No Irish Need Apply

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL EXPLORE THE FAMILY TREES OF ACTOR JANE LYNCH AND COMEDIAN JIM GAFFIGAN.

EACH WILL CONFRONT THE CHALLENGES FACED BY THEIR IRISH ANCESTORS, AS THEY STRUGGLED TO BECOME AMERICANS.

LYNCH: OH MY GOSH!

I KNOW THAT THERE WAS A STIGMA.

I NEVER KNEW WHY, BUT I KNEW THERE WAS A STIGMA.

GATES: THEY WERE CARICATURED LIKE APES AND MONKEYS IN THE SAME WAY BLACK PEOPLE WERE.

LYNCH: ISN'T THAT CRAZY?

GATES: COULD YOU EVER IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS HAVE IMAGINED THAT THIS IS HOW YOUR ANCESTORS ENDED UP IN THE MIDWEST?

GAFFIGAN: NO, NOT AT ALL.

IT'S NOT THIS NOBLE ROMANTIC PIONEER STORY.

IT'S, IT'S FLEEING.

GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE... GENEALOGISTS COMBED THROUGH THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND...

WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD... LYNCH: OH MY GOSH.

GATES: AND WE'VE COMPILED IT ALL INTO A BOOK OF LIFE.

A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

GAFFIGAN: THIS IS INSANE.

GATES: AND A WINDOW INTO THE HIDDEN PAST.

LYNCH: I'M LEARNING MORE AND MORE ABOUT WHAT I'M STAMPED WITH, WHAT I'VE BEEN IMPRINTED WITH, GATES: RIGHT.

LYNCH: UH, AND WHAT, HOW, HOW MY SOUL WAS IMPRINTED WHEN IT WENT INTO THIS BODY.

GATES: JANE AND JIM DESCEND FROM ANCESTORS WHO LEFT IRELAND SEEKING A BETTER LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES AND WHO DID NOT IMMEDIATELY FIND IT.

IN THIS EPISODE, THEY'LL SEE WHAT MAKES THE IRISH AMERICAN EXPERIENCE UNIQUE...

EXPLORING THE SACRIFICES THEIR ANCESTORS MADE IN EMIGRATING TO THIS COUNTRY AND THE HARDSHIPS THEY FACED AND OVERCAME AFTER THEY ARRIVED.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ ♪ GATES: OVER 30 MILLION AMERICANS CLAIM IRISH DESCENT AND THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE PART OF THE VERY FABRIC OF OUR NATION.

BUT THE IRISH WEREN'T ALWAYS CELEBRATED IN THIS COUNTRY.

MOST ARRIVED HERE WITH NOTHING, PRACTICING A RELIGION THAT MANY VIEWED AT BEST WITH SUSPICION... THEIR SHARED JOURNEY, FROM THE WORKING CLASS, TO THE MIDDLE CLASS, TO THE VERY HEIGHTS OF POWER, IS ASTONISHING.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL LOOK AT HOW THIS JOURNEY UNFOLDED IN TWO FAMILIES.

FOR ACTOR JANE LYNCH, GROWING UP IN AN IRISH AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN CHICAGO, EVERYTHING BEGAN IN CHURCH, WHERE SHE FELT AT HOME FOR REASONS THAT WEREN'T EXACTLY SPIRITUAL.

LYNCH: WE WENT TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY.

BUT AS FAR AS BEING RELIGIOUS AND PRAYING AND WE WEREN'T THAT.

UH, CHURCH WAS VERY SOCIAL FOR US.

MY PARENTS DID PLAYS AT CHURCH, AND IT WAS THE FIRST PLACE THAT I GOT TO GO WITH THEM WHERE I REALLY ENJOYED MYSELF.

GATES: WE DON'T THINK OF CATHOLIC CHURCHES AS HAVING A LOT OF PERFORMANCES.

THIS IS LIKE A BLACK CHURCH THING.

LYNCH: NO, NO, THE IRISH CATHOLICS... GATES: REALLY?

LYNCH: OH YEAH.

WE PUT ON PLAYS AND WE DRINK.

ABSOLUTELY.

GATES: THOSE CHURCH PLAYS MUST HAVE BEEN PRETTY INSPIRING.

JANE TOLD ME THAT SHE'S WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR EVER SINCE AND THAT HER PARENTS, WHILE UNDERSTANDABLY NERVOUS, WERE ONBOARD WITH THAT GOAL.

ESPECIALLY HER FATHER, WHO SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN SOMETHING OF A PERFORMER HIMSELF... LYNCH: MY DAD WAS ALMOST LIKE A BORSCHT BELT COMIC.

HE WAS CORNY, AND, UH, LIKE HE'D SAY, UH, YOU KNOW, "JANE JUST FLEW IN FROM CALIFORNIA.

BOY, ARE HER ARMS TIRED."

AND HE'D WAIT FOR THE LAUGH.

AND YOU SHOULD SEE HIM MAKE A DRINK AND HE ALWAYS DID IT WITH A FLOURISH, TOO.

HE WAS KIND OF LIKE ED NORTON FROM THE , UH, "HONEYMOONERS".

HE'D GET THE SHOT GLASS... AND HE WAS SO PROUD OF ME.

HE WAS, UH, HE WOULD TELL ANYBODY WHO WOULD LISTEN, "YOU KNOW, I GOT A DAUGHTER IN ACTING.

SHE'S MAKING A LIVING AT IT.

SHE'S ON A TELEVISION SHOW."

AND, YOU KNOW, HE...

I REMEMBER WHEN I, UH, HE DID MY TAXES ONE YEAR, AND I MADE $100,000, AND HE WENT... (GASPS AND CLAPS).

HE WAS SO HAPPY FOR ME.

HE WAS LIKE "OH!"

GATES: ALTHOUGH JANE HAS ALWAYS KNOWN WHAT SHE WANTED TO DO, THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN A SUCCESS.

HER BIG BREAK DIDN'T COME UNTIL SHE WAS ALMOST FIFTY YEARS OLD WHEN SHE LANDED A LEAD ROLE IN THE HIT TV SERIES "GLEE" PLAYING A CHEERLEADING COACH WITH THE SOUL OF MACHIAVELLI... "GLEE" WOULD WIN JANE AN EMMY AND MAKE HER A HOUSEHOLD NAME.

BUT AS A LATE-COMER TO FAME, JANE HAS SEEN HER SHARE OF STRUGGLES AND SHE CREDITS HER PARENTS WITH GIVING HER THE TEMPERAMENT TO KEEP GOING... LYNCH: IN SOME WAYS YOU'RE JUST LIVING YOUR LIFE.

YOU REALLY ARE.

GATES: MM-HMM.

LYNCH: UH, AND I THINK IF YOU'RE YOUNGER AND A LITTLE LESS FORMED AS A HUMAN BEING AND YOU'RE BLOWN BY THE WINDS OF, UH, WHAT YOU BELIEVE TO BE THE, UH, THE APPROVAL OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF YOU, I THINK IT CAN BE A HARD ROW TO HOE.

GATES: YEAH.

LYNCH: IT CAN BE, YOU KNOW, LOTS OF UPS AND, YOU KNOW, DEVASTATING DOWNS.

BUT YOU KNOW... GATES: MM-HMM.

LYNCH: MY MOTHER AND FATHER WERE VERY KIND, KIND PEOPLE, AND, UH, I THINK I, UH, I ABSORBED THAT.

GATES: MY SECOND GUEST IS JIM GAFFIGAN.

ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL COMEDIANS IN AMERICA TODAY, BELOVED FOR HIS WRY RIFFS ON FAMILY LIFE AND FATHERHOOD.

GAFFIGAN: LITTLE BOYS ARE SAVAGES.

I HAVE THREE LITTLE BOYS, EACH OF THEM HAS HEAD-BUTTED ME FOR NO REASON AT ALL.

OH, WELL, WE ARE IN CHURCH.

OKAY.

GATES: JIM PROUDLY IDENTIFIES AS AN IRISH-AMERICAN AND MUCH LIKE JANE LYNCH, HE TRACES HIS PROFESSIONAL AMBITIONS BACK TO HIS CHILDHOOD HOME, WHERE HE SET OUT TO AMUSE HIS SIBLINGS, AND DISCOVERED THAT HE HAD A REAL TALENT FOR IMPERSONATING HIS FATHER.

COULD YOU CONJURE HIM UP?

(CLEARS THROAT).

GAFFIGAN: I COULD TRY.

(IMPERSONATING HIS FATHER).

"DR. GATES, YES."

IT'S EASIER TO DO WITH A CIGARETTE... GATES: THAT'S, THAT'S FABULOUS.

