New York Post - 13.03.2020

New York Post, Friday, March 13, 2020

nypost.com

HAVE A

WEE

DRAM

You can feel as

though you’ve entered

a Celtic castle at the

downtown pub Under-

dog, courtesy of Knap-

pogue Castle Irish

whiskey. Their first sin-

gle malt, was released

in 1951, and since 1966

has been housed in the

15th-century castle in

Co. Clare. The brand

has partnered with the

pub to create a lower-

level “secret” bar, built

out to mirror the cas-

tle’s historied decor.

Complete with trap-

pings like maps of Ire-

land, faux rock and an-

cestral portraits, guests

can sip on curated

cocktails like the Emer-

ald Old Fashioned,

made with Knappogue

Castle 12-year-old malt,

green Chartreuse and

génépy. Food offerings

are a twist on the usual,

including Irish bacon

and cabbage sliders

with quail egg, vegetar-

ian Irish stew and whis-

key and stout bread

pudding. To commem-

orate the event, don

one of the castle’s

crested-velvet club

jackets and visit the

photo booth. Runs

through March 31.

Underdog, 55 Stone

Street; UnderdogBar-

NYC.com

— Carole Sovocool

The Knappogue Club pop-

up features whiskey in

new incarnations, like the

Emerald Old Fashioned.

The Knappogue Club

By VANITA SALISBURY

F

OR such a wee country, the

extended Irish diaspora is

impressively far-flung. By

1890, 40 percent of Irish-

born people had migrated

abroad, and in 1892 the

first person shuttled through

Ellis Island was 17-year-old

Annie Moore from Cobh, in

County Cork. Today more than

80 million descendants sip

their ancestrally-earned Guin-

ness, from Australia to Argentina,

and heritage tourism to the moth-

erland is booming.

The Emerald Isle heartily embra-

ces the interest. In 2016, EPIC: The

Irish Emigration Museum in Du-

blin’s Docklands opened its doors.

A visit ($19) can include delving

into emigrants’ letters and histori-

cal videos, or immersing yourself

in the narratives of offspring, like

Barack Obama, whose third great-

grandfather emigrated from

Moneygall.

EPIC also houses the Irish Family

History Centre ($22, or $39 com-

bined with EPIC), where visitors

can access digital records and con-

sult privately with genealogists

($62 for a half hour, or $106 for an

hour).

Aer Lingus offers a “Discover

Your Roots” package beginning at

$1,441 per person for a six to eight-

night package, which includes a ge-

nealogy visit at the Irish Family

History Centre, admission to the

EPIC Emigration Museum, accom-

modation and a rental car, so after

sleuthing you can “road trip

through your roots,” perhaps even

to a specific address.

The Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin,

a five-star property historically

significant as the birthplace of the

Irish constitution in 1922, takes

concierge services to the next

level. Since 2007, the hotel has

been offering the world’s only “ge-

nealogy butler,” Helen Kelly, on

staff.

A member of Accredited Geneal-

ogists Ireland, Kelly’s services in-

clude an hour-long consultation, or

“empowerment session,” for $206.

Guests wishing to participate fill

out information before their stay,

like the name and approximate

year of birth of their Irish-born an-

cestor and the date and place of

marriage.

But wait, isn’t that the knowledge

you’d be coming to Kelly to get?

“That’s not the way it works,” she

says. “People... need to do their re-

search of ancestral records. The

rule of thumb is to start it with

themselves, and work back

through records online, like the US

census.”

Kelly then goes into “detective

mode” as she builds her clients’

family tree, utilizing the National

Library of Ireland, National Ar-

chives of Ireland, Valuation Office

and the Registry of Deeds.

Even if she finds no current rela-

tions, Kelly encourages a visit to

the ancestral land to perhaps have

a chance encounter that would

lead them to a living relative.

“Walk gently,” she advises. And be

patient. “One needs to spend a lit-

tle bit of time. You just never know.

We have long memories in Ire-

land.”

Long memories were extremely

advantageous for Jim Regan. When

the 72-year-old retired banker

started his research in 2002, online

records were scarce, but knew a

little about his heritage: his great-

grandmother and great-grandfa-

ther both emigrated to New York

from Kilfinane, County Limerick.

“I read someplace that you

should just address [a letter] to the

editor of the local newspaper with

the names and the time you’re in-

terested in,” he said.

Astonishingly, the local Kilfinane

paper published it, and Regan be-

gan receiving correspondence

from sources acquainted with his

family. When he and his wife later

made a trip to Kilfinane, the re-

sponse was overwhelming.

The priest at the local parish in-

vited them to dig through the

records and another gentleman

took them to the area where his

great-grandparents would have

had their business, a barrel cooper-

age. “It was just unbelievable,” says

Regan.

For those who want to get started

on tracing their genealogy, Regan

and Kelly say the most important

thing is talking to your relatives to

find out what you can. Then work

your way through the records.

In addition to the US census

(Census.gov), free resources in-

clude the National Archives of Ire-

land census (Census.NationalAr-

chives.ie); FamilySearch (Family-

Search.org), run by the Church of

Latter-Day Saints, and Irish Gene-

ology (IrishGenealogy.ie) run by

the Minister for Culture, Heritage

and the Gaeltacht.

Then there’s commercial indexes

like Ancestry.com, the UK-based

FindMyPast.com, and RootsIre-

land.ie. You can also search the Fa-

cebook pages of Ireland’s county

genealogy groups.

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum

Dublin’s EPIC Museum explores

the Irish emigrant experience

and features resources for

researching your family tree.

Branching out

Trace your heritage

and find your

family tree on a

visit to Ireland

Sherbourne hotel

A stay at historic Sherbourne Hotel in Dublin can include a

consultation with their “genealogy butler” Helen Kelly (inset).