RIP to the Best Father-in-Law a Person Could Ask for...

Rest in Peace, Arnie Blaha
1920-2016

Jim, Erin, Arnie & Jack Blaha
Father's Day 2016

     Arnie was sharp until the last week or so of his life.  He was a very good listener and would recall bits of conversation and life events for those who had his ear.  He enjoyed seeing and hearing about all the great grandchildren.  The most recent, Stanley Arnold, born within a week of Arnie's death.

Arnie's obituary:

Dear Father & Grandpa Age 96 of St. Paul Passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on September 28, 2016. Son of Emil & Mary (nee Bulera). Preceded in death by wife Dorothy; brother John; and son-in-law Greg Travis. Honored and dearly missed by children James (Mary Catherine "Kay") Blaha, JoEllen Travis, Gerald (Gloria) Blaha & Cindy Blaha (Keith Goetz); 12 grandchildren Matthew, Michael & Timothy Blaha, Scott, Monica, Dan & Maggie Travis, Alex Blaha, Emily Palumbo, Ellen LaRue, Katie & Jenny Goetz; 6 great grandchildren Stella, Lila, Henry, Macie, George, Jack and two more on the way; sister Bernadine Benson; in-laws, Josephine Kusz, Jack Hansen and Virginia Blaha and other family & friends. Mass of Christian Burial Wednesday (October 5) at 10:00 am at CERENITY MARIAN CARE CENTER CHAPEL, 200 Earl Street with visitation one hour before the Mass. Interment Fort Snelling National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred.

Published 2 October 2016, St. Paul Pioneer Press and on Legacy.

He was a good, loving man.

RIP Greg Travis

1946-2016

Gregory P. Travis died 6 May 2016 in Duluth, Minnesota.  He was married to JoEllen Blaha in 1972 and had four children:  Scott, Monica, Daniel and Maggie.

Blaha Breakthrough...

To be honest, finding a Blaha in the Czech Republic without any hint of family location was a bit daunting to me. 

Vaclav Blaha came to the United States about 1881 according to one census record. Vaclav, or James as he was also called, was in Minnesota by 1885 when he married Mary Henych on 16 February 1885.  They were married at the Church of St. Stanislaus in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the marriage record at St. Stan's were the names of his parents:  Mathias Blaha and Maria Vones. 

Looking through church records did not reveal any other obvious relatives of Vaclav in the area.  Most of the sponsors for Vaclav and Mary's children were relatives on Mary' side. I thought of him as an "orphan".  

The first breakthrough came in the 1905 Minnesota State Census.  Vaclav and family were living at 621 Bay St. in St. Paul.  With the family were living 2 girls with the surname Havel.  Their occupations were listed as "cook" and "housework".  It seemed likely they were not doing that work in Vaclav's home. 

1905 Minnesota State Census, St. Paul, Ward 5, James Blaha and family on 621 Bay St.
Retrieved from Ancestry.com.

Since the girls were born in Minnesota, I started searching for them in records.  I found a likely family in Rice County, Minnesota!  They lived in Erin Township in the 1900 census and there were 2 sisters who fit the approximate ages of the girls living with Vaclav in 1905.  The parents were Martin and Marie Havel.

The Dalby Database was helpful. Martin's parents were Havel and Vohnek. The transcription gave Marie Havel's maiden name as "Vonesh". Very close!  I started looking for other Vones/Vonesh families.  Finding other Vones was not as easy as putting the surname in the search engine.  Old fashioned genealogy was in order. Marie Vones Havel's obituary was priceless!  Not only did it give details about her life, it gave her place of origin, Drahotěšice. It also said that James Blaha from St. Paul attended the funeral. Could that be our Vaclav?


More research into the family revealed that Marie's parents also immigrated. Finding them was a page by page search.  Their surname was indexed as "Wenoch". They were found in the Wheatland, Rice County 1885 Minnesota Census.  Here's the interesting part.  In going through other family members' records, it turns out not only was Mathias a "Vones" but Anna's maiden name was "Blaha".
The place of orign, Drahotěšice, was so important.  Without that information, finding Vaclav's place of origin would have been quite unlikely.  

