Graham Norton Investigates Family Division In Ireland | Who Do You Think You Are

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Graham Norton - or Graham William Walker, as he was born - left Ireland when he was young and hasn't looked back - until now. He always felt out of place, growing up in a small Protestant family in the predominantly Catholic south of Ireland. But he now admits that he feels drawn to the country, and wonders if his discoveries might change his view of Ireland. There is only one way to find out.
Graham begins his journey on the trail of his great grandmother, Mary. On her daughter's birth certificate, she is listed as Mary Reynolds, formerly Dooey. But a handwritten document in his mother's possession tells Graham that there was some confusion over her name, and that she was also known as Mary Logan. There is a mystery here. Was there something to hide?
Graham tracks down Mary's marriage certificate of 1895, where she is listed as Mary Logan. No father's name is provided, suggesting that Mary was illegitimate. From baptism records of Mary's children, Graham realises that she must have been eight months' pregnant at the time of her wedding - and recognises the shame that this held in her society. Graham also locates Mary's own baptism record, where she is Mary Jane Logan. So where does Dooey come from? The answer is nestled in the baptism records of one of Mary's siblings, where the father was listed as Fred Dooey, but the name has been scratched out. It is very likely that Fred Dooey was Mary's father, but was not married to her mother when the children were born. Thus Graham has solved the mystery of the Dooey name, and recognises how unusual it was for Mary's mother to have produced four children out of wedlock - and to remain living in the same community throughout. Her 'misdemeanours' must therefore have been accepted, and Graham is pleased to see it.
Graham then turns his attention to his southern Irish Protestant roots, hoping to discover how far back they go. His paternal grandfather, George Walker, was sexton of the Protestant church in Carnew. Land valuation records reveal that George's father was William (and his grandfather Joseph) and was a tenant of the Fitzwilliam Estate - in other words, he was linked to English Protestant planters. Joseph was a pillar of the Protestant community - vestry minutes at Carnew show that he was a churchwarden, which meant that he had the right to levy taxes from Protestants and Catholics alike for the upkeep of the Protestant Church of Ireland.
Still hot on the trail, Graham uses parish records and the Fitzwilliam estate papers to push the family back another three generations, including Thomas, who lived in Carnew through the Irish Rebellion of 1798, when the town was a royalist stronghold, and Carnew Castle the scene of a famous massacre of Catholics. The records show that a certain John Walker, almost certainly a relation, was shot and piked whilst fighting for the royalist cause.
But Graham has still more to discover. With the help of the Fitzwilliam Estate Papers, Hearth Tax records and baptism registers, he is able to trace his first ancestor who went from Yorkshire to Ireland - in about 1713.
And so, although surprised to be a Yorkshireman, Graham declares that he is comforted that his family have resided in Ireland for so many generations and pleased to be rooted so deeply in history.
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[@u4riahsc]

How fabulous it would be to be able to go back many generations and actually see the same sights your ancestors saw.

[@Thepc425]

The old lady “ I loved digging the graves” 😂

[@mfitzy100]

That’s a very Irish thing- they’re in every parish. I know guys that love being involved in it.

[@arladicey]

The resemblance between Graham and his grandfather George is strong. Plus, how lovely is his Aunt May?

[@mfitzy100]

“Loved digging graves”- that’s as Irish as you can get as there’s a huge tradition around grave digging and burial in Ireland. Glad Graham is embracing his Irish roots as Ireland wants to embrace him. My family are Anglo Norman roots (a few hundred years before his family) and never felt anything but Irish ☘️

[@Dom-fx4kt]

Same here, the saying goes about the Normans, "They became more Irish than the Irish themselves"

[@RobertK1993]

Actually he from new English Elizabethan time Protestants

[@commonsense571]

That’s funny bc when my sister went to Ireland the first photo she set home was the graveyard where my great grandparents are. 😂🍀

[@OscarOSullivan]

He is Irish

[@DaChaGee]

The auntie's accent is amazing!

[@michaeldukes4108]

His aunt has one of the more interesting accents I’ve ever heard. It goes from English to Irish every other second!

[@hannahmcgahan8920]

MICHAEL DUKES my family never lost their accents when they came over especially my Grandad’s oldest sister x 😂 ☘️

[@mfitzy100]

You can hear the pure Wicklow in some words!