JIM GAFFIGAN: WHAT A FANTASTIC SHOW YOU HAVE.

GATES: THANK YOU, SIR!

GAFFIGAN: SEE, THE THING ABOUT MY DAD IS THAT HE WAS UNINTENTIONALLY FUNNY.

BUT PURSUING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY WAS NOT PRESENTED AS AN OPTION.

NOW, AS A LITTLE KID, I WOULD SEE "THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW", AND I WOULD SEE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, COMEDIANS ON THE "JOHNNY CARSON SHOW" OR "THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW", AND I WOULD THINK, "THAT'S AMAZING."

BUT I, YOU KNOW, I DIDN'T THINK THAT I COULD HAVE, BE IN THE SAME OCCUPATION AS JONATHAN WINTERS.

GATES: RIGHT.

GAFFIGAN: DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

IT JUST WASN'T REALISTIC.

GATES: THOUGH A CAREER IN COMEDY MAY HAVE SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE TO YOUNG JIM, HE WAS STILL DRAWN TO IT.

AFTER STUDYING FINANCE IN COLLEGE, HE FOUND HIMSELF WORKING IN AN OFFICE DURING THE DAY AND DOING STAND-UP AT NIGHT, IN SMALL CLUBS, ALL THE WHILE WONDERING WHO HE REALLY WAS.

GAFFIGAN: I WAS RAISED TO BELIEVE, UH, THAT YOU SEEK A LEVEL OF SECURITY.

AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A REFLECTION OF BEING THE YOUNGEST OF SIX OR THE FACT THAT MY FATHER WAS THE FIRST GENERATION TO GO TO COLLEGE, BUT IT WAS, SECURITY WAS WEARING A COAT AND TIE.

GATES: SO, YOU WERE A GOOD KID.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

GATES: AND, I MEAN SECURITY IS A GOOD THING.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

GATES: DID YOU LIKE IT?

DID YOU TAKE TO FINANCE?

GAFFIGAN: NO, I HATED IT.

I HATED IT.

I HATED IT.

I DIDN'T FIND IT INTERESTING, BUT I WASN'T, I IMAGINED THAT ONCE YOU GOT PAID, IT WOULD BE FUN, BUT I WAS WRONG.

AND I THINK I, UH, I WENT THROUGH A PERIOD IN MY EARLY TWENTIES WHERE I REALLY STRUGGLED WITH, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO.

GATES: THE TURNING POINT IN JIM'S LIFE WAS A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

IN 1990, WHEN HE WAS TWENTY FOUR YEARS OLD, HIS MOTHER PASSED AWAY AFTER A BATTLE WITH CANCER.

THE LOSS DROVE JIM TO RETHINK HIS PRIORITIES AND TO PURSUE HIS LOVE OF COMEDY.

GAFFIGAN: HER DEATH WAS SO TRAUMATIC FOR ME.

IT WAS THE, UH, IT WAS, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, A, A, BREAK IN REALITY THAT, I THINK, TRANSFORMED MY LIFE.

GATES: SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR SUCCESS IN YOUR CHOSEN CAREER WOULD'VE MEANT TO HER?

GAFFIGAN: OH, I THINK SHE WOULD'VE LOVED IT.

GATES: MM-HMM.

GAFFIGAN: I MEAN, THE FACT THAT I DO STANDUP THAT IS CONSIDERED FAMILY FRIENDLY IN SOME WAYS IS AN ACCIDENT.

IT'S JUST MY POINT OF VIEW.

GATES: MM-HMM.

GAFFIGAN: SOME OF MY FAVORITE COMEDIANS ARE FILTHY, BUT I DO KNOW THAT MY MOM WOULD'VE LOVED THE STUFF I WOULD'VE DONE.

GATES: MY TWO GUESTS HAVE IRISH ROOTS ON BOTH SIDES OF THEIR FAMILY TREES, STRETCHING BACK FOR CENTURIES.

BUT EACH HAD FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THOSE ROOTS.

IT WAS TIME TO PROVIDE SOME ANSWERS.

LYNCH: MY IRISH SIDE ON MY DAD'S SIDE... GATES: I STARTED WITH JANE.

SHE WAS ESPECIALLY EAGER TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HER PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, MARY LYNSKY, WHO IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA AS A YOUNG WOMAN.

WITHIN JANE'S FAMILY, MARY'S JOURNEY IS THE STUFF OF LEGEND AND JANE'S ADMIRATION FOR HER GRANDMOTHER IS PALPABLE.

LYNCH: TO LEAVE A FAMILY BY YOURSELF, A SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL, AND GET ON A SHIP... GATES: MM-HMM.

LYNCH: AND GO ALL THE WAY TO NEW YORK, THESE PLACES THAT I DON'T EVEN KNOW EXISTED IN HER FRAME OF REFERENCE, AND... (SIGHS).

I JUST THINK IT TAKES TONS OF COURAGE, UH, GUMPTION, WHICH IS ONE OF MY GRANDMOTHER'S FAVORITE WORDS, GUMPTION.

AND, UM, A FEARLESSNESS.

AND MAYBE EVEN A LITTLE IGNORANCE THROWN IN THERE WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING, YOU KNOW?

GATES: TOO DUMB TO BE SCARED.

LYNCH: EXACTLY!

THAT MIGHT'VE, MIGHT'VE BEEN IT.

YOU KNOW, SHE'S A FARM GIRL.

GATES: MARY WAS, INDEED, A FARM GIRL.

BUT BEYOND THAT, JANE KNEW LITTLE ABOUT HER LIFE BACK IN IRELAND, OR WHY SHE TOOK SUCH RISKS TO LEAVE IT BEHIND.

WE SET OUT TO EXPLORE THAT DECISION.

STARTING IN CULDUFF, THE RURAL TOWNLAND WHERE MARY GREW UP...

HERE, IN THE 1901 CENSUS, WE FOUND MARY AMIDST A GROWING FAMILY.

LYNCH: "MICHAEL LYNSKEY, HEAD OF FAMILY, ROMAN CATHOLIC, EDUCATION, READS AND WRITES, AGE 40, OCCUPATION, FARMER, MARGARET LYNSKEY, WIFE, EDUCATION, CANNOT READ, AGE 30, 10 YEARS YOUNGER, OCCUPATION, FARMER'S WIFE, JOHN LYNSKEY, SON, EDUCATION, READS AND WRITES, AGE 12."

GATES: MM-HMM.

LYNCH: "MARY LYNSKEY", GRANDMA, "DAUGHTER, EDUCATION, READS AND WRITES, AGE 11," AWW!

GATES: SO, THAT'S YOUR GRANDMOTHER MARY AS AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD LIVING WITH HER PARENTS.

LYNCH: YEAH.

GATES: YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS MICHAEL AND MARGARET LYNSKEY, AND HER FOUR SIBLINGS IN CULDUFF.

LYNCH: YES.

GATES: AND THAT'S THEIR HOUSE.

LYNCH: YOU'RE KIDDING?

GATES: THAT IS THE VERY HOUSE IN WHICH THEY LIVED AT THE TIME THAT CENSUS WAS TAKEN IN 1901.

IT'S STILL STANDING.

LYNCH: OH MY GOSH.

IT'S IN CULDUFF?

GATES: UH-HUH.

THAT'S YOUR FAMILY HOME.

LYNCH: OH MY GOSH.

AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S JUST A COUPLE OF ROOMS IF, IF NOT JUST ONE ROOM.

AND, OH, AND THERE'S COWS.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE RAISING A FAMILY IN SUCH A HOUSE?

LYNCH: NO.

NO.

UNBELIEVABLE.

GATES: THIS HOUSE ILLUSTRATES MARY'S FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGE.

BY THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, IRELAND HAD BEEN SUBJECT TO ENGLISH RULE FOR MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED YEARS AND WAS ONLY JUST EMERGING FROM A SYSTEM OF TENANT FARMING THAT HAD IMPOVERISHED GENERATIONS.

MERE SURVIVAL REQUIRED BACK-BREAKING WORK AND WEALTH WAS ELUSIVE.

THIS CREATED A TERRIBLE PROBLEM FOR MANY IRISH WOMEN.

AS ONLY ONE CHILD, TYPICALLY A SON, WOULD INHERIT A FAMILY FARM, LEAVING THE DAUGHTERS WITH NOTHING...

SO FAMILIES LIKE THE LYNSKEYS STRUGGLED WHEN IT CAME TO SECURING THEIR DAUGHTERS' FUTURES.

LYNCH: RIGHT.