Drahotěšice, Google Maps

Luckily, many of the church records for the Trebon area are online.  I started by searching for the Vones children in the records.  Here is Anna Vones' baptismal record:

Notice the beautiful handwriting!  Not all records are this clear and legible!  I didn't know at the time how relevant all the info in this record was.

Searching in the Trebon records is a page by page search. No search engines here. At the same time, finding a record is a bit more rewarding than doing a record search on Ancestry.

What is lovely about these Czech records is that they are packed with information.  Not only does it give you the child's name and their parents, but also their grandparents and where they lived.  At the time I was searching these records, I did not know if one or both of these lines was connected to Vaclav.

I continued to search for Vaclav's record.  I came up with a number of Vaclavs, but none whose parents were Matej Blaha and Marie Vones.  There was one Vaclav born in June of 1862, but his mother was a Nedved. I bookmarked it and kept searching.

I spread my search out to other places in the vicinity with Blahas with no luck.  Either I couldn't read the records or the parents' names didn't fit.

A confluence of events took place.  Arnie, the grandson of Vaclav, had a DNA match to a woman on FTDNA.  This was an autosomal DNA match and FTDNA estimated that Arnie and EM were 2nd-4th cousins.  That was exciting.  More exciting was that fact that she had roots in Drahotěšice! At this point, none of the surnames seemed to match.

Then, I enlisted Blanka Lednicka to do a "Family Localization".  I sent her the info I had about Marie Havel, her parents, Anna Blaha and Matej Vones.  I sent her the possible Vaclav records I had accumulated. The surnames of the few close matches were included. She took the info and ran with it. 

The results were gratifying, even if I didn't do it myself!  The record for Vaclav that I had bookmarked earlier, was indeed our Vaclav.  How did she explain the difference in Vaclav's marriage record saying his mother was Vones and this woman's maiden name was Nedved?  

Marie was born in 1820 in Drahotěšice.  Her father, as you may or may not be able to read, is Bartholomew Nedved. (Now you'll appreciate the handwriting in Anna Vones' record above.)

Marie Nedved's Baptismal Record, Sevetin, Baptisms 1809-1848; Book 6, image 24; Trebon Archives

Marie Nedved was  married to Jan Vones vulgo Blaha. The marriage record gives the same parents: Bartholomew Nedved and Katerina Bilekova.  This is when she became Marie Vones. Jan and Marie had at least nine children.  Only about three of the Vones children lived into adulthood.  


The next important piece of information provided was Jan Vones' death in 1858.  

In 1859, Marie Nedved Vones married Matej Blaha.  Often in marriage records, it will be recorded that the bride is a widow and whose widow she is.  Marie's record does not give that info.  However, the parents are the same. 

Sevetin Marriage Records 1836-1878, Book 17, Drahotěšice, image 43, Trebon Archives

From the records found so far, it appears that Vaclav Blaha, son of Matej and Marie Blaha was their only child together.  He was born on 10 June 1862 at Drahotěšice 9 and baptized on June 11, 1862.

Baptismal Record of Vaclav Blaha

The mystery is solved but the hunt continues. So much more was learned, but that'll be another day's blog.

Summer 2014 Newlyweds--Congratulations to the Happy Couples

On July 12, 2014, at the Carleton College Chapel, Katie Goetz, daughter of Cindy Blaha and Keith Goetz, married Sean O'Loughlin.

Mutual admiration society:  Katie and her grandfather, Arnie Blaha.

On August 16, 2014 at the Shrine of St. Joseph in St. Louis, Missouri, Katie's cousin Tim Blaha married Erin Maureen Boedeker.

   

Tim said he felt Grandma Dot's presence briefly during the ceremony.

Michael, Jim, Kay, Matt & Flower Girl Stella Marie.

May both couples follow in the footsteps of Dot & Arnie and have MANY happy years together!

