Page 186 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

THE FARM ON COSHQUIN ROAD

Right: Ron’s great-great grandfather
George James who immigrated to
America in 1852. Below: A painting
of the James family farm house that
hangs in the current family home on
the property.

earching for family roots is like trying to solve a roots work hits a historical dead end, there’s still the joy
puzzling mystery without having all the pieces. of time spent in the fantastic Irish countryside, vibrant
SNo doubt the process of discovery can be thrill- towns and bustling cities rich with culture, fun and fine
ing when new information comes to light and fills in food.
personal histories that stretch centuries back in time. The downside of our visit was limited time, so we
Luckily technology has made it possible to do much had to make difficult choices about what to accom-
of the detective work at plish while in Ireland. We
home as more resources decided getting help from a
become available online noted genealogist who lived
every day. in Derry-Londonderry would
But as anyone puzzling be better than trying to do
over family origins will research historical archives
agree, there’s nothing like in Dublin and Belfast. And
visiting the scene of the we wanted to locate and
crime so to speak – or, in visit the old family farm and
this case, the old family perhaps the cemetery where
farm in Ireland. our great-great-great-grandmother was buried.
We had the good fortune to visit the ancestral We met Brian Mitchell at our Derry-Londonderry
city of my great-great-grandfather George James in hotel, The Bishop’s Gate, in the informal dining room.
Londonderry, as this Northern Ireland city was com- We had e-mailed him all the information we had on the
monly called in the mid-1800s. Combining a vacation in James family in Ireland. It wasn’t much. We knew from
Ireland with genealogy research is growing in popular- my brother’s research on a visit to Ireland years before
ity, especially among descendants of Irish immigrants that the family had a farm in the nearby community of
who now are scattered around the world. Even if your Coshquin, on the border of Northern Ireland and the

186 WDT MAGAZINE WINTER 2018