A few years ago, Conor spent countless hours gathering old family documents, then organized them by surname. Birth, marriage and death certificates, voter-registration cards, passports and more — including our grandparents’ and grandaunts’ citizenship papers.

Here in the United States, this Saturday commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, when the United States formally separated from Great Britain. I thought it would be historically interesting to post the citizenship papers now. I’ve arranged them chronologically, oldest to newest.

I wonder if men had to carry them in their wallets for work or general purposes — both my grandfathers’ documents are tattered. On the other hand, both Margaret and Helen “Nellie” worked, so maybe not.

Another thing I think is interesting about these is that all but one (Alphonsus Fitzgerald) list the individual’s nationality as either “Great Britain” or “British”. All of these documents post-dated the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. All five individuals were born prior to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 and raised in what is now known as the Republic of Ireland. It would make sense if either they were all listed as British or all as Irish, but not most British and one Irish. Maybe someone with more historical understanding than me can weigh in and solve this mystery.

Best,

Sioban

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