Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Did you know Edgar Allan Poe had Irish ancestry? Edgar’s great-great grandfather, David Poe, is the namesake for Poe’s grandfather and father. David Poe of Dring, in the Parish of Kildallon in County Cavan, lived from around 1645-1742. His will is dated August 25th, 1742 and lists his occupation as a farmer, his wife as Sarah, and his children as John and Alexander. Other documents relating to Poe include the parish’s vestry book where he is referenced as the overseer of the parish roads and includes his signature of ‘David Pooe.’i Poe’s son John and his son David Poe (Edgar’s grandfather) grew up in Ireland until the family immigrated to Pennsylvania and later, Baltimore, Maryland.
Check out a photograph of the Poe family home in County Cavan through the National Library of Ireland here.
i Original will amongst the documents from the Consistorial Court of Kilmore, in the Public Record Office, Dublin. Found in Bewley, Edmund T.. “The origin and early history of the family of Poë or Poe” Dublin: Printed for the author by Ponsonby & Gibbs, 1906.