Megan Smolenyak

How can you not love a name like Finnegan Biden? I find it charming when family names are given fresh life in ensuing generations, and that’s exactly what happened in the lineage bracketing Vice President Joe Biden. His beloved mother Jean’s full…

How Name Changing Hid a Heritage Barry Manilow. Yes, I know, most think of him as a Jewish fellow from Brooklyn – and he is. But he’s also a quarter Irish, and due to certain circumstances in his family, that Irish share has had a disproportionate…

It was a damp morning in late February 2008 when the phone rang. Harvard scholar and PBS host Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr. was calling with one of his random genealogical requests. He was going to be on The Colbert Report later that day. Did I, by…

POLITICAL GENEALOGY Over the years, my sleuthing has resulted in some curious outcomes, but few were as unexpected as the time I traced Barack Obama’s roots to the village of Moneygall in Ireland. At the time I did the research, I had no notion that…

An Irish genealogist digs into the iconic artist’s own Emerald Isle past I once had the pleasure of watching Bruce Springsteen accept the Ellis Island Family Heritage Award with his lively mother and aunts whose parents were Italian immigrants. I…

She’s going back to her acting roots, so I took a dive into her ancestral ones. It’s been a while, but Meg Ryan, America’s rom-com queen, anointed through her memorable roles in When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail, is…

Family Resemblance? (Image of Fulmoth Kearney used with kind permission of Merlyn White) It was seven years ago when I identified Fulmoth Kearney of Moneygall, Ireland as the most recent immigrant on the maternal side of Barack Obama‘s family tree.…

By now, just about everyone knows how proud Joe Biden is of his Irish heritage. I began researching his roots even before he became Vice President and wrote about his 5/8 Irish ancestry in 2013. That same year, I had the opportunity to meet him when…

Still in his early 40s, Jimmy Fallon has an impressive track record to look back on. His combined tenure at Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and The Tonight Show means he’s already logged two decades on air. Not bad for a…

Megan Rapinoe’s been blowing minds for some time now, but her (latest) stellar FIFA World Cup performance coupled with her blunt, yet thoughtful commentary have propelled her onto an entirely new level of the international stage. She’s provided a…

This is an updated version of an article that was first published in Irish America in 2013, but for obvious reasons, has become freshly relevant. How can you not love a name like Finnegan Biden? I find it charming when family names are given fresh…

As Irish-American Heritage Month begins, I thought I would highlight a hidden Irish American: Barry Manilow. Yes, I know, most think of him as a Jewish fellow from Brooklyn — and he is. But he’s also a quarter Irish, and due to certain circumstances…

She came from a gold-obsessed family, so perhaps it wasn’t so surprising when the treasure bag was found in Hannah’s water closet, but what was this Galway girl even doing in San Francisco? Anyone who’s ever dabbled in genealogy knows that certain…

She came from a gold-obsessed family, so perhaps it wasn’t so surprising when the treasure bag was found in Hannah’s water closet, but what was this Galway girl even doing in San Francisco? Anyone who’s ever dabbled in genealogy knows that certain…

POLITICAL GENEALOGY Ireland loves to claim her own, so President Biden — who’s conspicuously proud of his 5/8 Irish ancestry — is a source of pride for many in the land of his ancestors. I first explored his heritage before he became Vice President,…

NEWS FROM IRELAND: The U.S. Election, Brexit, and Handling the Pandemic By Deaglán de Bréadún On a happy note, there has been a general welcome in the Republic and among... More President-elect Joe Biden’s Irish roots – from fleeing Famine Ireland to…

Last July, the National Library of Ireland went live with a digitized collection of Irish Catholic parish records from the 1670-1900 time frame, a huge boon for those of Irish heritage. Just one catch. No index. Well, there were a variety of partial…

Last July, the National Library of Ireland went live with a digitized collection of Irish Catholic parish records from the 1670-1900 time frame, a huge boon for those of Irish heritage. Just one catch. No index. Well, there were a variety of partial…

Like so many, I am mourning the loss of actress, comedian and writer, Anne Meara. Partnered in every sense of the word with Jerry Stiller (whose autobiography is called Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara), her husband of 61 years,…

This article originally appeared on the Huffington Post and is reprinted here courtesy of the author. Like so many, I am mourning the loss of actress, comedian and writer, Anne Meara. Partnered in every sense of the word with Jerry Stiller (whose…