[@Dom-fx4kt]

She spent so many years in England that part of her accent sounds almost cockney while the rest sounds Wicklow

[@annnee6818]

Accents are like rocks in the sea, if it gets washed over a lot it changes

[@bobapbob5812]

There were many irish revolutionary heroes who were Protestant.

[@f.b508]

Wolfe tone is the most famous Protestant and there were many in the United Irishmen. They founded the United Irishmen. Roger casement was Protestant too. The song that the Wolfe Tones sing about the brave Protestant men. Says it all.💚🇮🇪

[@bobapbob5812]

@@f.b508 Parcell was a Protestant and an Irish nationalist. The husband of the woman he had an affair with (Kitty) was a Catholic and a British nationalist.

[@caseymanuel7199]

His Grandfather was gorgeous!!!!

[@weepingangel8946]

As an American whose community doesn't have a strong religious scene, this is very interesting but strange to me

[@DaChaGee]

Henry Ford was of Irish descent, however with Ford being an English name his ancestors emigrated from England to Ireland like Graham's, then on to the US.

[@roberthudson1959]

The Catholic term for Protestants is still "separated brethren," and Catholics who married outside the faith were required to promise that their children would be raised Catholic until Vatican II.

[@kathe.o.]

OMGoodness Graham looks like his Granddad George.

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

Carving your initials into stuff is a really bad idea because once the vandalism's been discovered there's no way of denying it was you who did it. I once wrote my whole name into the kitchen table varnish with a needle. It was at my dad's spot as well. Very bad idea. For any future vandals out there: write a sibling's initials instead. 😅

[@ukgirlinlv]

I remember when I was a kid Catholics and Protestants went to different schools and they wouldn't speak to each other.

[@Nevano12]

That's still going on in Northern Ireland

[@extanegautham8950]

graham is wrong to make the generalization that Protestants are made subtly to feel less irish. he may have had that experience, but there are Protestants ALL over Ireland, from Cork to Sligo.. he needs to read more. --many Prots were leaders in the Republican movement early on.

[@atlantic169]

That doesn't make them any more or less Irish.

[@nosillalaluna7078]

I can dig it , you can dig it , we can dig it , so let's dig it baby ! TOO FUNNY! Put a smile on my face for the day ☺️❤️👍

[@marywood8794]

My Dad was the Sexton at his Episcopal Church when I was little in the early to mid 1980s. No graveyard there! Lol He was essentially a janitor who also did the yardwork, too, at the church. He was paid a small amount and really did more work than anyone would have for so little money because it was "his" church. Graham's grandfather likely felt the same.

[@Tulpen23]

His accent here is more strongly Irish than when he's on "The Graham Norton Show". I wonder if he adjusts his accent intentionally on the show, or subconsciously.

[@Eliteerin]

I think it's subconscious because my dad and grandmother and aunt all sound more Irish when they visit Ireland

[@bobapbob5812]

@@Eliteerin I went to Duke University. The dean of our chapel was from Scotland. His accent always increased behind the pulpit.

[@elenaodonovan785]

It happens subconsciously. Everytime I go home my accent just goes back to its "Factory Settings"

[@nigefal]

Find this funny as to an Irish ear Graham's accent is still angelized. He does not have much of a Cork accent at all (where he grew up). His accent seems very affected. Very put on almost Montenotte (Posh Cork).

[@hrushikeshj8810]

Must be subconscious. You ll see on Graham's show how Michael Fassbenders accent changes when there is even one more Irish person on the sofa. My mother tongue is Marathi and when I'm home, the way I speak definitely changes.

[@isha.inamdar]

Omg he has an Aunt May! He's Spiderman!❤️

[@Nana5797]

Graham looks like his Grandfather George!

[@ukgirlinlv]

Absolutely.

[@knjmoorhouse5093]

So now Graham should do some DNA testing to track down those mysterious great grandfathers.

[@cambs0181]

Doesn't work like that. DNA testing only works if you have both parties tested, then you can get a match.

[@Locomaid]

As an „English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh“ former US citizen, I found this all confusing when, in the 1980s, I was visiting the „motherlands.“ As a person whose family was in the present US from the late 1500‘s, with the last immigrants in the early 1800’s, I didn’t get the distinctions. It made the „melting pot“ concept much clearer to me. Now living in Europe for more than 30 years, I appreciate the subtleties of countries and regions within the UK and Ireland. I have a German last name by birth but the last German in the mix was in 1725. My DNA reads 98% UK and Ireland, but I speak English, German and Swiss German (Thanks to emigration in my late teens) fluently. The last two percent? Germany, Switzerland and France. All mid 1700‘s, according to research. But...I have a Southern German last name and a genetic vision defect from the Lourdes region 😂!

