Is that Obama or O'Bama?

From the New York Press:

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has Irish branches in his family tree. More than a century and a half ago, 19-year-old Falmouth Kearney, Obama's third great-grandfather, sailed from Ireland, landing in New York harbor on March 20, 1850.

Falmouth was among the thousands of Irish immigrating to America to escape the late 1840s potato famine in Ireland. By 1860, New York City had the largest Irish population in the world -- a quarter of its residents had been born in Ireland.

"If Barack Obama and Al Sharpton's family histories have taught us anything, it's shown that our roots illustrate the diverse fabric of America's history," says Megan Smolenyak, Chief Family Historian for Ancestry.com. "Our family heritage is often a tangle of roots that defines our existence within the events that shaped this country. There's no such thing as a boring family tree and as you discover your own history, the journey reveals the real stories of America."

My great-great-grandfather Thomas O’Shea came from Ireland with his young family in 1848. Another Potato Famine escapee. He farmed in New York State for awhile, and then moved to the Iowa City area. Somewhere along the line our last name was changed to "Shay." This is a synopsis of my Irish origin story, as there is a much longer one that includes many asides and tangents. Just like I heard it.