Actor Jane Lynch of Glee fame and comedian Jim Gaffigan are guests on “No Irish Need Apply,” an episode Finding Your Roots. Says host Henry Louis Gates Jr., “Jane and Jim descend from ancestors who left Ireland seeking a better life in the United States and who did not immediately find it.”
Jane Lynch told Dr. Gates she was especially interested in knowing more about the background of her paternal grandmother, Mary Lynskey, and what led her to come to America as a 16-year-old Irish farmgirl. The actor also learns about the immigration of her grandfather, Mary’s husband, and about his service during the first World War.
Jim Gaffigan’s Irish ancestors settled in Maine in the early 1800s—only to flee decades later to the Iowa frontier where his great-great-grandfather became a successful businessman. The comedian, who’s made several trips to the Emerald Isle, has long been curious about a legend involving his surname; however, Dr. Gates’s team of genealogist uncovered the true origin of the Gaffigan family name.
Lynch and Gaffigan are surprised to learn that they each have DNA match to former guests of the series.
Finding Your Roots airs Tues., February 2, 2021, at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS.