On my dad's side we have it researched back for centuries. Most of the stuff we really know about people is just from the past few centuries when the family came to the states though. I am a direct decendant of this guy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Gist and the first female born in every generation of my family bears the middle name Gist to honor that part of our family. The family kept a tree and it has been passed down from generation to generation and is one of our most treasured possessions. My mom's side isn't as well documented and my mom was working on it all before she died and I just haven't started to look at it all again. I know a trip to Ireland will be necessary to find more records. She was planning one before she got sick. A trip to Ireland doesn't sound awful to me.