Every March 17, millions of people pause to reflect on their Irish heritage. Conceived as a Saint’s Day in the Catholic Church, Saint Patrick’s Day is now a time of celebration for millions. However, many of us have little knowledge of the man whose name we celebrate.

First of all, Saint Patrick wasn’t Irish. He was a Roman, although born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton in Scotland, in the year 387. His original name is recorded as Maewyn Succat. His father, Calphurnius, belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the office of decurio in Gaul or Britain. At the age of sixteen years old, Patrick was carried off into captivity by Irish marauders and was sold as a slave to a chieftain named Milchu in Dalriada, a territory of the present county of Antrim in Ireland. He was soon sold to another chieftain in the area. The future saint spent six years tending his master’s flocks near the modern town of Ballymena. During this time he learned to speak fluent Celtic.

After six years of bondage, Patrick escaped, apparently by simply walking away at a convenient opportunity. He wandered for some time, eventually finding his way to Westport. There he found a ship ready to set sail and was allowed on board. In a few days he was in Britain, safe under Roman rule. He then traveled extensively to other lands and studied religion. Patrick spent time in St. Martin’s monastery at Tours and at the island sanctuary of Lérins. He met Saint Germain and became a student of the great bishop. When Germain was commissioned by the Holy See to proceed to Britain to combat the erroneous teachings of Pelagius, he chose Patrick to be one of his missionary companions.

Pope St. Celestine the First had taken note of the young man’s abilities and commissioned Patrick with the mission of gathering the Irish race into the Catholic Church; he also gave him the name “Patercius” or “Patritius.” It was probably in the summer months of the year 433 that Patrick and his companions landed at the mouth of the Vantry River in Ireland, close by Wicklow Head. The Druids were against his missionary work and wanted to kill him, so Patrick searched for friendly territory in which to enter on his mission. Near Slemish, the missionary was struck with horror on seeing at a distance the fort of his old master, Milchu, enveloped in flames. It seems the fame of Patrick’s marvelous power of miracles had preceded him. In anticipation of Patrick’s arrival, Milchu had gathered his treasures into his mansion and set it on fire, casting himself into the flames in a fit of frenzy. An ancient record adds, “His pride could not endure the thought of being vanquished by his former slave.”

Saint Patrick traveled all over Ireland, preaching wherever people gathered. His sermons were not always well received, and many attempted to murder him. Saint Patrick wrote in his “Confessio” that twelve times he and his companions were seized and carried off as captives. On one occasion in particular, he was loaded with chains, and his death was decreed. However, Saint Patrick always managed to escape death. He converted thousands to Christianity and built many churches. It is recorded that he consecrated no fewer than 350 bishops. Legends attribute many miracles to Saint Patrick.

Saint Patrick died on 17 March 493, and that date is now dedicated to his memory. It is not known for sure where his remains were laid although Downpatrick in County Down in the North of Ireland is thought to be his final resting place.

There are many Web sites devoted to Saint Patrick, providing a wealth of material. You can read more at http://www.ireland-information.com/saintpatricksday.htm, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm, http://www.americancatholic.org/features/patrick/ and many others.

MyHeritage seems to be having great success with the new Deep Nostalgia™ that creates colorized animations from black-and-white photos you may have in your collection. 50 million animations have been created in just 18 days!

The company now has launched the #DeepNostalgiaChallenge, offering a free MyHeritage Complete plan to 5 lucky winners who share their favorite animations created with Deep Nostalgia™. The contest runs until March 31, so if you haven’t entered yet, you still have a chance! Click here to read more about the challenge and to learn how to enter.

You can also read a lot more about Deep Nostalgia™ in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/03/50-million-animations-created-with-deep-nostalgia/.

It could be a nosy neighbor questioning your ancestry. Perhaps it’s a lover who’s curious if you carry a gene for male pattern baldness. Or a rich grandparent checking if you’re genetically related.

All it takes to find out is a sample of DNA, or a person’s hereditary material, and some inexpensive testing. But experts warn that thefts of DNA from a strand of hair or an item you touched are increasingly more likely, and you can become a victim without ever knowing it.

Florida lawmakers, hearing concerns about this new risk of technological underhandedness and personal privacy breaches, are poised to make the unlawful use of DNA a more serious crime.

The full article by Marc Freeman may be found in the South Florida Sun Sentinel's web site at: http://bit.ly/3qFvc8c.

