photos along with the need to pan across the screen, but it made my brain vibrate as it did. Click on the image for a larger view.

  • Jan12

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    My cousin Jana in the Czech Republic recently found another cousin from her part of the tree. She recalled that I had emailed some photos to her a few years ago, and that one of them included this “new” cousin’s grandmother as a young woman, so Jana asked if I had a higher resolution scan to send her to share.

    It took me awhile to find the photo, as it was squirreled away in a triptych album in one of our boxes. While looking, I realized that I had completely forgotten about two very large envelopes full of old photos from my Czech side of the family, so I guess I’ll be breaking out the scanner and uploading to The Flickr again.

    Flickr is a great tool for us all to see and comment on the photos – I’ve learned who many unknown family were via my cousins in Ireland and the Czech Republic going through them and asking around over there.

    One photo I found last night really stood out for me – an absolutely beautiful little girl, all dressed up with a necklace and flower. So far, we don’t know who she is, but she is wonderful to look at.

    Beautiful Little Girl in our Czech family photos

  • Nov19

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    A quote I’ve long loved from At Swim Two Birds

    Flann O'Brien Quote
    The original photo can be found here on the National Library of Ireland’s Flickr stream.

  • Nov11

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    Just wanted a quick pair of photos to remember all of the Veterans today.

    Below are my Dad, Mike Tierney and buddies visiting the National Mall in Washington, D.C. while assigned there during World War II. They were probably training for work in the Navy’s Machine Records Installation – the department involved in personnel accounting that was now gearing up to use IBM equipment for automation.


    Mike Tierney & buddies, in Front of US Capitol Building, WWII


    Mike Tierney & Buddies, Washington D.C, WWII

  • Nov4

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    I took some time at lunch to catch up reading one of my favorite blogs (and the accompanying podcast), The Bowery Boys: New York City History. Their latest post is Photographs of Wonder from the American Museum of Natural History, which showcases several photos from the museum’s AMNH: Picturing The Museum image collection online.

    Children doing Indian Dances in Plains Indians Hall, American Museum of Natural History, 1939, Bierwert, Thane L.

    Children doing Indian Dances in Plains Indians Hall, American Museum of Natural History, Image 291994, Bierwert, Thane L., 1939

    They included some terrific photos from most of the earlier decades of the 20th century. My favorites are definitely the photos from the Education section of the collection, as they show students in various locations and activities in the museum, and reminds me of my own school field trips there in the 1970s.

    I enjoyed them all enough to scroll back up to look at the photos again… then I saw him: My Dad in 1939, dancing with other students in Native American headdress in the Plains Indian Hall!

    It is decidedly a sideways shot and not at the highest resolution, even on the AMNH’s own site, so I suppose there might always be some doubt.

    Comparison, AMNH Photo and a young Michael Tierney
    But having scanned and worked with all of my family’s photos over the last several years, plus knowing what my brother, nephews, son, and I all looked like around that age: THAT is a Tierney face.

    (Click on any photo to see it larger.)

    Another instance of genealogical serendipity – More proof that if you keep looking long enough, someone you know will show up!