The people who stayed. The people who left. The lives between.
McPadden stories.
Rooted in Leitrim.
A living family history, from the people who stayed to the journeys that carried the name around the world.
Together, we’re preserving memories, tracing connections and making room for your family’s story.
Why this project mattersNot just where we came from.
Where the story
is still being lived.
Before an ocean crossing, there was a home. And after someone left, life here continued. Leitrim’s families, land and living memories are at the heart of this project.
01 / The living center
Leitrim.
Not a prologue.
Enter the Leitrim collection A whole world, close to home.
Mary McPadden’s household is one doorway into Tullynascreen: a family-held page, a small dwelling, and the lives around it. Ireland is a story in its own right.
Meet Mary McPadden of Tullynascreen
02 / Journeys & returns
An ocean away.
Never a simple story.
Some made a new home. Some came back.
Some belonged to more than one place.
A story you can explore · 1904
A sister’s address. A world ahead.
Follow James from Tullynascreen, across the Atlantic, to his older sister Catherine’s household in Bridgeport.
- Leitrim
- New York
- Bridgeport
AI-generated ocean illustration · an evocation of travel, not a historical photograph · About this image
03 / Begin with a life
Open a story.
Step into a world.
Four stories to explore today. One deeply researched Tullynascreen family opens the first door—not the only door.
01The mother · life in Ireland
Mary McPadden of Tullynascreen
A household, a home place, and the mark she left.
AI illustration · 1911-informed interpretation
02The son · across the Atlantic
A Ticket to Bridgeport
James McPadden’s journey between two family worlds.
McPadden family collection · H. J. Seeley studio · date unknown
03James’s older sister · Connecticut
Catherine of Warren Court
The sister who built a life before he arrived.
AI illustration · representative streetscape
04James & Catherine McNiff · their children
A Family Takes Root
Work, changing homes, and another generation.
Beardsley Park, c.1905 · Library of Congress · place contextImage credits & interpretation notes
Project illustrations are by The McPadden Project, not archival photographs or verified views of a person’s home or journey.
Mary’s cottage: 1911-informed interpretationJames’s portrait: family collection and studio creditRepresentative Connecticut streetscape: illustration notesBeardsley Park: photograph, source and context04 / A name is a beginning, not an answer
Are all McPaddens
related?
It is a question worth asking together. A shared name does not prove a shared ancestor—and an unknown connection does not make your story matter less.
Explore families & open questionsDifferent places. Many lives.
Connections to investigate, not assume.
05 / A place in the story
The next McPadden chapter
may be yours.
In Leitrim or across the world, your family’s memories may open another chapter of the McPadden story.
Ireland · An invitation
The story still being lived.
A household. A remembered neighbor. The name of a field. The people who live in Leitrim hold stories no passenger list can tell.
What local person or place should we know about?
Start a conversation Opens your email app. Nothing is sent automatically. Using webmail? Copy an address.These are invitations to help tell the story—not claims of proven relationships or completed research in every destination. Somewhere else? You belong in the conversation too.
You don’t need to carry the surname—or have a proven connection to the families already featured—to contribute.
A living history. Built together.
You do not need a finished tree.
Begin with what you remember.
A name. A townland. A photograph with a story behind it.
How to share a story Please keep living people’s sensitive details and private documents out of your first message. We discuss permission before publishing contributions.