GATES: MOST COULD BARELY AFFORD A DOWRY FOR ONE DAUGHTER, AND WITHOUT A DOWRY, AN IRISH GIRL WAS NOT A DESIRABLE CATCH, WHICH MEANS THAT BECAUSE OF THAT POVERTY... LYNCH: YEAH.

GATES: IT WAS UNLIKELY THAT THEY WOULD EVER MARRY.

LYNCH: YEAH.

GATES: DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?

LYNCH: NO.

NO IDEA.

GATES: I DIDN'T EITHER UNTIL WE WERE RESEARCHING YOUR ANCESTOR.

LYNCH: YEAH.

I WOULD IMAGINE THEY PROBABLY WOULD LIVE THE REST OF THEIR DAYS WITH THEIR PARENTS, TAKING CARE OF THEIR PARENTS.

GATES: JANE IS RIGHT.

THERE WERE SO FEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNMARRIED WOMEN IN IRELAND THAT MANY OF THEM EFFECTIVELY BECAME UNPAID SERVANTS ON THEIR OWN FAMILY FARMS.

BUT SOME, LIKE HER GRANDMOTHER, RECOGNIZED THAT THERE WAS A BETTER OPTION...

IN THE FINAL DECADES OF THE 19TH CENTURY, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YOUNG IRISH WOMEN BOARDED SHIPS AND SAID GOODBYE TO THEIR HOMELAND HOPING TO FIND WORK AS MAIDS AND NANNIES IN THE HOMES OF AMERICA'S RISING MIDDLE CLASS.

THE ONLY PROBLEM?

THE UNITED STATES WAS A PREDOMINANTLY PROTESTANT NATION AND THESE NEW IMMIGRANTS WERE NOT EXACTLY WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS.

LYNCH: "CLEAN, ACTIVE GIRL WANTED TO DO HOUSEWORK OF A PRIVATE FAMILY, MUST BE A FIRST-RATE WASHER AND IRONER, A GOOD PLAIN COOK, AND KIND AND OBLIGING TO CHILDREN.

NO IRISH NEED APPLY."

WOW.

"NURSE WANTED, A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN, CAPABLE OF TAKING CARE OF TWO SMALL CHILDREN.

SHE MUST BE A GOOD PLAIN SEAMSTRESS.

NO IRISH NEED APPLY."

UNBELIEVABLE.

I'D HEARD ABOUT THIS.

GATES: HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THOSE ADS BEFORE?

LYNCH: I THINK, I'M SURE MY FATHER MUST'VE TOLD ME OR MY, MAYBE MY, UH, AUNT MUST'VE TOLD ME.

I KNOW THAT THEY WERE, UH, REALLY CONSIDERED THE LOWEST OF THE LOW, BUT I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHY.

GATES: WELL, WHEN YOUR GRANDMOTHER IMMIGRATED, ANTI-IRISH AND ANTI-CATHOLIC STEREOTYPES WERE SO RAMPANT THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, SO THAT'S A DOUBLE WHAMMY.

LYNCH: YEAH.

GATES: THEN THEY'D BEEN DEMONIZED BY THE ENGLISH.

LYNCH: RIGHT, AND THEY CAME ANYWAY.

GATES: RIGHT.

RIGHT.

LYNCH: YEAH.

RIGHT.

GATES: AND THEY WERE CARICATURED LIKE APES AND MONKEYS IN THE SAME WAY BLACK PEOPLE WERE.

LYNCH: ISN'T THAT CRAZY?

GATES: DESPITE WHATEVER DISCRIMINATION SHE MIGHT HAVE FACED, MARY PERSEVERED.

AFTER ARRIVING IN NEW YORK, SHE MADE HER WAY TO YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO WHERE, ACCORDING TO THE 1910 CENSUS, SHE FOUND A JOB AS A MAID.

WORKING AND LIVING IN THE HOME OF A WOMAN WHO LIKELY HAD REASON TO BE SYMPATHETIC TO HER PLIGHT... LYNCH: "LITTLE, FANNIE A, HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, AGE 80, WIDOW, BIRTHPLACE, IRELAND", OKAY, "LYNSKEY, MARY, SERVANT, AGE 18, BIRTHPLACE, IRELAND."

SHE GOT WORK WITH AN IRISHWOMAN.

AN OLD IRISHWOMAN.

GATES: VERY GOOD.

LYNCH: WELL, I HOPE FANNIE A.

LITTLE WAS NICE TO MY GRANDMOTHER.

HOPEFULLY SHE FOUND SOME, LIKE, COMFORT THERE AND SOME REFUGE THERE, WHERE SHE FELT SAFE.

GATES: MARY MAY WELL HAVE FELT "SAFE" WITH FANNIE, BUT HER LIFE WAS NOT EASY.

AS A MAID, SHE WOULD HAVE LIKELY BEEN EXPECTED TO WAKE UP BEFORE ANYONE ELSE IN THE HOUSE AND WORK ALL DAY CLEANING, COOKING, SERVING MEALS...

DOING ALL THE LAUNDRY AND ANSWERING THE DOOR, AS WELL AS A MYRIAD OF OTHER CHORES...

IT WAS A GRUELING JOB, BUT THERE WAS AN UPSIDE, SERVANTS RECEIVED ROOM AND BOARD.

THIS ALLOWED THEM TO SAVE MONEY FASTER THAN MANY OTHER WORKING CLASS PEOPLE.

IT WAS A SMALL, BUT REAL ADVANTAGE AND MARY SEIZED IT... GATES: ANY IDEA WHAT SHE DID WITH THIS MONEY SHE SAVED?

LYNCH: NO.

GATES: WELL, COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

LYNCH: YES.

GATES: JANE, THIS IS THE LIST OF PASSENGERS FROM A SHIP WHICH ARRIVED IN THE PORT OF NEW YORK ON APRIL 23, 1910.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ WHO WAS ON THAT SHIP?

LYNCH: YES.

YEAH, UNCLE JOHN.

"LYNSKEY, JOHN, AGE 22, MALE, SINGLE, OCCUPATION, FARM LABORER, UH, WHETHER GOING TO JOIN A RELATIVE OR FRIEND, SISTER, MARY LYNSKEY, IN YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO."

SO, SHE BROUGHT JOHN OUT FROM, YEAH.

GATES: YES, DID YOU KNOW THAT?

LYNCH: NO, I DID NOT.

GATES: ISN'T THAT COOL?

LYNCH: HER OLDER BROTHER, TOO.

GATES: AND THEN MARY'S BROTHER JOHN, IN TURN, HELPED THEIR YOUNGER SISTER SARAH COME TO AMERICA TEN YEARS LATER... LYNCH: OH.

OH MY GOSH.

GATES: IN 1920.

YOU GRANDMOTHER'S YOUNGER BROTHER JAMES ALSO MADE THE MOVE.

LYNCH: I REMEMBER JAMES.

GATES: JOINING HIS SIBLINGS IN 1922.

LYNCH: I REMEMBER HIM VERY WELL.

SO, THEY FINANCED EACH OTHER TO COME OVER?

GATES: YEAH.

LYNCH: THAT'S VERY COOL.

GATES: JANE'S FAMILY IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS KNOWN AS "CHAIN MIGRATION" WHEREBY RELATIVES ASSISTED EACH OTHER IN COMING TO AMERICA...

IT'S A PRACTICE THAT WOULD BECOME COMMON ACROSS MANY IMMIGRANT GROUPS AND IRISH WOMEN WERE AMONG ITS PIONEERS.

BUT JANE'S GRANDMOTHER DID MORE THAN HELP HER SIBLINGS.

SHE TOOK HER SAVINGS, MOVED TO CHICAGO AND MARRIED JANE'S GRANDFATHER, A FELLOW IRISH IMMIGRANT, THEN HELPED HIM TO PURCHASE A HOME.

THIS HOME WOULD BECOME CENTRAL TO MARY'S FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS.

FOR JANE, IT'S AN EMBLEM OF HER GRANDMOTHER'S MONUMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENT AND A TESTAMENT TO HER UNIQUE CHARACTER... LYNCH: YEAH.

THAT'S, THAT'S MY GRANDMA.

GATES: YEAH.

LYNCH: THAT IS MY GRANDMA.

GATES: BUY A HOUSE, NOT A CAR.

LYNCH: YEAH.

BUY A HOUSE.

AND YOU KNOW WHAT ALSO I WILL SAY ABOUT MY GRANDMOTHER, SHE'S REALLY SMART.

THIS HOUSE HAS, UH, THREE STORIES.

GATES: UH-HUH.

