The Anglo-Celt links long lost cousins

A simple letter to The Anglo-Celt in July 2007 by a family in Florida seeking relatives in the Cootehill area snowballed into an amazing reunion and friendships to last a lifetime. The role of Sadie Markey from Skerrig in Cootehill in the reunion was superb and she used all her genealogical researching skills to unearth all the family links. The Zappalas described their trip to Cootehill as "amazing and so wonderful" and they want to return some day soon. Here is Al Zappala's personal account of both himself and his wife Bernadette's journey to discovery - the Dempsey cousins had been found... As my cousin Tom welcomed me to Skerrig and embraced me he said "welcome home Al". Those simple words resonated so deep, they encapsulated our entire reunion and trip to Cootehill. The very fact that my grandfather had walked on the same ground 120 years ago was absolutely amazing. We are Americans and our heritage is our Irish background. I was raised on it - I could do all the Irish dancing and my mother was a fine dancer and my daughter Sarah was very good at the Irish dancing. After months of hitting brick walls trying to locate my maternal grandfather, John Patrick Dempsey's "lost" family in Cootehill, Co. Cavan, we placed a letter in The Anglo-Celt in July 2007, as a last resort. It has been a long and challenging journey. Growing up in the depression, we lived on and off with my grandparents but we just didn't talk about ancestors. All we knew was that John P Dempsey came from Cootehill, that he had a few brothers and sisters - a Peter and a Rose and that he left Ireland in the late 1890s. It wasn't until months after my mother's passing (Francis Dempsey, John Patrick's daughter), that we located John Dempsey's army discharge papers squirreled away in one of my socks. This started me on a quest to know more about my relatives in Ireland, or if I even had any. Once I had his social security application I learned the names of his parents - William Dempsey and Rose Cleary. Finally we could request help from Concepta McGovern at Cana House. She was able to locate John Patrick Dempsey's birth records and those of a few of his siblings. But what to do next? That was when The Anglo-Celt came to the rescue. Little did I know that I would soon learn of my grandfather's baby sister Sarah's family. The letter was written to the Celt and then the waiting, until one day an e-mail arrived from Elaine Markey Aczel, currently residing in Silverton, England. She introduced herself and said she was writing on behalf of her sister Sadie Markey. In part her e-mail stated: "It seems that lots of the names correspond to our family tree." It was the first I knew that I had second cousins and more in both England and Ireland. We learned that Sadie had also been doing family research for some time as well. Over time, there were more e-mails, letters, photographs and telephone calls to and from Ireland and England. This past fall, my wife Bernardette and I decided to meet the family, no longer "lost". We first travelled to England where we met my second cousins Michael and John Markey's families and Thomas Markey's daughters Bernadette and Elaine. The cousins could not do enough for us. After five, full, family days and many cups of tea we flew to Knock and drove to Cootehill. Over a five-day visit, we met my second cousin Thomas and Bridget Markey, their daughter Sadie - the resident genealogist, her brother Kevin, his wife Barbara and their children Luke and Tara. I will never forget Thomas' words as he greeted us at his front door - "Welcome Home, Al." Sadie was tireless in escorting us everywhere. Each day she picked us up at Cabragh House where we were staying, and off we went. She definitely earned two stars in her crown in heaven that week! We were able see "The Yard" where John Patrick grew up, and where my great Aunt Sarah and her husband Thomas raised their children. I met Margaret Markey, the wife of my late cousin Bernard, and my cousin Nuala Carragher and her niece. We went to mass at St. Mary's Middle Chapel and prayed at the graves of Sarah, Thomas and Bernard. We visited the river where Bernard Markey fished, and the stream where Sadie played as a child. We walked the main street of Cootehill wondering about life back in the days of my grandfather. Sadie, my wife and I answered a number of questions, but made lists of hundreds more. Did John Patrick leave Cootehill with relatives or friends? Who were William Dempsey and Rose Cleary? Where were they married? Where are they buried? What happened to John Patrick's brother William and his sisters Mary and Annie? Did any of them marry and have children? The time passed far too quickly. Both my wife and I definitely felt welcome and trust we will be able to "go home" once again. The names on our family tree now have faces! Ours is an interesting, but not uncommon story. How many families have been separated, each branch raising families on opposite sides of the ocean and with each growing up not knowing the other. A post script and added bonus: As a result of the letter in The Anglo Celt we connected with Bob Dempsey, the nephew of Sarah Markey's first son, Bernard, through his marriage to another Rose Dempsey - no relation. Bob has become a dear friend and we have lunch with him on an annual basis on Long Island.