A New Impetus
January - June 2004
Sometimes it feels like God just keeps sending reminders to move things from the back burner to the front.
As an independent consultant, when between projects a lot of my time is taken up on networking meetings with colleagues. The start of the new year was no different. On Tuesday, January 6, I had lunch with a friend who works for a large, Boston-headquartered engineering and management consulting firm. Towards the end of the conversation, I related how after my BVI experience I had begun the process of claiming foreign born Irish citizenship so I could be eligible to work on European Development Bank projects.
His eyes lit up a bit at this piece of information. He explained that another group in the company had just won a large watershed based planning project in Ireland. Someone with my background who was an Irish citizen might be a good match for some of their needs. I told him it would likely be three months before it was final and he asked that I let him know as soon as it came through.
The next day, I faxed the General Register Office in Dublin and, using the information from the Limerick ancestry report, ordered a copy of my grandmother’s birth certificate. I then contacted the Irish Consulate in Boston and requested a citizenship application. Although it was not needed for citizenship purposes, I also faxed the Galway Family History Society and requested the report on my Grandfather.
A few days later and application arrived. Three weeks later, a Priority Aerphost envelope with an Eire postmark arrived – it contained Johanna Ita McCarthy’s birth record in Irish and English.
I then contacted a friend who at the time was the City Clerk of my hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts. He provided me with the full-page versions of my birth certificate and marriage certificate, my father’s birth and death certificates, my mother and father’s marriage certificate, my grandmother and grandfather’s marriage certificate, and my grandmother’s death certificate. This turned out to be less straightforward than it seemed. Although her first name was Johanna, my grandmother always went by her middle name Ita. My father’s birth certificate lists her name as “Ida” McCarthy. Her marriage certificate was filed under Ita McCarthy and her death certificate was filed under Johanna Corliss, m.n. McCarthy. So on the three key records her name did not match each other or the full name on her birth certificate.
The final step was to have the application witnessed by a clergyman, medical doctor, school principal, bank manager, lawyer, policeman, or magistrate/judge. Since I was in City Hall picking up the other documents, I asked the City Attorney to sign as witness. He explained that he too had filed for Irish Citizenship several years before and would be happy to oblige.
With all my documentation in hand, on Monday March 1st, I headed for Boston and the Irish Consulate. I presented the paperwork to the woman at the window who reviewed everything for completeness. She noted the discrepancies in my grandmother’s name on the various documents. I explained that she went by her middle name – which was misspelled on one of the documents – and that I even had a family history report from County Limerick that provided additional information. She suggested that a photocopy of the report be included in the file when submitted to the Consulate General for review.
The end of May, a letter arrived from the Consulate containing a Foreign Births Entry Book certificate documenting my Irish citizenship. I could now apply for a passport if I wished. It had taken four and a half months from when I had lunch with my friend and then ordered my grandmother’s birth certificate. I called him and he said that he would contact the manager of the project in Ireland on my behalf.
As part of my normal networking, in June I contacted a colleague at another large engineering and management consulting firm. He asked if I might be interested in a project management contract in Phoenix Arizona? I asked for details and he said they had a large contract and the project manager, a fellow from England, had left the company to take a job as project manager with another firm that had recently signed a big planning contract . . . in Ireland!
Sometimes it feels like God just keeps sending reminders to move things from the back burner to the front.
As an independent consultant, when between projects a lot of my time is taken up on networking meetings with colleagues. The start of the new year was no different. On Tuesday, January 6, I had lunch with a friend who works for a large, Boston-headquartered engineering and management consulting firm. Towards the end of the conversation, I related how after my BVI experience I had begun the process of claiming foreign born Irish citizenship so I could be eligible to work on European Development Bank projects.
His eyes lit up a bit at this piece of information. He explained that another group in the company had just won a large watershed based planning project in Ireland. Someone with my background who was an Irish citizen might be a good match for some of their needs. I told him it would likely be three months before it was final and he asked that I let him know as soon as it came through.
The next day, I faxed the General Register Office in Dublin and, using the information from the Limerick ancestry report, ordered a copy of my grandmother’s birth certificate. I then contacted the Irish Consulate in Boston and requested a citizenship application. Although it was not needed for citizenship purposes, I also faxed the Galway Family History Society and requested the report on my Grandfather.
A few days later and application arrived. Three weeks later, a Priority Aerphost envelope with an Eire postmark arrived – it contained Johanna Ita McCarthy’s birth record in Irish and English.
I then contacted a friend who at the time was the City Clerk of my hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts. He provided me with the full-page versions of my birth certificate and marriage certificate, my father’s birth and death certificates, my mother and father’s marriage certificate, my grandmother and grandfather’s marriage certificate, and my grandmother’s death certificate. This turned out to be less straightforward than it seemed. Although her first name was Johanna, my grandmother always went by her middle name Ita. My father’s birth certificate lists her name as “Ida” McCarthy. Her marriage certificate was filed under Ita McCarthy and her death certificate was filed under Johanna Corliss, m.n. McCarthy. So on the three key records her name did not match each other or the full name on her birth certificate.
The final step was to have the application witnessed by a clergyman, medical doctor, school principal, bank manager, lawyer, policeman, or magistrate/judge. Since I was in City Hall picking up the other documents, I asked the City Attorney to sign as witness. He explained that he too had filed for Irish Citizenship several years before and would be happy to oblige.
With all my documentation in hand, on Monday March 1st, I headed for Boston and the Irish Consulate. I presented the paperwork to the woman at the window who reviewed everything for completeness. She noted the discrepancies in my grandmother’s name on the various documents. I explained that she went by her middle name – which was misspelled on one of the documents – and that I even had a family history report from County Limerick that provided additional information. She suggested that a photocopy of the report be included in the file when submitted to the Consulate General for review.
The end of May, a letter arrived from the Consulate containing a Foreign Births Entry Book certificate documenting my Irish citizenship. I could now apply for a passport if I wished. It had taken four and a half months from when I had lunch with my friend and then ordered my grandmother’s birth certificate. I called him and he said that he would contact the manager of the project in Ireland on my behalf.
As part of my normal networking, in June I contacted a colleague at another large engineering and management consulting firm. He asked if I might be interested in a project management contract in Phoenix Arizona? I asked for details and he said they had a large contract and the project manager, a fellow from England, had left the company to take a job as project manager with another firm that had recently signed a big planning contract . . . in Ireland!
posted by J Corlss at
11:42 AM
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