LYNCH: THE TOP TWO FLOORS WERE FOR IMMIGRANT IRISH, PEOPLE JUST FRESH OFF THE BOAT.

GATES: OH REALLY?

LYNCH: THEY WERE BOARDERS.

AND EVEN WHEN I WAS A KID, THERE WERE, WOULD ALWAYS BE THREE OR FOUR IRISH GUYS THAT SHE WOULD SUPPLY BREAKFAST FOR THEM AND, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF HELP THEM GET ACCLIMATED TO THE CITY, AND, UH... GATES: THAT'S REMARKABLE.

LYNCH: YEAH.

YEAH.

SO, THAT'S AND THAT'S HOW SHE PAID THE MORTGAGE.

(MAKES POPPING SOUND).

GATES: TURNING TO JIM GAFFIGAN, WE ENCOUNTERED A STORY ABOUT THE DEEPER ORIGINS OF THE PREJUDICE FACED BY IRISH IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

JIM KNEW THAT HIS MOTHER, MARCIA MITCHELL, GREW UP IN AN IRISH AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN IOWA, WHERE HER FATHER, RICHARD FURLONG MITCHELL, WAS A PROMINENT JUDGE.

BUT AS WE BEGAN TO TRACE THE FAMILY BACK IN TIME, WE FOUND THEM IN A PLACE THAT JIM HAD NEVER BEFORE ASSOCIATED WITH HIS OWN ANCESTORS: RURAL MAINE IN THE EARLY 1800'S!

GAFFIGAN: THAT'S SO FASCINATING.

GATES: YOU DON'T REALLY THINK OF MAINE AS A HOTBED OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM, RIGHT?

GAFFIGAN: NO.

GATES: PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT?

GAFFIGAN: THAT IS A CATHOLIC CHURCH, PROBABLY.

GATES: THAT IS ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH IN NEWCASTLE, MAINE.

IT'S THE OLDEST SURVIVING CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ALL OF NEW ENGLAND, AND IT WAS BUILT BRICK BY BRICK IN THE YEAR 1807 BY IRISH IMMIGRANTS.

GAFFIGAN: OH WOW.

GATES: YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDPARENTS WERE MARRIED IN THAT CHURCH... GAFFIGAN: OH WOW.

GATES: ON NOVEMBER 12, 1815.

GAFFIGAN: WOW.

THAT'S AMAZING.

GATES: JIM'S ANCESTORS IMMIGRATED TO MAINE SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1800'S, LIKELY DRAWN BY THE CHANCE TO OWN LAND IN A COMMUNITY WHERE THEY COULD PRACTICE THEIR RELIGION SEEMINGLY WITHOUT STRIFE.

UNFORTUNATELY, THAT COMMUNITY WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE, RADICALLY.

IN 1845, IRELAND'S POTATO CROP BEGAN TO FAIL PRECIPITATING ONE OF THE WORST FAMINES THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN AND DRIVING AN ENORMOUS WAVE OF IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES.

THE IRISH WHO FLED THE FAMINE WERE DESPERATELY IMPOVERISHED AND LARGELY UNSKILLED...

THE VAST MAJORITY DID NOT GO TO RURAL AMERICA IN SEARCH OF FARMLAND BUT TO THE CITIES, WHERE THEY DID SOME OF THE MOST DIFFICULT JOBS AVAILABLE, ALL THE WHILE BEING ACCUSED OF UNDERCUTTING GOOD AMERICAN WAGES.

SOON, AN ANTI-IRISH FERVOR SWEPT THE NATION... ITS MOST CONCRETE EXPRESSION PERHAPS WAS THE INFAMOUS "KNOW NOTHING PARTY" WHICH ESPOUSED INTENSE ANTI-CATHOLIC VIEWS... GAFFIGAN: "WE STAND FIRM AS A SURGE-BEATEN ROCK IN OPPOSITION TO THE OVERWHELMING TIDE OF FOREIGN AND PAUPER IMMIGRATION, WHICH IS ROLLING IN FROM THE OLD WORLD.

ALL HISTORY PROVES THEM TO BE DANGEROUS FOES TO HUMAN AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, FULL OF INTRIGUE, BLOOD-THIRSTINESS, CUNNING, AND ALL MANNER OF EVIL."

I MEAN THAT IS.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO READ THAT?

GAFFIGAN: YOU KNOW, WE, WE, HUMAN BEINGS, WE LIKE TO THINK THAT WITH EVERY GENERATION, WE GET BEYOND THIS IDIOCY.

GATES: UH-HUH.

UH-HUH, THAT WE GET BETTER.

GAFFIGAN: WE GET BETTER.

GATES: MORE CIVILIZED.

GAFFIGAN: BUT WE SEE THIS PASSED ALONG AND UH RATIONALIZED, AND-AND SOME OF IT IS SAD BECAUSE THE PEOPLE THAT WROTE THIS OR BELIEVE THIS LOVE THEIR CHILDREN, LOVE THEIR PARENTS.

GATES: OH, BELIEVED IN, BELIEVED IN GOD.

GAFFIGAN: IT'S JUST INSANE.

GATES: THE KNOW-NOTHINGS MAY SEEM "INSANE" TO US, BUT THEY WIELDED TREMENDOUS INFLUENCE IN THEIR DAY, VOWING TO SUPPORT ONLY NON-CATHOLIC, NATIVE-BORN CITIZENS...

THEY HELPED ENGINEER THE VICTORIES OF EIGHT GOVERNORS AND MORE THAN 100 CONGRESSMEN...

THEY WERE ALSO WILLING TO IMPOSE THEIR WILL THROUGH VIOLENCE.

IN OCTOBER OF 1854, A KNOW-NOTHING MOB ATTACKED A CATHOLIC PRIEST IN ELLSWORTH, MAINE... THEN TARRED AND FEATHERED HIM.

THIS TOOK PLACE JUST UP THE COAST FROM WHERE YOUR ANCESTORS WERE LIVING AT THE TIME.

GAFFIGAN: WOW... GATES: CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?

I MEAN, HE WAS A PRIEST.

GAFFIGAN: LIKE, DOING THAT TO A PRIEST WAS OBVIOUSLY SYMBOLIC.

GATES: YES.

GAFFIGAN: IT WAS, "WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO IT TO THE POOREST OR THE WEAKEST PERSON IN THE COMMUNITY."

BECAUSE A CATHOLIC PRIEST WAS A DE-FACTO MAYOR OF A COMMUNITY.

GATES: YES.

GAFFIGAN: FOR MANY GENERATIONS.

GATES: AND AN EXTENSION OF THE VATICAN.

GAFFIGAN: YES.

GATES: YOU KNOW ON THE FOOD CHAIN HERE WAS THE PRIEST, THERE'S THE POPE.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

RIGHT.

GATES: JIM'S ANCESTORS LIKELY PAID CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE HATE THAT WAS RISING AROUND THEM.

INDEED, IT SEEMS TO HAVE MOTIVATED HIS SECOND GREAT GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED RICHARD FURLONG TO DO SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY.

THE STORY IS TOLD MOST CLEARLY IN THE OBITUARY OF ONE OF RICHARD'S IN-LAWS, THOMAS WHITE, WHO DIED IN IOWA IN 1885.

GATES: THOMAS WHITE IS THE BROTHER-IN-LAW OF YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER RICHARD FURLONG.

GAFFIGAN: OKAY.

GATES: NOW, WE BELIEVE THAT HE AND RICHARD WERE ALSO CLOSE FRIENDS.

SO, YOU WITH ME?

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

GATES: OKAY.

CAN YOU READ THE HIGHLIGHTED SECTION OF THOMAS' OBITUARY?

GAFFIGAN: OKAY.

"IN 1854, AFTER THE FIENDS OF KNOW-NOTHINGISM HAD ACCOMPLISHED THEIR OUTRAGE ON FATHER BAPST, THEY TURNED THEIR PERSECUTION UPON MR. WHITE AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER INOFFENSIVE CITIZENS OF HIS FAITH."

GATES: YEAH, OTHER ROMAN CATHOLICS.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

"MR. WHITE CAME TO FORT DODGE, WEBSTER CITY, IOWA, AS A REFUGEE FROM THE INFAMOUS PERSECUTIONS."

GATES: CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?

GAFFIGAN: IT IS, UH, IT IS JUST AMAZING TO CONSIDER THAT THE ANTI-CATHOLIC STUFF REACHED INTO A, A SMALL CORNER OF MAINE AND FORCED PEOPLE TO FLEE MAINE.

GATES: UH-HUH.

RIGHT, TO IOWA.

GAFFIGAN: RIGHT.