RIP Dorothy Marie Hansen Blaha

Grandpa Arnie, Grandma Dot and Tim Blaha
9-16-2012

Sweet Grandma Dot died on 2 June 2014:

Loving Wife

Dear Mother and Grandma

Daughter of Clarence and Rose (nee Svec) Hansen. Age 88 of St. Paul. Dearly missed by husband of 67 years, Arnold; children, James (Mary Catherine “Kay”) , JoEllen (Greg) Travis, Gerald (Gloria) and Cindy (Keith Goetz) Blaha; 12 grandchildren, Matthew, Michael, Timothy Blaha; Scott, Monica, Dan, Maggie Travis; Alex Blaha, Emily Palumbo, Ellen Blaha; Katie and Jenny Goetz; 4 great-grandchildren, Stella, Lila, Henry and Macie; sister, Josephine Kusz; brother, Clarence “Jack” Hansen; and other family and friends. Mass of Christian Burial at 1:00PM on Saturday, June 7, 2014 at BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1801 LaCrosse Ave., St. Paul, with a visitation at the church beginning at 11:30AM. Private interment, Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred.

Published 4 June 2014 in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Facial Recognition...

M. Hayek, Stella Lazewski Bulera, Janice Wandmacher

Thanks to Jim's aunt, Bernie Blaha Foley Benson, I now know what Stella Lazewski Bulera looks like!! Stella Bulera was Bernie, John (RIP) and Arnie's grandmother on their mother's side. If you recall from a previous post, she is the woman whose maiden name was rendered about 15 ways. (One for each kid!)  She looks like a pretty happy woman for having all those kids.  AND, I was recently informed that she made better kolaches than me! (Should a Polish woman even be making kolaches?)

Going Sideways to Learn More...

     For quite a while, I thought that Vaclav Bláha (also known as Wenzl and James) came to the United States without relatives. According to the 1900 Federal  Census records, he arrived here about 1881.
    The 1905 Minnesota Census led me down another path.  Living with James Bláha and his family were 2 girls--Mary and Elizabeth Havel.  Their occupations were given as cook and housework. I figured they weren't servants in James household, so I investigated further.
     I found their family of origin in Rice County, Minnesota.  Now that is hitting close to home!  It was a huge surprise. Their parents were Marie Voneš Havel and Martin Havel. Voneš is the probable connection.  On James' marriage record to Mary Henych, it gives his parents as Matej Bláha and Marie Voneš.
     I did further research on Marie Voneš Havel's parents.  They were found living in Wheatland Township, Rice County.  There names were Mathias Voneš and Anna Bláha Voneš.  Yikes!  So which side is the connection?
     In the obituary for Marie Voneš Havel, it said that she was from Drahotěšice, Bohemia.  Also mentioned in her obituary was that James  Bláha  came from St. Paul for the funeral. Since there was no info in the family (or records thus far) about where James Bláha  was from in Bohemia, this was a great help as to where to start looking.  
     The Trebon section of the Czech Republic has a wonderful website with Digital Archives. Not many of them are indexed, so it means scrolling page by page through the church records. Drahotěšice is in the parish of Ševětín.
     So far I have had good luck finding records for the Voneš family of Wheatland. The records added another generation to both sides of the family. Anna's parents are Tomas  Bláha and Ludmilla Vanasek.  Mathias' parents are Josef Voneš and Katerina Ziska.
     Unfortunately, I have not found James or his parents records yet.  I'll just have to keep on diggin'.  Trouble is--some of the handwriting is atrocious and of course mostly in Czech.  
     If you have a Voneš in your tree from this area, contact me!! I have quite a few records indexed!


     

Rest in Peace, John A. Blaha

John Blaha, Arnie's brother died on December 22, 2011. 

Age 84, of Shoreview, MN 30 Years with Int'l Harvester Passed away on December 22, 2011. US Navy Veteran; member of VFW Post 7555, Roseville. Survived by his wife of 59 years, Virginia; daughters, Barbara (Brad) Cornforth of North Branch and Patricia Heiman (Ken) of Coon Rapids; 6 grandchildren: Daniel (Elisa Coppini), Andrew, and Sara Cornforth, Jennifer (Todd) Paulsen, Kelsey & James Heiman; great-granddaughter, Scarlett Cornforth; brother, Arnold (Dorothy) Blaha; sister, Bernadine Benson; many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. Mass of Christian Burial: 11 AM Thurs, Dec 29 at the Church of St. John the Baptist, 835 2nd Ave NW, New Brighton. Visitation 1 hr prior. Interment at Ft. Snelling Nat'l Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred. Services by Wulff Funeral Home of St. Paul.

Retrieved from: Legacy.com

Lusty Men...

