Using Public Documents to Trace the Lackey/Leech Family Migration from Northern Ireland to the Valley of Virginia

Learn how one historian and genealogist built a paper trail documenting the migration of her ancestors from County Donegal in Northern Ireland, into Pennsylvania, and finally to Virginia. This case study will delve into the complexities of research in Northern Ireland and trace one family’s journey.

This program is free and open to all, and will be presented in person at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, as well as virtually via Zoom. Please click here to register for the Zoom option.

About Our Speaker

Mary Jane Kuffner Hirt, PhD, Professor Emerita Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), Department of Political Science

Dr. Hirt worked as a local government manager/administrator prior to teaching full-time at IUP where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Political Science and Public Administration. For several years, she also taught an upper-level interdisciplinary, family history focused research/writing course, “Climbing Your Family Tree.”

In 2018, her article related to her colonial era Scots-Irish ancestors, “James Leech’s 1763 passport unlocks family migration story: Ulster to Colonial America,” was published in Familia, the journal of the Ulster Historical Foundation. Her book, The Mount Washington Transit Tunnel Disaster, an account of the December 24, 1917, accident that killed 23 and injured over 80 was published by The History Press in 2021.

Dr. Hirt lives in Harmar Township and works part-time as a local government consultant.