My Family Tree

My family tree has often intrigued me, but only knowing the bare minimum, mainly because my grandfather died when my father was just three years old, gave me nothing in the form of memories or person to hold tangible in any way.

As I am now seventy, at the time of writing this, I feel its long overdue to trace my family back to Ireland via New Brunswick in Canada which my ancestors used as a stepping stone to travel from one country to another, carrying stories with them where they would have endured many hardships that I can only imagine.

What made them uproot from a land that had generations of a family who’d lived with hope for all the good things in life, for their children and their children’s, children?

The pages that follow will be a journey back in time, uncovering a lineage that is as much a mystery to me, as it is to you. There are some details that my daughter Natalie has uncovered that shocked me at first, but later made me realise that circumstances determine the people we are destined to become and the lives that we follow.

Please join me on the road back in time tracing ‘My Family Tree’.

MY FAMILY TREE

Richard Lyons 1926 - 1995

Frank Lyons 1892 - 1929

John Lyons 1852 - 1936

William Lyons 1830 - 1888

John Lyons 17?? to be confirmed

Martin Lyons 17?? to be confirmed

Waterford, Ireland

Richard Lyons 1926-1995

I suppose, as we’re probably going to go back a couple of hundred years that I start with my Dad Richard Lyons (1926 - 1995) he was known to everyone as ‘Dick’ with other aliases being ‘Grampy Dick’, ‘Uncle Dickie’ and probably some other names that my Mam used to call him from time to time, having the mischievous sense of humour that spilled over to us three kids.

I have an older sister Mary and a younger brother Terry who were all subject to the pranks and tall stories that were part of our lives from as far back as I can remember. The stage was set early on by one of our leading influences in life and believed everything we were told including ‘Grumpy Growler’ who lived in the apple orchard close by and he was a children catcher so ‘don’t go in there’ and the fir cones on pine trees were actually called ‘tistie tosties’!

It took us some years to find out the truth but by that time we were hard wired and unfortunately passed it on to our own children. If my first teacher sister Anne Gabriel is reading this from up above, please forgive me for being so wicked but it was my Dad’s fault, but knowing you, you’re probably having words with him right now!

to be continued…..

NOTE: If you’re a ‘Lyons’ living in Ireland and know your family emigrated to Canada or America in years gone by, please get in touch here.