     Well, that is an assumption, but I was looking over the Bulera brothers today and between them they had 33 children!  That is beyond good Catholic!
     Our ancestor is Frank M. Bulera.  He was married twice.  His first wife was Franciska Bauza.  They were married in 1884 in Poland and emigrated on 12 Mar 1884, leaving Hamburg and arriving in New York on 27 Mar 1884.

Hamburg Ship List, The Moravia, departed 12 Mar 1884

Buleras in the 1885 Census, St. Paul

They were in the Minnesota State Census in 1885 in St. Paul, Ward 4.
         Frank and Franciska had 4 known children: Joseph, George F. (Adalbert), John Walter (Wadge), and John.  Joseph must have died as an infant.  He was born on 5 Feb 1885 but does not appear with the parents in the 1885 census which was enumerated in May. George and John W. (sometime recorded as Walter) both grew to adulthood.  No record beyond the baptismal record in  July, 1889 is found for the 2nd John. It is likely that Franciska died after childbirth.
     Frank and Stanislava (Stella) married on 29 April 1890.  They had 15 children! I have written previously about how much fun it was figuring out Stella's maiden name.  Almost every kid had a different rendition of Lazewski or a hybrid of Lazewski and Strzyrzewski. Here goes:  Sophia, Rose, Martha, Bernice, Mary Ann, John, Franz (Frankie), Andrew, Teresa, Marion (Mike), Margaret, Julia, Valentina (Viola), Leonard and Florian. Whew!
     Frank's brother Joseph and his wife Salomea had 14 children according to the 1910 census.  I have only found 13 records.  It seems that at least 9 of these children died as infants.  Some were unnamed in the records. Joseph and Salomea Nadohy were married on 12 Aug 1891 at St. Adalbert's in St. Paul. There is some confusion about her last name as well, but I am using the name that appeared in the marriage record.
According to the Poznan Marriage Project, he was previously married as well.  His first wife was Appolina Jurek.  She must have died before Joseph emigrated.
     On the 2nd marriage records for both Frank and Joseph, their parents names are given as Valentin and Catherine.  There is a marriage record on the Posen site for them as well.  They were married in 1853 and Catherine's maiden name is Wyt. I'm going to have this researched further.  We'll see what happens.
     I'm including the married names of the women in the labels.  Not going into all those kids today!
     Out of this bunch, our ancestor was Mary Ann Bulera.  She was born 23 Jan 1897 and baptized 7 February 1897 at St. Adalbert's. Her godparents were John (Orzewski) Lazewski and Rose Wilisek. John was Stella's brother.  I don't know if Rose is related.
     Mary Ann married Emil Blaha, son of Vaclav and Mary Henych Blaha.

Henych

     For kicks, I emailed a guy on Facebook named Michal Henych.  What the heck!  He could be related.  There are not many Henychs in the Czech Republic.  He responded, but we don't know if there is a connection. In getting ready to tell him about our Henychs, I was revisiting info I had on Ancestry.com, and lo and behold! Look what popped up! (And I had put this family in MANY times recently.  It was like magic!)

Henych Family on the Ship List of the Hansa, departing Hull on 9 June 1882.

When I tried to find the date of immigration, a search resulted in a list of the whole family plus one person I haven't seen in records in St. Paul. The new person on this list is John/Jan.  He does not appear in any censuses with the family. The ship list gives their last place of residence as Jiřice.
     The censuses for this family are confusing. In one census, though living at the same address, the parents were listed separately from the children on a different page.  I was so happy to find this list as it helps clarify the family configuration.  In census records, there was often James and Joseph.  Then there was Vincent and James.  There is a death record for Vincent. There are still a few details to be sorted out.

Emilie Henych Plaster, Barbara Forst Henych, Joe Henych, Augusta Henych Masek, Josef Henych

     According to the list, the family consists of the parents:  Joseph Henych and Barbara Forst.  The children are Mary (our ancestor), Jan, Vincent, Emilie, Joseph and Augusta.
     Barbara and Joseph had a home at 750 Logan St. in St. Paul.  Joseph died on the 21st of February 1908.  Barbara Forst Henych died on the 2nd of January 1918. They are buried at Calvary.
     As far as I can tell, Vincent and Joseph never married. I don't know about Jan.

     In 1932, Vincent committed suicide.  He jumped off the high bridge in St. Paul. 

