Ancestors in History

Ancestors in History Ancestry, history & the stories that connect us.

I dig into the lives of your ancestors (and mine) to uncover the wild, human, and sometimes unbelievable ways they shaped history—one story at a time.

My ancestry trip to Ireland uncovered a cursed family home in Sligo.My 5th great-grandmother was Annie Phibbs, born in C...
08/06/2026

My ancestry trip to Ireland uncovered a cursed family home in Sligo.

My 5th great-grandmother was Annie Phibbs, born in County Sligo around 1784. Following her family line led me to the ruins of Seafield House, later known as Lisheen House, overlooking Ballysadare Bay.

The original house was built in 1798 by Annie’s great-uncle, William Phibbs. His grandson replaced it in 1842 with the massive 23-room mansion whose ruins remain today.

Legend has it there was a room filled with antiquities collected abroad, reportedly including Egyptian mummies and Syrian weapons. Then came the stories: unexplained disturbances, a phantom carriage arriving at midnight and a curse supposedly placed on the Phibbs family by a widow who had been evicted.

Today, the roof is gone and nature has taken most of it back.

Needless to say I didn’t expect my family tree to lead me here 😅

What's the craziest story in your family tree? 🤔

04/24/2026

Elvish ancestry propaganda 🧝‍♂️

Elrond is one of the most genealogically significant figures in Middle-earth, and his ancestry ties together nearly every major lineage from the First Age. Elrond is the son of Eärendil, the legendary mariner who sailed to Valinor to plead for the salvation of Elves and Men, and Elwing, the granddaughter of the mortal hero Beren and the immortal Lúthien. Through this lineage, Elrond descends from some of the most powerful and important figures in Tolkien’s legendarium, including the Maia spirit Melian and the ancient Elven king Thingol, making him part human, part elf, and part Maia. This unique heritage placed him among the Half-elven, a rare group who were given the choice to live as either mortal Men or immortal Elves. Elrond chose to be counted among the Elves, while his twin brother Elros chose mortality and became the first king of Númenor, beginning the royal line that would eventually lead to Aragorn. Elrond himself lived for thousands of years, serving as a leader, healer, and keeper of history in Rivendell, bridging the ancient world of the First Age with the events of The Lord of the Rings. His family story also connects directly to some of the most iconic moments in Middle-earth, including the theft of a Silmaril from Morgoth, the fall of Doriath, and the War of Wrath, making his ancestry one of the deepest and most interconnected in Tolkien’s world.

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