The Ustica Connection
Newsletter of the Congregazione di San Bartolomeo Apostolo
Issue 18 - 28 May 2020

 

Ancient origins of the Barraco family of Ustica
By Chris Caravella

 

The Barraco family of Ustica rank 16th in size making them one of the larger families from Ustica. They are a first family of Ustica showing up in 1765 with the marriage of Giacomo Barraco and Caterina Ailara. He is documented as a native of Trapani. That's a great piece of information but Trapani is one of those place names that could be a reference to either the city of Trapani or the entire province of Trapani. A quick check of the surname distribution of the Barraco surname confirms that the city of Trapani in the very northwestern tip of Sicily is indeed a hot spot of the Barraco clan.

Current day distribution of the Barraco family in Sicily. The city of Trapani is likely the ancestral origin of the Barraco family of Ustica.


Another factor aiding in potential research in Trapani is that the parents of Giacomo Barraco are documented in his marriage record. He was the son of Andrea Barraco and Angela Cotta. There is no evidence that his parents ever lived on Ustica, which is typical. Whereas from Liapri we see whole families migrating to Ustica, immigrants from other areas tend to be single males that marry into the "local" population. Such is th case with Giacomo Barraco and his wife Caterina Ailara. She was a native of Lipari and a member of another of Ustica's pre-eminent first families. It's difficult to be descended from Ustica and also not also be part of the Lipari diaspora. Together Giacomo Barraco and Caterina Ailara are the ancestors of a still vibrant family. The current president of the Ustica Study Center is Maria Grazie Barraco, and there are likely to be decendants in Naples as well, because some of the family were enlisted in the Royal Navy in the 1800s and migrated near the naval facitity in the Porto section of the city. And, of course, there is a massive presence across the US. Use the family charts at the Ustica Genealogy Homepage to discover your path back to the ancient origins of the Barraco family of Ustica.