     Searching for them in the records is a lot of fun.  The name has been rendered as:  Henyck, Henek, Hanek, Henick, Henicke, and Henig.    

Jim Blaha, Emil Blaha, Vaclav Blaha, Emily Blaha, Mary Henych Blaha, Joseph Blaha, Louie Blaha

     Mary married Vaclav or James Blaha on the 16th of February 1885 at St. Stanislaus in St. Paul. They had 2 other children besides those pictured above:  John Venceslaus (1886-1886) and Emanuel (1889-?).  For a time records confused me since Emanuel and Emil are so close--especially as records go.  There is however a  baptismal record for each.
     Augusta married John Masek.

Emilie Henych & Herman Plaster Wedding

Emilie married Herman Plaster.  They were married on 21 Aug 1906 at St. Stan's, St. Paul.

Just Keep on Trackin'

     Love those Mormons and their work of saving the history of humankind in records and letting us use them for free!!!!
     Recent hunting and pecking has turned up the birth record of Frank Hansen, brother of Charles John Hansen, grandfather of Dot Hansen Blaha.  This is important for a couple of reasons.  Frank was the only one in his family born here in Minnesota. The record gives the name of his mother and father.  This helps loads, as it helps to confirm a 1880 census of a family in St. Paul. The thing is, you'd think they were Irish!  John and Mary were given on the birth record. 

 

      They also appear in the 1885 Minnesota State Census in St. Paul.  This time Seagur is called Herbert. Frank isn't on the scene yet. 

     Stepping back a few years, a ship's list is found with their passage to America.  They arrived in New York on 27 November 1878.  This jives with later reports of immigration.  

     The Norwegian Archives has a record of an emigrant family leaving Oslo on 3 November 1878 heading for St. Paul, Minnesota. The record is somewhat confusing because it looks like Marie is traveling alone with the children. On the passenger list, it appears that Carl C. is her husband.  On the Norwegian emigrant record, Carl C. is going to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. It is possible that she traveled without John since Hakon/Henry is not on the passenger list.They may have come ahead to establish a residence.

     The 1875 Norwegian Census has a record of the John and Marie Hansen family living in Christiania. The children are listed as:  Hakon Bernart, Karl Johan, Sigur Sevrin, and Alma Johane. I could not locate the family on the 1865 Norwegian Census.  

     In later US Census records, Hakon becomes Henry.  Karl Johan is known as Charles J.; Sigur is known as Sidney and Alma is Alma. 

     Once I spoke to Alma Hansen Young, who is the daughter of Sidney Hansen.  She mentioned that a brother of her father disappeared.  This seems to be true.  I have not been able to find Henry, as he was known here, after the 1895 Minnesota Census.  John (the father) died sometime between 1885 and 1895 as he does not appear in the 1895 census.  By 1900, Marie is probably dead as well since she is not in the 1900 census. 

     There are possible birth records on the FamilySearch.org site. Alma Johane Marie Hansen was born 30 October 1874 in Oslo, Norway. Her parents are given as Johan Hansen and Marie Andersen.  She married John E. Triese, Jr. in April 1896.  She died on 1 Feb 1900.  She had 2 children:  Walter and John Triese.

     There is a record for Sigurd Sevrin,born on the 31st of August 1872.  His parents are given has Carl Johan Hansen and Marie Anderson.

     Sigrud known as Sidney married Stella Marie Williams.  Their children were Marie Hansen Few; Irene Hansen Muraski; Gladys Hansen Tysk; Alma Hansen Young and Sidney Joseph.  

     Frank married Stella's sister Florence Williams.  I love their kids names:  Frank and Florence.  Florence married Clarence Godfrey.

The Woman of Many Maiden Names...

     Stella Bulera, Arnie's grandmother, is Polish.  I think that helps explain why it was so difficult to pin down her real maiden name.  Of course, there were a few red herrings thrown in there to make matters more confusing.
     When looking for the records of her children's births or deaths, confusion reigned.  Her last name was rendered:

• Lozinski (with a slash through the L)
• Lazewski (may have a slash)
• Laszewska;
• Lejeski
• Laezi
• Laziske
• Lazuski
• Oreswki
• Orzewska
• Legewski and....
• Wyjeski

To top that off, in the church marriage records, her name was given as Orzewska. The notice in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and actually in the marriage record itself in Ramsey County, her name was recorded as Stina Lozewska.

