Ancestry of Walt Disney

On 12 April 1992, Disneyland Paris opened as EuroDisney. During the opening speech, Roy E. Disney (Walt's nephew from his brother Roy O. Disney) declared that his family Disney (or D'isgney) had returned to Europe. Roy was referring to the fact that DLP (Disneyland Paris) is in Marne La Valee, is a 3 hour drive from Isigny-sur-Mer, where the Disney's get their name. In French, the Disneys were of Isigny, the aforementioned Isigny-sur-Mer so they were called D'isigny.

When William the Conquerer invaded England in 1066, the D'isignys moved with him, becoming Disney. Norton Disney, a village in Lincolnshire in the north of England, United Kingdom was named after the Disneys who settled there in around the 14th century. The village graveyard also have people with the Disney name buried there.

Not all of the Disneys stayed in England. A protestant branch of the family made their way to Ireland and settled in Gowan, County Kilkenny. They had their deceased loved ones buried in Clonmelsh graveyard in neighbouring County Carlow where the ancestors of Pierce Butler who signed the American Constitution are also resting in peace.

Arundel who had been born in 1801 (100 years before Walt) packed up his family and moved to Canada just before the Great Famine devastated Ireland. One of his children, Kepple Disney married an Irish immigrant named Mary Richardson and they had Elias Disney who moved to the states and married Flora Call. Flora is the namesake for one of the fairies in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. The Disneys had 5 children with their 4th being Walter Elias Disney, Walt Disney!

During his life, Walt visited Ireland which inspired him to create a film set in Ireland called Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). Walt had one biological daughter, Diane and adopted a girl named Sharon with his wife Lilian. Walt has plenty of decendants that walk the Earth to this very day!