YOU KNOW IT'S, LIKE, WE HAVE THIS NOTION OF "GO WEST, YOUNG MAN", BUT WE DON'T HAVE THIS BELIEF, LIKE, "LET'S GO WEST SO WE DON'T GET TARRED AND FEATHERED."

GATES: RIGHT.

THOMAS WHITE ARRIVED IN IOWA FROM MAINE IN EARLY APRIL 1855.

JIM'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, RICHARD P. FURLONG, CAME SOON AFTER.

AT THE TIME, IOWA WAS THE AMERICAN FRONTIER.

WITH A CLIMATE, LANDSCAPE, AND CULTURE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY ALIEN TO THESE MEN.

BUT IT ALSO OFFERED AN OPPORTUNITY... JIM, THIS IS A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER... GAFFIGAN: OH MY GOSH.

GATES: THAT APPEARED IN A LOCAL NEWSPAPER, "THE FORT DODGE MESSENGER", ON JUNE 30, 1887.

COULD YOU READ THE HIGHLIGHTED SECTION IN THE PAGE THERE ON YOUR RIGHT?

GAFFIGAN: "SOME TWENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO, MR. FURLONG ESTABLISHED A MERCANTILE BUSINESS IN THIS PLACE.

HIS STORE HERE IS ONE OF THE MOST EXTENSIVE IN THE PLACE AND IS A POTENT FACTOR IN PROMOTING THE GROWTH OF THE TOWN."

GATES: RICHARD WENT ON TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT BUSINESSMEN IN FORT DODGE, IOWA.

GAFFIGAN: WOW.

GATES: A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY, AND HIS DAUGHTER SARAH MARRIED AND RAISED A FAMILY OF HER OWN, INCLUDING YOUR GRANDFATHER, THE JUDGE.

GAFFIGAN: WOW.

GATES: THEY NOT ONLY SURVIVED, THEY PERSEVERED.

GAFFIGAN: WOW.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

GAFFIGAN: IT'S WEIRD, 'CAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT HOW WITH GENERATIONS, THINGS GET LOST, YOU KNOW?

LIKE, YOU ALWAYS HEAR ABOUT PEOPLE THAT GO THROUGH WAR, AND THEY DON'T WANT TO DISCUSS IT.

GATES: UH-HUH.

GAFFIGAN: OR YOU HEAR OF PEOPLE THAT GO THROUGH THINGS AND BECAUSE IT, THERE IS A VULNERABILITY.

THERE PROBABLY IS LIKE SOMETHING ASSOCIATED WITH, "WELL, I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO THINK I CAME HERE BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID I WAS GOING TO GET TARRED AND FEATHERED, I'M AN UPSTANDING CITIZEN," RIGHT?

GATES: OF COURSE, OR THAT THEY DON'T WANT TO RELIVE THE TRAUMA... GAFFIGAN: YEAH... GATES: THE FEAR... GAFFIGAN: THERE'S SO MANY QUESTIONS AND TASTY MORSELS OF INFORMATION THAT HAVE BEEN PLANTED HERE, BUT THERE'S ALSO, I FEEL LIKE THERE'S A HUMANITY, LIKE THERE'S A HUMAN STORY BEHIND IT THAT IS SO RICH AND, UH, AND I, I FEEL A LOT OF PRIDE FOR THE JOURNEY, UH, FROM MAINE TO IOWA.

GATES: THEY EVINCED A LOT OF COURAGE, YOU KNOW?

GAFFIGAN: YEAH, AND THEN THEY FLOURISHED.

I MEAN THEY, THEY... GATES: AND FLOURISHED, INDEED, BIG TIME.

GAFFIGAN: IT'S LIKE STARTING OVER.

I MEAN IT'S, IT'S A STORY SHARED BY MANY PEOPLE, BUT IT'S, IT'S NICE TO KNOW THAT, UH, THEY DID NOBLE THINGS.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY SEEN HOW JANE LYNCH'S GRANDMOTHER, MARY LYNSKEY, CAME TO AMERICA AND THRIVED.

NOW WE TURNED OUR FOCUS TO MARY'S HUSBAND, JANE'S GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM LYNCH, ANOTHER IRISHMAN.

AS A CHILD, JANE ADORED HER GRANDFATHER AND SAW HIM AS A KINDRED SPIRIT... LYNCH: HE CALLED ME THE HOME WRECKER BECAUSE I WAS SO, UH, I HAD A LOT OF ENERGY, AND I WAS MESSY, AND I THREW THINGS AROUND, AND I RAN AROUND, AND I LOVED HIM.

I REMEMBER REALLY LOVING HIM.

AND I CREATED HIM IN MY MIND AS BEING AND THIS IS AFTER HE'S GONE, AS BEING THE PERSON WHO GOT ME, WHO UNDERSTOOD ME, YEAH.

GATES: YEAH.

LYNCH: AW, VERY SWEET.

GATES: JANE KNEW THAT HER GRANDFATHER, MUCH LIKE HER GRANDMOTHER, HAD IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA IN SEARCH OF WORK, BUT THE DETAILS OF THAT JOURNEY HAD BEEN LOST.

WE RECONSTRUCTED THEM, BEGINNING WITH THE PASSENGER LIST OF THE S.S. BALTIC, WHICH ARRIVED IN THE PORT OF NEW YORK ON APRIL 3, 1911.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ WHO WAS ON THAT SHIP?

LYNCH: OH MY GOODNESS.

"LYNCH, PATRICK, AGE 22, OCCUPATION LABORER, LYNCH, WILLIAM, AGE 20, OCCUPATION, LABORER, FINAL DESTINATION, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, WHETHER GOING TO JOIN A RELATIVE OR A FRIEND, SISTER AGNES LYNCH."

OH MY GOSH.

OH WOW.

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

GATES: THIS RECORD TELLS US THAT WILLIAM TRAVELED TO AMERICA WITH HIS OLDER BROTHER, YOUR, YOUR GREAT-UNCLE PATRICK... LYNCH: WOW.

GATES: TO JOIN THEIR SISTER, YOUR GREAT-AUNT AGNES, WHO HAD ALREADY SETTLED IN CHICAGO.

AND THAT'S THE SHIP.

(GASPS).

LYNCH: WOW.

FANTASTIC.

GATES: HE WAS TWENTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE DECIDED TO LEAVE IRELAND.

LYNCH: WOW.

GATES: WHAT'S IT FEEL LIKE TO BE ABLE TO SEE THAT?

LYNCH: THERE'S A, THERE, THERE'S A, UH, PRIDE ISN'T THE WORD.

I DON'T KNOW.

UH, IT'S, UH, JUST THE CAUSE AND EFFECT OF HOW WE GET HERE, YOU KNOW, AND THAT SOMEONE, UH, AT THE AGE OF TWENTY SAW SOMETHING BIGGER FOR HIMSELF.

GATES: RIGHT.

LYNCH: YEAH, THIS IS THE AMERICAN DREAM RIGHT HERE.

GATES: WILLIAM DID INDEED LIVE THE "AMERICAN DREAM," BUT NOT WITHOUT FIRST TAKING A SIGNIFICANT DETOUR.

IN CHICAGO, HE GOT A JOB WITH A STREETCAR COMPANY AND BY 1917, HE'D APPLIED FOR U.S.

CITIZENSHIP.

BUT THAT SAME YEAR, WITH HIS APPLICATION STILL PENDING, AMERICA ENTERED WORLD WAR I AND WILLIAM RISKED GOING TO PRISON IF HE DIDN'T COMPLY WITH HIS NEW COUNTRY'S DRAFT LAWS.

SO HE JOINED THE ARMY AND SOON FOUND HIMSELF IN A PLACE THAT WAS TOTALLY UNFAMILIAR...

THIS IS A ROSTER FOR YOUR GRANDFATHER'S UNIT, COMPANY G, 27TH INFANTRY REGIMENT.

IT'S DATED OCTOBER 31, 1918, THE VERY MONTH HE ARRIVED IN RUSSIA.

LYNCH: OH MY GOODNESS.

SO, HE WAS, THAT'S PRETTY TOUGH.

GATES: YEAH, HE, YEAH.

LYNCH: TO GO TO RUSSIA IN WORLD WAR I.

GATES: YEAH, YOU...

I MEAN, REALLY.

LYNCH: THE BOLSHEVIKS ARE GOING ALL CRAZY.

GATES: SO, YOU HAD NO IDEA HE'D GONE TO RUSSIA?

LYNCH: NO, NO IDEA.

UH-UH.

GATES: WERE YOU EVER TOLD ANYTHING ABOUT HIS SERVICE?

