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| Ongoing research during a trip to Switzerland in June 2002. |
| Hello and Greetings My name is Paul Heagney - I�d like to introduce myself, to let you know who I am and what my interest is in our ancestors. |
| Site Compiler |
| 65 years ago, I was born in Dublin, Ireland, attended the Christian Brothers for 10 years hard, and have lived and worked around some of the world since then. My first 20 years were spent in Dublin, then migrated to England where first I did my Army service, one year of which was spent in Kenya. I then worked in the advertising business in London for 10 years until 1970 � then went to the Bahamas for 20 years working in the casino and hotel business, and advertising. I returned to London in 1990 and have lived there since then in a semi-retired state. I have had an interest in the Heagneys from early on, who they are and where they came from - that sort of approach - but it was not until recently that I have had the opportunity to carry out some research. My own family relations told me that our branch of the clan came from Galway in the west of Ireland, but beyond that, little information was available. From snippets here and there, I was able to go back to my great-grandfather who was born around 1850 probably in Galway, not a particularly good time to arrive in Ireland. Prior to 1850, not many written records about births, marriages or deaths are available in Ireland. If it was the case that you were a Lord of the Manor or suchlike, then some of the events of your life would have been recorded and such records available for posterity. This led me to consider other search options. I had another look at the books about Irish surnames and saw that the early ErinIslanders were kings in Fermanagh in north Ireland around the year 10/1100 AD. Sure enough, I saw in a recent illustrated history of Ireland that we did indeed get a mention as minor kings. Those years in Ireland and England were quite tumultuous � Viking invasions around 900AD - the Norman invasion in England occurred in 1066, our own invasions into Ireland by the English Normans began one hundred years later � crusades from Europe to the middle-east took place; you would be forgiven for thinking that little seems to have changed in the last 1000 years. We Erinislanders lucked out. Historians estimate that there were about 150 clans/groups/divisions/tribal areas, and so on, extant in Ireland around that time and our brief day in the sun came to an end around then when people called Maguire took over as chiefs. I tracked down the present day clan chief of the Maguires who lives in Dublin � he confirmed the few details available, and was delighted to hear from a Heagney ErinIslander, the first contact, he said, since the takeover ! That briefly, is where my interest lies. The history outlined on these few pages will, hopefully, illustrate the background to our Erinislander development. Much research remains to be done � please let me know if you would like a particular area explored. [email protected] |