[@katherinetutschek4757]

I have a Czech last name but our last ancestors there left for Poland during the Counter-Reformation. German on the other three sides, and Protestant on all sides😅

[@Canuck13]

Graham looks just like his grand dad.

[@crossemily]

My great great grandfather and mother were married, he was protestant and she was catholic. No problem under british rule, theyd hold hands on way to church then go separate ways yo their own church and meet after. Unfortunately when catholic church became prominant in ireland as republic it all changed. My gran (same side) remembers being told that if she touched the church fence of COIreland - she would burn 😕 always think we became a theocracy more so than a republic

[@nylanelson5212]

I Love the older woman’s accent

[@Imjustsaying1961]

This is how I felt living as an anglophone in Quebec where I could trace my roots back to the 1700s. Unfortunate.

[@f.b508]

Ireland owes a lot to Protestants. Like the ones that founded the United Irishmen

[@jaredparrish649]

So who was Fred Dooey?

[@reeky307]

CARNEW WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU SAID GRAHAM. IT IS NOT AN ODD VILLAGE ‼️

[@Another_taco.Yes_please]

We have a Sexton family reunion here in the states every year, lol!

[@EverGreen1888]

'slightly less' and 'other'? Know your history Graham, some of the finest men to rebel against tyranny were Protestant, not least in Cork

[@TheAyla2004]

yes notable united Irishmen were protestant, 1798 Wolfe tone and the dissenters modern irish embraces sectarian and forgets its own history

[@StevenOBrien]

As a protestant who grew up in a very catholic area, you do tend to feel a bit sidelined. Nothing terrible, of course, but when you're not doing first communion, confirmation, etc. with your friends, when history classes are filled with stories of religious oppression (I didn't learn that Wolfe Tone, Parnell, Markievicz, etc. were protestants until I became an adult) and people jokingly point you out as being the only protestant in the class... I've lived in Ireland all my life, and I completely understand when he says he's never felt particularly Irish.

[@snellen87]

It's just his personal experience pal

[@Morgan-kn6xb]

@Joseph Norm COI make their confirmation.

[@Morgan-kn6xb]

@Joseph Norm That's true actually. They'd be high church from my understanding of Anglicanism. I remember reading on their website that the COI refer to themselves as 'reformed Catholic' rather than Protestant.

[@Brickcellent]

Never knew he's Protestant.

[@joshfinch9022]

I was quite surprised on hearing he was Irish cuz hes got such an English name

[@sowitandhopeitgrows]

Well known to be honest... But then these days, glad it doesn't matter so much as it once did.... When he was playing Father Noel in Father Ted, our family thought it was hilarious that somebody with such strong Protestant background played a Catholic Priest so well.... Now we know, with his strong connections to the Church of Ireland faith!

[@paulwade8825]

We need peaceful United lreland , and leave past behind

[@tasneemgamieldien2545]

Why did Graham change his surname?

[@marlenereineke3562]

Graham looks like his Grandfather

[@mrss4278]

Wow, Graham looks like George.

[@MICHAELCAMPBELL69]

Aunt has funny Irish accent sounds like someone from east Enders

[@Do-U-SmellThat]

George was a very handsome man

[@lauraleecreations3217]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍👍

[@janty68]

His grandad has a look of Tom Hardy

[@jerrilynhenson9024]

Has Graham done a dna test?

[@colingillespie1560]

at least your proud of ur past , not like a certain david tennant 😒

[@Locomaid]

He looks a lot like his grandfather 👴

[@yasdnilknarf1885]

He is so Irish he left.

[@hachwarwickshire1718]

Digging graves in Ireland ... involves drinking !

[@heatherspence3848]

BW oh my gosh are you kidding me that is so neat

[@barrydelisle8655]

Dont they know that there is no god

[@gaminggeneral1324]

Does that effect you. No, leave them alone

[@gregh7400]

I hope you have evidence of your statement.

[@RobertK1993]

Apparently not

[@michaeldukes4108]

An atheist walks into a bar... The whole place knows so because he announced it straightaway.

[@Tawadeb]

So who made you Barry?