‘It was very surreal to discover the connections to Wolfe Tone’

Catherine Mulawka's amazing family history “hunt” as she calls it could come straight off TV's popular genealogy show 'Who Do You Think You Are?' where celebrity guests trace their roots with often very surprising and, in her case, “surreal” results.

A regular visitor to Athlone, Catherine is keen to point out how instrumental the Feery family have been in her ancestral search which goes back a decade now, and recently resulted in a jaw-dropping discovery that she is a direct descendant of the so-called 'Father of Republicanism' Wolfe Tone, a patriot who is remembered every year at an annual graveside commemoration in Bodenstown, Co Kildare.

At the end of November, she visited Belfast with Colette Feery from Athlone to walk in his footsteps of her famous ancestor, and learn more about Tone, a founder of the United Irishmen from Sean Napier, a Belfast-based historian and businessman, who brought her to locations associated with him.

“I learned so much on the tour with Sean. He took Colette and I to so many places that Wolfe and his mates would have had a pint, or streets and buildings that he would have walked and visited. He showed me street art paintings of specific events in Wolfe's life, and maps depicting how the street were laid out in the late 1700s/early 1800s.

"It was very humbling to walk the same streets as someone in my family tree from over 200 years ago,” says Catherine, who was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, but has lived in Columbus, Ohio, for the past seven years.

Her initial trawl began back in 2012 in a bid to find out about her mother's Irish ancestry by viewing websites and trying to connect the dots through documents. With many records destroyed in the Civil War, Catherine discovered if her search was to yield results, it would mean many trips to Ireland in search of local records.

“I came over twice a year for three years while I was on 'the hunt' as I call it. Research at home directed me where (county, parish, etc) I had to go to find documents, which would lead me to other documents in other parishes/counties. I would not have been able to navigate the country on my own during those first trips. Eventually, I was patiently taught how to drive on the left!

“Since then, I am able to get around on my own, but I usually have Colette Feery with me as we cover the countryside,” explains Catherine, who enjoys a visit to Sean's Bar when she comes to Athlone. Her sister Cindy met Athlone's Declan Feery 30 years ago on a trip to Ireland, they later married, had two children and built a home in Ohio, where Declan realised his dream to become a deputy sheriff.

“It was very surreal to discover the connections to Wolfe Tone, as I had not heard of him until someone at the National Library in Dublin made me aware. The staff were very excited and explained to me who he was and his place in the history of Irish Republicanism,” recalls Catherine of the day she found the connection after a long day scrolling through microfilm.

“I spotted the documentation of the marriage of James Tone, the grandson of Wolfe Tone's brother William (born 1749), making William my great-grandfather, nine generations back. This is how the librarian made the connection and informed me of the link. As there are no direct descendants from Wolfe, all ancestors are through his father or mother's family,” says Catherine, who details that the connection is on her mother's side via her grandmother Julia Tone (Catherine's great-grandmother).

“Julia's father was Matthew Tone. I was able to connect the lineage further back from Matthew to his dad James and even further back by linking and tracking birth, marriage, and death dates.”

Another piece of information she found invaluable was the use of Griffith's Land Valuation documents. Through those records, Catherine discovered who the Tone's landlord was, which led to additional information in different parishes and more information to fill the gaps.

“Through historical maps in conjunction with Griffith's, I was able to find the land that my ancestors farmed, and actually go there and see it. That was a moving experience and one I will not forget,” recalls Catherine, who candidly admits she knew nothing about Wolfe Tone before her surprise discovery. However, she wondered occasionally if her grandmother and her siblings knew of the background. Her grandmother's sister took vows and chose Sr Theophane as her name in the order, quite close to Theobald, which is uncommon. Wolfe Tone's full name is Theobald Wolfe Tone.

The Tones later settled in the province of Ontario, in Co Grey, in a little town called Ayton, which Catherine was delighted to be able to visit during the summer.

“We are very humbled to know that our family tree includes such a brave, historic figure. It gives a bit of perspective. We all 'stand on the shoulders' of those who came before us, decisions made by anyone's ancestors, even nearly 200 years ago directly affect us today. We are keenly aware that had my great-great-grandfather Matthew Tone not made the voyage across the Atlantic, none of us would be here today."

Asked if she has any tips for those contemplating a family history search, she joked that her advice is just to start!

“I knew nothing about how to do research and taught myself as I moved along. Each new discovery was exciting and made me want to find the next link, and the next. I was blessed to have the Feery family in Athlone helping me; travel is expensive, but I had a place to stay and means of transportation which made a daunting task a fun adventure,” she ends.