GENEALOGY LIFE

There’s Always a Kernel of Truth

Solving a Long-held Family History Mystery Leads to an Enigmatic Playwright

I couldn’t understand it. My nana had an amazing memory. As a professional genealogist, I’m more aware than most that we should take our family lore with a grain of salt. Whether deliberately or accidentally, it’s distorted as it travels through the generations, but everything she told me had turned out to be accurate, consistently borne out through my careful research. Everything except that one story.

Nana’s Claim

Nana — known to others as Beatrice Reynolds — wed James Shields in 1923, and with that marriage came an Irish immigrant father-in-law, David Shields, who enjoyed regaling her with tales. The one she was proudest of was our relationship to Academy Award-winning actor, Barry Fitzgerald, known for his Abbey Theatre performances and film career (Going My Way, The Quiet Man, How Green Was My Valley). Barry Fitzgerald was the stage name of William Shields, and according to Nana, Barry aka William was her father-in-law’s first cousin.

Actor Barry Fitzgerald whose birth name was William Joseph Shields (by unknown, eBay, Public Domain)

As with all the other nuggets she told me, I set about proving it, but came up short. Every few years, I’d pull out my notes and have another go. No luck. Then came DNA testing. Surely genetic genealogy would help me substantiate what the paper trail…