Who Do You Think You Are - Julie Walters 7th Aug

[kiterunner]

The researcher said that Cummins Buchanan "slipped off the radar" or some such but surely he is the Cummin Buchanan whose death was registered Apr-Jun 1888 Westport, age 75?

[Guinevere]

I love Julie and I really wanted to enjoy this but I didn't. I agree that's probably because I have no Irish connections so I struggled to relate to it.

I love that she made the best of the land grabbing grass of an ancestor, though.

[Merry]

lol Gwynne!

I quite enjoyed the story and Julie's reactions.

I could accept that the name Anthony Clarke might be sufficiently rare for the researchers to be able to say with some certainly that all the records they found were for the same man. I was less able to think that when they "knew" Mrs J O'Brien would definitely be Julie's ancestor and not some other Mrs O'Brien. They did say Joyce was a common name, but that was OK as they didn't have to tie James Joyce to her tree! Even with uncommon names and searching in the UK with the benefit of the census and other records, I've often been unable to tell whether newspaper info relates to an individual or his father/brother/uncle/cousin etc brought up in the same place.

Originally Posted by kiterunner

I felt that there would have been more suspense about the fate of Anthony Clarke if we had not been shown the 1901 census entry so early on! Could have been edited better, surely?

That's exactly what I thought, when they kept saying what happened to Anthony after 1881! I know I was tired last night after our lunch but I thought I'd dreamed they'd already showed the 1901 census. I was talking to myself and the TV but we know what happened to him we've just seen the 1901 census!

[JBee]

Was interesting for me because it was where bf came from and I've never been to Ireland. I noticed a couple of names that might have been related but as was said there are lots of common names.

[Shona]

A episode of missed opportunities.

The President of the Land League, Charles Stewart Parnell, is a huge figure in Irish history and pivotal in the campaign for Irish Home Rule. Why no mention of this?

A more famous land agent than Cummins Buchanan in Co Mayo was Captain Boycott. It was his shunning by tenants and the wide community which gave rise to the term 'boycott'.

[Nell]

I found it enjoyable, as I vaguely remembered learning about the Irish Land League for O-level history.

It's also good to have a programme about ancestors who were struggling rather than people who are related to royalty. Cummins Buchanan is also such a good name to have in your tree!

[Anstey Nomad]

Did anyone else wonder if Cummins Buchanan was Protestant?

Originally Posted by Anstey Nomad

Did anyone else wonder if Cummins Buchanan was Protestant?

Yes I did and more so a Presbyterian Scot perhaps.

[kiterunner]

Originally Posted by Anstey Nomad

Did anyone else wonder if Cummins Buchanan was Protestant?

According to post #13 of the thread in the following link, he was Roman Catholic (there is a grave inscription):
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...php?p=91648634