LYNCH: NOTHING.

NOTHING.

GATES: WELL, LET'S SEE WHAT WE FOUND OUT.

LYNCH: GREAT.

GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

LYNCH: YES.

HOLY COW.

GATES: JANE'S GRANDFATHER ARRIVED IN RUSSIA IN OCTOBER OF 1918, AS THE NATION WAS DESCENDING INTO A CIVIL WAR BETWEEN BOLSHEVIK, OR COMMUNIST ARMIES AND AN ARRAY OF FORCES...

SOME LIBERAL, SOME CONSERVATIVE, WHO OPPOSED THEM.

WILLIAM ENDED UP IN SIBERIA, WHERE THE AMERICANS TRIED, UNSUCCESSFULLY, TO THWART THE BOLSHEVIKS.

IT WAS A DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT IN ONE OF THE MOST FORBIDDING PLACES ON EARTH.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES FROM THE ERA INDICATE SOME OF WHAT THE SOLDIERS ENDURED... LYNCH: "OUR MEN HAVE BEEN LIVING IN BOXCARS ALONG RAILROAD SIDINGS, EATING BOAR MEAT", OH MY GOD, "SPEARING SALMON IN THE AMUR RIVER, HUNTING DUCKS, ENJOYING CAMP LIFE IN WHAT MANY REGARD AS THE WILDS OF SIBERIA.

WHILE THE MEN ARE CONTENTED AS SOLDIERS TO BE IN CAMP LIFE, THEY ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY CUT OFF FROM AMERICA.

PRACTICALLY NO NEWS REACHES THEM, EXCEPT WHEN SUPPLY TRAINS PASS."

WOW.

SO THEY WERE LIKE, CAMPING, AND HUNTING.

GATES: YEAH.

THEY WERE ALL CUT OFF, THEY WERE ALL ISOLATED, NOW THEY'RE EATING BOAR MEAT.

LYNCH: WOW.

GATES: THIS SOUND LIKE A GOOD LIFE TO YOU?

LYNCH: NO, IT SOUNDS KIND OF TOUGH, AND IT'S PROBABLY UNCERTAIN, TOO.

YOU CAN'T FEEL SAFE.

GATES: AND REMEMBER, YOUR GRANDFATHER ARRIVED IN THE FALL JUST AS THE ARCTIC WINTER WAS UNDERWAY.

LYNCH: OH MY GOSH.

GATES: TEMPERATURES ROUTINELY FALL TO MORE THAN FORTY DEGREES BELOW ZERO.

LYNCH: WOW.

GATES: CONDITIONS WERE SO POOR, IN FACT, THAT MORE THAN 70% OF THE EXPEDITIONS' DEATHS WERE CAUSED BY DISEASES SUCH AS TYPHUS, PLAGUE, TYPHOID, AND SCARLET FEVER, NOT FROM WARFARE.

LYNCH: WOW.

WOW.

SO, THEY WERE JUST ALL DISEASING EACH OTHER?

GATES: YEAH.

YOU THINK IT, UH, MORE THAN ONCE CROSSED HIS MIND, "WHAT IN THE WORLD DID I DO JUMPING ON THAT?"

LYNCH: "GET MYSELF INTO."

YEAH.

RIGHT.

"I SHOULD'VE JUST STAYED IN IRELAND."

GATES: ALL TOLD, WILLIAM SPENT PARTS OF TWO WINTERS IN SIBERIA.

IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE AT LEAST A FEW REGRETS OVER HIS DECISION TO LEAVE IRELAND BUT IF HE DID, HE NEVER ACTED ON THEM.

TO THE CONTRARY, WHEN HE RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES, HE MADE A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF DECISION... ANY IDEA WHAT HE DID?

LYNCH: FOUND MY GRANDMA?

GATES: LET'S TURN THE PAGE AND SEE.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED PORTION?

LYNCH: YES.

GATES: OF THE DOCUMENT ON THE RIGHT?

LYNCH: "I CERTIFY THAT WILLIAM JAMES LYNCH APPEARED BEFORE ME WITH TWO WITNESSES ON JUNE 4, 1920, BEFORE FILLING HIS PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION AND HAS PASSED THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION AS REQUIRED BY ACT APPROVED MAY 9, 1918.

HE IS ELIGIBLE FOR NATURALIZATION UNDER THE TERMS AND PROVISIONS OF THAT ACT."

NATURALIZED CITIZEN.

GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.

LYNCH: WOW.

OH, FANTASTIC.

THIS IS WHEN WE BECAME AN AMERICAN FAMILY.

GATES: YEAH.

WHAT'S THAT FEEL LIKE?

LYNCH: FEELS GREAT.

GATES: YEAH.

LYNCH: FEELS REALLY WONDERFUL, AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, THE, THE GREAT THING ABOUT MY FAMILY AND A LOT OF IRISH AMERICAN FAMILIES IS THAT THEY STILL, TO THIS DAY, HOLD ONTO THAT, THE STUFF THAT, THE, THE WONDERFUL STUFF ABOUT BEING, BEING IRISH.

GATES: UH-HUH.

YEAH.

LYNCH: YEAH.

GATES: DOES IT CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT BEING AN AMERICAN, OR THE HISTORY OF AMERICA?

LYNCH: YES, IT DOES, BECAUSE YOU REALLY GET IN TOUCH WITH THE FACT THAT WE ALL COME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.

GATES: UH-HUH.

LYNCH: AND, UH, UH, UH, AND I DON'T WANT TO TAKE THAT FOR GRANTED, AND I'M REALLY GRATEFUL FOR WHAT HE UNDERWENT AND ENDURED SO THAT I COULD, UH, HAVE IT PRETTY DAMN EASY IN THIS WORLD.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY EXPLORED THE SURPRISING JOURNEY THAT JIM GAFFIGAN'S MATERNAL ANCESTORS MADE FROM MAINE TO IOWA.

NOW WE HAD A DIFFERENT KIND OF SURPRISE TO SHARE... JIM KNEW THAT SOME OF HIS FATHER'S RELATIVES HAD LEFT IRELAND AND FOUND WORK IN THE COAL MINES OF PENNSYLVANIA...

BUT HE HAD NO IDEA JUST HOW MANY HAD DONE IT.

ALL RIGHT, NOW, WE'RE GOING BACK TO 1860.

THIS IS THE FEDERAL CENSUS FOR ST. CLAIR, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAFFIGAN: OH WOW.

THEY DID A LOT OF MINING.

A LOT OF MINING.

GATES: WE, WE'VE HIGHLIGHTED THE ENTRY FOR YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER JAMES GAFFIGAN.

IN 1860, HE WAS TWENTY YEARS OLD, AND HE WAS LIVING WITH HIS FATHER, PATRICK.

CAN YOU TELL ME, FIRST, WHAT JAMES WAS DOING FOR A LIVING?

GAFFIGAN: JAMES WAS A MINER, MINING.

GATES: MINING.

WHAT ABOUT HIS FATHER, YOUR THIRD GREAT- GRANDFATHER, PATRICK?

WHAT WAS HIS OCCUPATION?

GAFFIGAN: HE WAS MINING.

GATES: AND JAMES' BROTHER, YOUR THIRD GREAT-UNCLE MICHAEL?

GAFFIGAN: HE WAS MINING.

GATES: YOUR WHOLE FAMILY WORKED IN THE MINES FOR GENERATIONS.

GAFFIGAN: WOW.

GATES: COAL MINING WAS A COMMON OCCUPATION FOR IRISH IMMIGRANTS AND JIM'S ANCESTORS SETTLED IN ONE OF ITS CENTERS.

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA WHERE, IN THE 1860'S, THE MINES EMPLOYED FAR MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN THE STATE.

IT WAS EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT WORK.

AT THE TIME, THERE WERE NO ESTABLISHED UNIONS, SO COAL COMPANIES ESSENTIALLY CONTROLLED THEIR EMPLOYEES' LIVES, COMPELLING THEM TO LIVE IN COMPANY HOUSING AND SHOP AT COMPANY-OWNED STORES.

AN ARRANGEMENT THAT LEFT SOME MINERS OWING MONEY AT THE END OF EACH MONTH.

AND TO MAKE IT WORSE, THERE WERE ALMOST NO SAFETY REGULATIONS AND DEADLY ACCIDENTS WERE COMMONPLACE... GAFFIGAN: IT SOUNDS BRUTAL.

GATES: OH, BIG TIME.

WAS THIS PART OF THE FAMILY LORE?

GAFFIGAN: THERE WAS NOTHING REALLY DISCUSSED.

