From Ancient Connacht to Cincinnati
Two Irish families from the townlands of south Sligo and east Mayo — connected by land, faith, revolution, and emigration. This is their story, pieced together from civil records, census returns, parish registers, military archives, and newspaper clippings spanning two centuries.
Click on any person below to explore their story. Use the navigation above to dive into interactive maps, historical timelines, the full record archive, and the mysteries we’re still unraveling.
John Gaffney Jr. emigrated from Falleens to Cincinnati ~1889. Decades later, Philip “Finny” Francis Cassidy and Peggy Cassidy — from two different families in nearby Charlestown — followed separate paths to America and married in Cincinnati in 1929. Their granddaughter Meghan now traces both lines back to the townlands of the west.
Their daughter Mary Theresa Cassidy (b. 21 May 1930, Toledo) carried both lines forward. She is Meghan’s grandmother.