Who is OMcHodoy?

OMcHodoy is a true pedigree name: A little bit of each grandparent that touched my life in some way.

O'ROURKE, represented by the top photo on the right sidebar, was my mother's maiden name, though I never met the man who gave it to her. James O'ROURKE died before I was born (1902-1963). Shown in the photo are my great-grandfather James O'ROURKE (1976-1944), his wife, Mary (KEARNS) and daughters Margaret "Nellie"(marrid McCARTHY), Mary "Mae"(married JORDAN), and Betty (married ROCHE). There were also two others in this line, a daughter Lucille and, of course, a son James.

McHugh is my surname, and obviously has great meaning to me. In the second picture on the sidebar my paternal grandparents, Mary (HODICK) and Joseph McHUGH hang out.

HODICK was my father's maternal line. The photo is a copy of a 1918 portrait sent to me by my cousin, Tom HODICK. My grandmother Mary is the girl on the left with the bow in her hair. The others in the picture are (not necesarrily in order): Joseph, Anthony, William, John, Susan, Thomas, Sylvestina, Edward Jr, and the parents, Edward and Justina (NAHADIL) HODICK.

And DOYLE was my mother's maternal line, and gave me one of the biggest influences of my life: My grandmother Regina "Jean" DOYLE (1905-1979). The woman pictured is either her mother Jane (McCUE) DOYLE or possibly Johanna (DOYLE) HORAN, my great-grandparents' daughter.

Now that you know "Who" OMcHodoy is, a little bit about "Why". Orations of OMcHodoy was borne out of my original blog, The Oracle of OMcHodoy. I started that blog at the urging of a friend of mine who'd created her blog, "Waiting for Lauren Elizabeth" when she and her husband began the process of adopting a girl from China. It turned out to be a good way to chronicle my research, flaws and all. I learned as I went and my feaux-pa were there in plain sight for the world to see. After "GeneaBloggers" began to take off and I began participating in the Carnival of Genealogy, I decided to split my focus: The Oracle of OMcHodoy would remain focused on my research efforts, while Orations of OMcHodoy would focus on stories, lore, carnivals and other geneablogger activities.

And speaking of Carnivals, the 75th edition of "The Carnival of Genealogy" will be held right here at Orations. The theme is "Justice and Independence". Here is a breakdown of the type of posts you might see here on July 4, 2009:

1). Stories of participants' ancestor(s) who fought for freedom.

2). Stories about how Independence Day was celebrated by participants' ancestors.

3). Lyrics of songs that exemplify how Justice and Independence have worked in the lives of participants' ancestors and/or family, including photos!

It's not to late to write a post on this topic and submit it for the COG. Deadline is July 1. Click HERE to submit your blog post (In the description, please type in a short blurb about your post to be included in the roundup for this edition!).