GATES: IN THE WINTERTIME, THEY WENT TO WORK IN THE DARK, AND THEY CAME OUT OF THE MINES IN THE DARK, AND THEY WERE IN THE MINE ALL DAY IN THE DARK.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

GATES: IF THEY DIDN'T DIE FROM A MINE ACCIDENT, THEY... GAFFIGAN: BLACK LUNG.

YEAH.

GATES: CHANCES WERE THEY WOULD DIE OF BLACK LUNG DISEASE.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

GATES: IT WAS A HORRIBLE, IT'S LIKE A DEATH SENTENCE.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

GATES: BY THE-MID 1860'S, THE SITUATION IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY HAD REACHED A BOILING POINT... MINERS WERE FIGHTING THEIR EMPLOYERS AND EACH OTHER, IN AN EFFORT TO UNIONIZE... REPORTS EVEN BEGAN TO CIRCULATE OF A KIND OF TERRORIST GROUP WITHIN THE IRISH COMMUNITY CALLED THE "MOLLY MAGUIRES".

HISTORIANS NOW DEBATE WHAT THE GROUP ACTUALLY DID.

THERE'S LITTLE FIRST HAND EVIDENCE.

BUT, AT THE TIME, DEMONIZING THE MOLLY MAGUIRES WAS AN EASY WAY TO DISCREDIT THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND MANY POWERFUL INTERESTS WANTED TO DO JUST THAT... GAFFIGAN: "HE RECITED THAT THE SECRET ORGANIZATION CALLED THE MOLLY MAGUIRES PREVAIL IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, AND UNDER THEIR VIOLENT OPERATIONS, NO JUSTICE COULD BE HAD.

WITHIN THE LAST YEAR, 52 MURDERS WERE COMMITTED, AND THEY WERE ON RECORD.

DURING THE SAME TIME, THERE WERE 20 MURDERS THAT WERE NOT RECORDED, BECAUSE THE VICTIMS WERE SPIRITED AWAY.

THE WRITER OF THIS LETTER BEGGED THAT HIS NAME MIGHT NOT BE DIVULGED, LEST HE SUFFER FROM THE VIOLENCE AT THE HANDS OF THE RUFFIANS."

GATES: DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?

GAFFIGAN: I READ THIS AND I, I, I DON'T KNOW A LOT ABOUT THIS, BUT THAT THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY PROPAGANDA.

AND, UH, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, SIMILAR TO MY MOTHER'S FAMILY.

GATES: YES.

GAFFIGAN: CHARACTERIZING THESE, THESE IMMIGRANTS, THESE PAPISTS AS A PROBLEM.

GATES: RIGHT.

GAFFIGAN: AND HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THEM?

GATES: THESE TROUBLEMAKERS.

GAFFIGAN: THESE TROUBLEMAKERS.

WOW.

THAT IS JUST UNBELIEVABLE.

GATES: THIS STORY WAS ABOUT TO GET MORE UNBELIEVABLE AND MORE PERSONAL... JIM'S FAMILY MOVED TO SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS SOMETIME IN THE LATE 1860'S.

WE DON'T KNOW WHY THEY LEFT SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, BUT IN 1878, THE GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA DEMANDED THAT ONE OF THEM, A MAN NAMED MICHAEL GAFFIGAN, BE ARRESTED AND EXTRADITED FOR A MURDER ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED BY THE MOLLY MAGUIRES!

GAFFIGAN: OH WOW.

GATES: JIM, HE IS YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER JAMES' BROTHER.

GAFFIGAN: BROTHER.

GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.

SO, HE'S YOUR THIRD GREAT-UNCLE.

GAFFIGAN: THIRD GREAT-UNCLE.

GATES: HE WAS.

GAFFIGAN: BUT I BARELY KNOW HIM.

GATES: MICHAEL AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW WERE CHARGED WITH MURDERING A MAN NAMED MICHAEL DURKIN IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY IN 1865, THIRTEEN YEARS BEFORE THIS EXTRADITION.

GAFFIGAN: HMMM.

GATES: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?

GAFFIGAN: I ASSUME THAT THEY, THERE WAS THIS EVENT THAT, THAT, UH THAT THAT IT WAS, IT WAS CHARACTERIZED AS A MOLLY MAGUIRE EVENT WHEN IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN A MOLLY MAGUIRE EVENT, AND WHETHER THEY DID IT OR NOT, IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR, TO BE A UNION-BUSTING KIND OF ARTICLE.

GATES: RIGHT, AN EXCUSE.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

GATES: OKAY.

GAFFIGAN: BUT DID THEY DO IT?

GATES: WE DON'T HAVE A DEFINITIVE ANSWER TO JIM'S QUESTION.

THE EVIDENCE IS CONTRADICTORY.

THE YEAR BEFORE MICHAEL'S ARREST, TWENTY IRISHMEN IN PENNSYLVANIA WERE ACCUSED OF BEING MEMBERS OF THE MOLLY MAGUIRES, CHARGED WITH MURDER AND HANGED.

SO MICHAEL HAD GOOD REASON TO FEAR EXTRADITION AND HE INSISTED THAT HE WAS INNOCENT.

THE PRESS, HOWEVER, PAINTED A DIFFERENT PICTURE... GAFFIGAN: "IT APPEARED THAT ONE MICHAEL DURKIN, WHO WE UNDERSTOOD WAS A MINER, WAS MURDERED IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, AND THE FINDING WAS THAT HIS DEATH WAS CAUSED BY A PISTOL SHOT WOUND IN THE BACK, THE SHOT BEING FIRED BY MICHAEL MERRICK."

SEE THAT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT A RELATIVE, "AND BY A FRACTURED OF THE SKULL, THE RESULT OF A BLOW DEALT BY MERRICK WITH A TWO-POUND WEIGHT.

IT WAS FURTHER FOUND THAT MICHAEL GAFFIGAN WAS AN ACCESSORY TO THE CRIME.

IN REPLY TO A QUERY WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS A MOLLY MAGUIRE MURDER, HE SAID THAT IT WAS NOT."

SO, IT WAS NOT A MOLLY MAGUIRE MURDER, BUT IT WAS A MURDER.

OH, YEAH, OKAY.

GATES: I DON'T KNOW WHICH IS WORSE.

GAFFIGAN: SO, THEY'RE NOT PART OF THE COOL GANG, BUT THEY ARE MURDERERS.

GATES: IN THE END, MICHAEL WAS SPARED, IRONICALLY ENOUGH, NOT NECESSARILY BECAUSE HE WAS INNOCENT, BUT LIKELY BECAUSE HE WAS IRISH.

IN DECEMBER OF 1878, HE WAS FREED WHEN THE GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS, FACING RE-ELECTION IN A STATE WITH A RAPIDLY GROWING IRISH-AMERICAN POPULATION REFUSED TO COMPLY WITH THE EXTRADITION REQUEST...

LEADING JIM TO SPECULATE ON THE GOVERNOR'S MOTIVATION... GAFFIGAN: THAT'S A STORY YOU COULD CHARACTERIZE IT AS CORRUPTION, OR YOU COULD CHARACTERIZE IT AS COMMUNITY, UH, UH, UH BEING HEROIC ON BEHALF OF, OF... GATES: YEAH.

GAFFIGAN: I'D LOVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT.

GATES: RIGHT.

GAFFIGAN: BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO, YOU KNOW, KEEP THAT STORY AS LIKE THE, THE IRISH COMMUNITY STOOD UP AND SAID NO, HE DIDN'T DO THIS.

GATES: RIGHT.

GAFFIGAN: AND-AND MAYBE THE GOVERNOR WAS LIKE, "MAYBE HE DID DO IT."

BUT, LIKE, HE'S LIKE "THEY, HE DIDN'T DO IT.

WHY WOULD HE, IF HE DID DO IT, WHY WOULDN'T HE CHANGE HIS NAME?"

GATES: RIGHT.

GAFFIGAN: WHICH IS NOT THE SAME AS.

GATES: THAT THEY WERE INNOCENT.

GAFFIGAN: BEING PROVEN INNOCENT.

GATES: RIGHT.

THERE WAS ONE MORE QUESTION BEFORE US.

JIM HAS VISITED IRELAND MANY TIMES AND WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE GAFFIGAN SURNAME.

INDEED, HIS FAMILY HAD BUILT UP AN ENTIRE NARRATIVE AROUND THIS SINGULAR MATTER.

GAFFIGAN: WELL, SOME OF IT IS, IN IRELAND.

I DON'T KNOW HOW RARE THIS IS, BUT THERE AREN'T ANY GAFFIGANS.