     A lucky break came when I started tracking down the baptismal sponsors of Frank and Stella's children. The sponsors for Andrew Bulera baptized December 10, 1900 at St.Adalbert's, St. Paul, the godmother was recorded as Katherine Stryzewska. 

     I followed this name out in census and death records. Katherine Strzyzewska died on 31 January 1932.  The certificate says she was 96 years old.  She was born in Poland and her father's name was given as Michael Kiszka.  I went to see if an obituary would shed any light on her relationship with Stella or Frank Bulera, because baptismal sponsors are often family members. 

     The obituary in the St. Paul Pioneer Press read thus:

STRZYZEWSKA--Katherine.  In her 97th year at 848 Case street, January 31st.  Survived by her husband, Thomas.  Mother of Stanislava Bulera, John Lazewski and Stanizlaw Strzyzewska (sic), also 20 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.  Funeral from the home of John Lazewski, 850 Case street, Wednesday, February 3d, at 8:30 A. M. Services at St. Casimirs church at 9 A. M. Interment Calvary.  

     Wa-hoo!  This was totally new information in terms of the family tree. It added two generations. It begins to solve the name confusion.  It turns out that Katherine was married previously to Andreas/Andrew Lazewski.  After his death, she married Thomas Strzyzewski.  

     Sometimes in the census records, John Lazewski was recorded as Strzyzewski since Thomas was the head of household.  I'm not sure how Lazewski morphed into Orzewska, but this just shows how creative you have to be in deciphering the Polish names.  Sorry, Polish relatives, but it is much worse than anything I have seen in Irish records! One thing I did learn about the Polish L with a slash through it is that it has a soft w sound. See this Omniglot page for more pronunciation fun!

     The fact that Stella's brother's name is given as Lazewski in their mother's obituary was a big help.  He later muddies the waters by changing his name to Lasky.

     On Stella's death certificate, her father's name is given as Thomas Lazewski.  This is so much easier to understand now.  The first name of her step-father Thomas Strzyzewski and the surname of her father were combined.  This points out how records are not always accurate!

     Stella's death certificate also says she was born in Warsaw, Poland.  This also turns out to be incorrect.  We now have much more information on Stella's origins thanks to Patti Kiszka Metsch.  A couple of years ago I posted Katherine Kiszka Lazewska Strzyzewska's obituary online.  Patti responded to me that she had Kiszkas in her tree and they were from the area of  Poznan. This was a wonderful random act of genealogical kindness!! If I had ever gotten to looking for Stella's origin's, I would have started out searching far from her place of origin. 

View Larger Map

     Stella's baptismal record, courtesy of Patti, says she was born in Trzek on 22 April 1872.  Her parents are Andreas Lazewski and Catherina Kiszka.  Her godparents are Antonius Malecki and Victoria Kiszka (Catherine's sister).
     Thanks to Patti, there is much more to be shared about the Kiszkas.
     Maiden name mystery solved!!!
     And now, Stella Lazewski Bulera has a serendipitous namesake!  Though not intentional, there is now a Stella Marie Blaha--great, great, great granddaughter of Stella Bulera!

Wedding Bells...

     Dorothy Marie Hansen and Arnold Frank Blaha were married on 22 November 1947 at St. Luke's Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. (The church building still exists, but the parish has been reconfigured and the church is now called St. Thomas More).

     In this photo are Arnie, Dot, Jack Hansen, John Blaha, Josephine Hansen, and I think peeping from the back, Bernie Blaha.  If that is Bernie, this photo includes the siblings from both families. Don't the bride and groom look happy!!!

Definitely not Irish....

     Coming from a mostly Irish Heritage myself, entering the world of the Czechs, Norwegians, Polish, and Germans is a whole new ball came.  Once in grade school, the students were asked to share their ethnic backgrounds.  I was fascinated by the French, English, and Germans among us.  Some kids had 3 or 4 countries of origin!!  My eyes were green...and not because I was Irish.  ONLY Irish.
     Well, my kids can't claim to be so one-sided!  Matt, Mic, Tim and especially Stella Marie!  This is for you!