On October 24, 1867, the Danish government signed a treaty that the then-Danish West Indies would be transferred to the United States, pending ratification by both governments. Prior to this treaty, the West Indies' residents were mostly Danish citizens. The Danish government also maintained a large military presence there until after the treaty was signed. If you have Danish ancestry, it is quite possible those ancestors spent some time in the Virgin Islands before traveling on to the United States or to other countries.

The St. Croix Avis newspaper published many articles about the activities and the departures of Danish citizens and others in its earlier days of publication. Your Danish ancestor(s) may be among those mentioned.

Public notices were often published in both English and Danish. If you see an interesting notice but can’t read the Danish, keep reading down the column. The notice would often be translated into English. Here’s an example:

You may search the St. Croix Avis newspaper by starting at:  https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84037526/.

Use of online genealogy and especially DNA web sites has become common in recent years. Most of the cases involve violent crimes and usually involve male criminals taking violent actions against females. However, one recent "cold case" is a bit different.

You can read the story in the KIRO (Seattle) web site at: http://bit.ly/38AXVEZ.

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

With brand new records from London, Yorkshire and India, where will your past take you this Findmypast Friday?

This week Findmypast have published an eclectic mix of fire brigade reports, monumental inscriptions, life event records and newspapers. Here is what's new this Findmypast Friday.

London Fire Brigade Reports 1915-1918

These intriguing transcripts reveal the damage caused by bombs in London during World War 1, along with the names and addresses of those involved.

Some of the reports paint a devastating picture of wartime London. For example, H.T. and Carolina Good were “burned to death” while John Foot and Sons’ four-floor business in Islington was gutted by fire.

Yorkshire Monumental Inscriptions

Findmypast have added over 27,000 new records, spanning nine centuries of Yorkshire history to this collection. Use the newest additions to uncover vital family tree facts. 

You'll see the latest releases marked as new on the parish list which shows the timeframes covered and the number of records from each location.

British India Office Life Events

Privacy rules allowing, Findmypast release more records from this exclusive collection every year. In this latest tranche, you can explore new births and baptisms from 1921 and marriages from 1937. 

If your family has roots in the British Raj, these resources are essential for piecing together your past. Findmypast’s unique British India Office collection also includes deaths and burials, army and navy pensions, wills and probate and assistant surgeon records.

Newspapers

Six brand new publications have just been added to the site along with updates to 12 existing titles. Brand new this week are:

While thousands more pages have been added to:

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, MyHeritage is offering free access to all Irish records on MyHeritage, from March 11–18, 2021!

MyHeritage’s Irish record collection includes around 14 million records of all kinds: census records, vital records, directories, wills, and much more.

MyHeritage is also home to 120 million family tree profiles with Irish heritage — so even if you don’t find your ancestors among the free records, you just might discover a relative who’s already done some sleuthing and can give you some new insights!

Can search the collection yourself  at https://www.myheritage.com/irish-records and also read more about this offer in the MyHeritage blog post.

Martin Roe Eidhammer has written a blog post that perhaps should be required reading for anyone researching Norwegian ancestry. He writes about the archives that have been published on Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FamilySearch. The records that have been the focus are:

Martin Roe Eidhammer writes:

"The church records from 1801 to 1815 are completed. A large number of the records from the years after 1815 have also been done. This is thanks to the effort of a large number of volunteers. They should be commended for giving their time and energy to this work. There is, however, an elephant in the room that can not be ignored.

"While errors may and do occur in any product, it has turned out that the transcriptions produced by the AMF collaboration contain a disproportionally higher number of errors than records transcribed outside the AMF."

The Eidhammer's article then goes on at some length to describe the transcription problems. You can read his full article at: https://martinroe.com/blog/a-word-of-warning/.

In 2017, Kathy Gillcrist, newly retired from her job as a high school teacher, was wondering what she would do next.

She had always known she was adopted but had never felt a strong desire to learn about her birth parents. But curiosity and a need to fill her free time overcame that ambivalence.

She took a DNA test, the first step of a genealogical journey that led her to a stunning discovery: Her father was most likely William Bradford Bishop Jr., who vanished in 1976 after bludgeoning his family to death with a sledgehammer, law enforcement officials believe.

“It just was surreal,” Gillcrist, 63, said Tuesday. “It still is surreal.”

You can read the interesting story in an article by Maria Cramer published in The Berkshire (Massachusetts) Eagle at: http://bit.ly/3qBbWIL.