GATES: MM-HMM.

GAFFIGAN: THERE'S A SPRINKLING OF GAFFIGANS HERE AND THERE.

IT'S NOT THAT COMMON OF A SURNAME, BUT THERE IS A, THERE, WE, WE WERE ALWAYS KIND OF TOLD THAT THERE WAS, THAT THE ORIGINAL NAME WAS GAHAYAGAN... AND THAT IT WAS ANGLICIZED PHONETICALLY BY, THE LEGEND WAS THAT THERE WERE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, AT ELLIS ISLAND, THE GERMAN IMMIGRATION OFFICERS MADE IT GAFFIGAN, BUT I DON'T KNOW.

WE DON'T KNOW.

GATES: MM-HMM.

WELL, I DO.

GAFFIGAN: OH, GREAT.

GATES: WE'RE GOING TO FIND OUT.

TO TRACE AN IRISH SURNAME IS CHALLENGING, AS THE VAST MAJORITY OF IRELAND'S PUBLIC RECORDS WERE DESTROYED IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY.

BUT IN JIM'S CASE, WE GOT LUCKY...

IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ARCHIVES FOR KILLEDAN PARISH, WE FOUND A MARRIAGE RECORD FROM 1839 THAT UNLOCKED HIS FAMILY'S MYSTERY.

CAN YOU TELL ME WHOSE NAMES YOU SEE THERE THAT WE HAVE TRANSCRIBED FOR YOU?

GAFFIGAN: "PATRICK GAVAHAN AND SIBINA FLANNERY."

GATES: ANY IDEA WHO THEY ARE?

GAFFIGAN: I HAVE NO IDEA.

GATES: JIM, YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE MARRIAGE RECORD FOR YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS.

GAFFIGAN: WOW.

GATES: PATRICK GAVAHAN.

GAFFIGAN: GAVAHAN.

GATES: AND SABINA FLANNERY.

YOUR FAMILY'S ORIGINAL NAME WAS G-A-V-A-H-A-N, GAVAHAN.

GAFFIGAN: WOW.

GATES: AND BY THE WAY, ALL THOSE STORIES THAT AMERICANS TELL ABOUT THE IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL?

THEY'RE ALL A MYTH.

HERE'S WHY.

ALL THE NAMES OF EVERY PASSENGER ON THE SHIP WAS WRITTEN DOWN IN COUNTY CORK OR IN BREMEN OR HOMBURG.

GAFFIGAN: RIGHT.

GATES: AND THAT BOOK WAS TRANSPORTED ON THE SHIP AND GIVEN TO THE IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS.

GAFFIGAN: SO, IT'S NOT THE IMMIGRATION PERSON'S FAULT.

GATES: NO, NOT ONE NAME WAS CHANGED BY ONE IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL.

IT'S THE BIGGEST MYTH IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN GENEALOGICAL, UH, ANALYSIS.

GAFFIGAN: OH WOW.

OH WOW.

GATES: ISN'T THAT FASCINATING?

GAFFIGAN: AND HOW, YOU PROBABLY TOLD THAT TO PEOPLE MILLIONS OF TIMES.

GATES: EVERY JEWISH PERSON WOULD TELL THE SAME AND I'D GO, NO, THEY CHANGED IT THEMSELVES.

YOUR GAVAHAN ANCESTOR CHANGED THE, THE NAME TO GAFFIGAN FOR WHATEVER REASON.

GAFFIGAN: GAVAHAN.

GAVAHAN.

GATES: THE PAPER TRAIL HAD RUN OUT FOR EACH OF MY GUESTS.

IT WAS TIME TO UNFURL THEIR FAMILY TREES.

NOW FILLED WITH NAMES THEY'D NEVER HEARD BEFORE... GAFFIGAN: THIS IS, LIKE, SO UP MY ALLEY.

GATES: ALLOWING EACH TO REFLECT ON THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAD DONE SO MUCH TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR THEIR SUCCESS.

FOR JANE, IT WAS AN ALMOST SPIRITUAL MOMENT... LYNCH: DID YOU EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE DREAMS WHERE YOU'RE IN YOUR OWN HOUSE, AND YOU FIND OUT THAT THERE'S A WHOLE WING OF ROOMS THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT?

GATES: MM-HMM.

LYNCH: AND YOU GO, "HOW, HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS WAS HERE?"

AND, YOU KNOW, IT AUTOMATICALLY FEELS FAMILIAR AND AT HOME, AND THERE'S LIKE A LITTLE BIT OF "WHY DIDN'T I KNOW THIS?"

THERE'S ALMOST LIKE A SADNESS AROUND IT THAT YOU DIDN'T PAY ATTENTION TO THIS AND IT WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME.

GATES: RIGHT.

LYNCH: YEAH.

THAT'S WHAT IT FEELS LIKE.

GATES: FOR JIM, IT WAS A CHANCE TO APPRECIATE THE CHALLENGES FACED BY ALL IMMIGRANTS... GAFFIGAN: THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT, UH, RESILIENCY THAT IS, I THINK IT'S A, IT'S AN AMERICAN CHARACTERISTIC.

GATES: UH-HUH.

GAFFIGAN: WHETHER YOU WERE BROUGHT OVER HERE BY CHAINS OR YOU LEFT POVERTY OR YOU'RE A RECENT IMMIGRANT, THE JOURNEY'S NOT A VACATION, INITIALLY.

THERE'S SACRIFICE.

GATES: MY TIME WITH MY GUESTS WAS RUNNING OUT, BUT THERE WERE SURPRISES STILL TO COME.

WHEN WE COMPARED JANE'S DNA TO THAT OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN IN THIS SERIES, WE FOUND A SIGNIFICANT MATCH, EVIDENCE OF A RELATIVE SHE DID NOT KNOW SHE HAD.

ONE WHO ALMOST CERTAINLY SHARES HER IRISH HERITAGE...

I KNOW YOU'VE SEEN THIS PERSON BEFORE.

LYNCH: OKAY.

GATES: AND YOU WOULD NEVER GUESS IN A MILLION YEARS.

LYNCH: REALLY?

GATES: YEAH.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

LYNCH: YES.

MIA FARROW.

GATES: YOU AND MIA SHARE A SEGMENT OF IDENTICAL DNA ON YOUR SECOND CHROMOSOMES.

LYNCH: OH.

GATES: THAT MEANS THAT YOU HAVE SHARED ANCESTORS SOMEWHERE IN YOUR FAMILY TREES, PROBABLY, UNDOUBTEDLY IN THE BRITISH ISLES... LYNCH: YEAH.

YEAH.

YEAH.

GATES: YOU KNOW, ON THAT SIDE OF THE FAMILY.

LYNCH: OH, WONDERFUL.

GATES: JUST LIKE JANE, JIM GAFFIGAN IS ABOUT TO MEET A NEW RELATIVE, BUT NOT ONE THAT YOU'D IMMEDIATELY THINK OF AS IRISH.... GAFFIGAN: DEREK JETER?!

GATES: DEREK JETER IS YOUR DNA COUSIN.

GAFFIGAN: HOLY COW.

REALLY?

GATES: JIM SHARES AN IDENTICAL STRETCH OF DNA ON HIS FOURTH CHROMOSOME WITH BASEBALL HALL-OF-FAMER DEREK JETER.... A MATCH ALMOST CERTAINLY MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FACT THAT DEREK IS BI-RACIAL...

THIS MEANS THAT YOU INHERITED THE SHARED DNA FROM A DISTANT COMMON ANCESTOR SOMEWHERE ON YOUR FAMILY TREES.

THAT ANCESTOR WAS OBVIOUSLY ON THE WHITE SIDE OF DEREK'S FAMILY TREE.

GAFFIGAN: YOU THINK SO?

YOU THINK SO?

YOU THINK IT'S THE WHITE ONE?

GATES: BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO BLACK SIDE, MAN, EXCEPT 50,000 YEARS AGO.

50,000 YEARS AGO, WE WERE ALL LIVING ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT, BUT FIVE.

GAFFIGAN: WAS I?

WAS I?

DO YOU THINK I WAS?

GATES: YOU WERE, TOO.

SO, DEREK'S MOTHER'S WHITE.

GAFFIGAN: YEAH.

GATES: SO, OBVIOUSLY, IT'S ON DEREK'S MATERNAL SIDE THAT YOU SHARE A COMMON ANCESTOR.

ISN'T THAT COOL?

GAFFIGAN: THAT'S AMAZING.

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR JOURNEY WITH JIM GAFFIGAN AND JANE LYNCH.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME WHEN WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS, ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".