The McPadden
Project

Founding edition · Contents

Four stories. A family’s world.

Begin anywhere—from Mary’s home in Leitrim to a new generation in Bridgeport. Each story introduces its people and connects you to the others.

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Stories in the founding edition.

Each story can stand alone. A recommended next doorway appears when its sequence ends.
Portrait of James McPadden, photographed in Bridgeport01
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The transatlantic journey · 1874–1912

A Ticket to Bridgeport

Meet James in rural County Leitrim, follow the documented crossing aboard the Teutonic and arrive at the Bridgeport address of the sister who left before him.

Leitrim · Queenstown · New York · Bridgeport

Why enter here?

Enter here for the widest journey through the founding family—and for a story that keeps every missing mile visible.

Completed voyage documented · motives and parts of the land journey remain unknown

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Mary McPadden’s family-held 1904 document02
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The Irish heart · 1861–1911

Mary of Tullynascreen

Return to Mary Conlon McPadden as a woman in her own right: marriage, a changing household, farming, a witnessed mark and a later life the records do not yet complete.

Tullynascreen · County Leitrim

Why enter here?

Enter here for the family’s Irish center—and for the meaning of staying while children and possibilities moved outward.

Document-led life · thoughts, motives, death and burial remain unresolved

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An illustrated period Connecticut streetscape, not a depiction of Warren Court03
AI illustration · representative Connecticut streetscape, not Warren Court. Image notes
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The sister who left first · 1867 onward

Catherine of Warren Court

Follow Catherine McPadden Kelly from a documented Leitrim birth into a household, marriage and life of responsibility in Bridgeport before James arrived.

Tullynascreen · Bridgeport

Why enter here?

Enter here to meet the sister James was traveling to join—and the independent American life behind one address on a passenger record.

American identity exceptionally strong · the favored 1883 crossing remains a candidate

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The McPadden household in the 1930 United States census04
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The household after marriage · 1912–1942

A Family Takes Root

Continue with James and Catherine McNiff McPadden through changing Bridgeport addresses, work, five children and a household that comes into view across two census sheets.

Bridgeport · Connecticut

Why enter here?

Enter here for the household that grew after migration—and five children whose later lives deserve equal attention.

Household records joined carefully · living descendants remain private by default

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How the stories meet

One family moment can belong to several lives.

Reused evidence does not merge people into one biography. The center changes with the story.
  1. 1883
    Loss and movement reach Mary’s household

    Michael’s documented death, Martin’s birth and Catherine’s possible departure belong differently inside Mary’s and Catherine’s stories.

  2. 1904
    Mary’s page and James’s passage

    The family-held document centers Mary’s recorded act; the completed Teutonic record centers James’s documented crossing.

  3. 1904
    Catherine’s address becomes a destination

    James’s passenger record points toward Mrs. James Kelly. Catherine’s story reveals the household behind that field.

  4. 1912
    Two American lives meet

    James and Catherine McNiff’s marriage opens the separate household story that becomes A Family Takes Root.

On the research desk

Important stories that are not ready yet.

Visibility is not a promise of a result or publication date. It shows where current questions could lead.

Research underway

Thomas and Scotland

Thomas’s movement to Scotland and his family’s documented return to Tullynascreen by 1919/1920 offer a different migration story. Its full sequence is still being assembled.Explore the Scotland branch

Open identity question

Catherine’s crossing

An 1883 passenger named Kate McPadden remains a compelling candidate. The story does not require visitors to accept that identity as proved.Examine the crossing question

Safeguarded research

From Mary’s acre to today

A future stewardship chronology can follow records through time while permanently affirming current ownership and protecting living owners.Begin with the home and holding

Branch expansion

The families who remained in Ireland

The founding edition opens with one Tullynascreen household. A wider Irish-centered collection will require new evidence and family partners.Explore the living Irish story

Stories are not the only way in

Explore relationships—or find where another branch could belong.

People behind the storiesOpen the family overview

See how the Irish home, Catherine Kelly’s household and James’s American family connect, then choose a story.

The wider projectOpen the Branch Atlas

See documented, emerging, possible and invited branches without treating the surname as proof.

The research underneathOpen the Research Library

Read preserved documents, copy citations and download the first source manifest.