In 1846, a terrible thing happened in Ireland. A mold infected the potato crop, and the
potatoes turned black and mushy. Now, potatoes were a big part of the Irish diet, so
people started going hungry. Many left Ireland to come to America and a better life.
Here is the story of one of those families:
Patrick O'Malley lived in County Cork and emigrated to New York City just about the
same time Mary Kate Danaher did the same thing. They met in the Bronx of New York
City, fell in love, and got married. THIS IS THE FIRST GENERATION-LABEL
THIS GENERATION I.
Patrick (his friends affectionately called him Paddy) and Mary Kate had a bunch of red-
Fiona (a girl),
haired Irish-American children. From oldest to youngest, they were -
Michael, Sean, Siobahn (girl), Aidan (girl), and Sinead (girl). It was one big happy
family. There was one problem, however, Patrick was colorblind, and all of a sudden, he
had some kids who were, too - Michael and Sean. His wife, Mary Kate had perfect
vision, so they didn't understand what was going on. All of the girls in the family had
great vision. This is Generation II.
Fiona met and married Danny, a colorblind fellow, who was great guy who played the
fiddle. Michael married Aoife, Sean married Niamh (an Irish dancer and teacher of Irish
dance), Aidan married Conor (an Irish tenor who loved to sing "Danny Boy" and "When
Irish Eyes are Smiling"), and Sinead married Donovan (who was a professional penny
whistle player in a Celtic band). Siobahn decided to become a nun. As far back as the
Druids, Vikings, and Romans, no one in Aiofe's or Niamh's families had ever shown
colorblindness.
Life was good. Danny and Fiona had 3 kids - Liam (boy), Colleen, and Erin (girl).
Michael and Aoife had Kathleen; Sean and Niamh had 2 boys - Declan and Finn; Aidan
and Conor had Padraig (boy); Mab (girl); and Kieran (boy). Sinead and Donovan had
Quinn (girl) and Rearden (boy). Being a nun, Siobahn had no children. She did,
however, teach in a Catholic school.
What do you know! Some of this third generation (put III) were colorblind - Liam, Mab,
and Kieran. How did this happen? By the way, Conor was colorblind, and so was
Donovan! P.S.- Kathleen had one child - a daughter with colorblindness. The same
thing happened to Quinn - her son was colorblind, but her daughter was not (these 2 kids
are generation IV). Add Quinn's husband to your pedigree. Be sure to include Kathleen's
husband, too. No one in the family liked these two sorry gents, so their names were
never spoken once they passed away. Make a pedigree