With Prince Harry and his new wife Meghan Markle set to land in Ireland this week for an official visit, it seems that they'll find some time to do a little bit of ancestral digging amidst the formal engagements.
Markle is set to trace her Irish roots when she visits the EPIC Emigration Museum in Dublin, where she'll be presented with details of her Irish ancestors.
Genealogist Lorna Moloney said that although she was not aware of the exact family tree that will be presented to Markle, her own research had uncovered the new Duchess of Sussex's links to the emerald isle - most notably in information that links her to a Mary McCague of Ballinasloe, who was born in 1829 and went on to marry a British Army soldier, Thomas Bird, who was stationed in Ireland at the time.
They then moved to Malta, where Bird's regiment was transferred, in 1860 and had two daughters there. It was those two daughters, Mary and Hattie, who travelled first to Canada and then to the US. It's believed that Mary Bird is a direct ancestor of Markle's.
Meghan and Harry are due to arrive in Ireland tomorrow for a two-day trip, during which they'll also visit Croke Park, Trinity College and the Famine Memorial. Whether they'll have time for a return visit to the Guinness Storehouse, meanwhile, remains to be seen.
Via Independent
