May 1, 1995 Irish and Scottish Newsletter MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q. My emigrant ancestor came from Ireland during the Famine 1846-1850 (or before) but I've been unable to locate a specific place in Ireland as his residence. What are my chances of locating the family? A. Unfortunately, slim to nil. The Irish government began keeping vital records in Ireland in 1864. Before that, we must use Church Parish Registers. In order to know what Parish Register you need to look at, it's imperative that you have a specific place name in Ireland as a place of residence. In a nutshell, if you haven't found that place name yet, you haven't finished doing your research in the US. BE SURE you attempt to locate an obituary for the emigrant ancestor. This can be accomplished by reviewing NEWSPAPERS IN MICROFORM, a book which is included in most reference sections of your local library. It will tell you for a specific area, which newspapers exist and have been committed to microfilm, what company bought them out, which issues survive for the new company, etc., etc. Should you find a listing, you have the ability to request that microfilm on interlibrary loan (as long as your local library has a microfilm reader). Be sure you take a photocopy of the page of the listing AND a copy of the title page of the book. Present these to your librarian and he/she will help you complete the interlibrary loan form if you're unsure how to complete it. For those of you whose ancestors lived in the more rural areas, if you don't find a newspaper listed for your particular town, widen your search a little bit. When there was only one newspaper in the County, they tended to include news from all over the County. Q. Where is Ballysheedy? A. Ballysheedy is in the Co. of Galway, Barony of Kiltartan, Parish of Clondermot, Poor Law Union of Londonderry. There are also listing for Ballysheedy East and West in Limerick! Q. What is a "Cuz Connection"? A. A "Cuz Connection" happens when two people researching the same surname manage to tie their information together and prove they are related. The term "Cuz" originates from the word "Cousin" and that as we all know is a relation no matter how many times removed. Cuz Connections are important because it greatly expands the family history for both of the people connecting, often times adding three or four (or more) generations for each. These connections are an event to be celebrated NAMES OF THE MONTH Every month we will list the description of an Irish surname taken from EDWARD MacLYSAGHT"s book IRISH FAMILIES Their Names, Arms & Origins, SciPrint Limited, Copyright Irish Academic Press Limited, ISBN # 0-7165- 2364-7 and a Scottish surname taken from The Scottish Clans and their Tartans, Chartwell Books, Inc. copyright Wordsworth Editions, Ltd. 1992 ISBN # 1-55521-797-4. This month the names are: From Irish Families O'AHERNE, Hearne (O'Heffron) This Irish surname was first anglicized O'Hagherin, which is a fair phonetic approximation of the original Gaelic O hEachtighearna, derived from the Irish words each a horse and tighearna a lord. Later this was corrupted to O'Aherne and finally the prefix 0 was dropped. The O'Ahernes were originally a Dalcassian sept and up to the middle of the fourteenth century they were dynasts of Ui Cearnaigh, their territory being in the neighbourhood of Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare, not far from the city of Limerick. In the course of time they migrated southwards and in 1659, when Petty's census was taken, the name was numerous throughout Counties Cork and Waterford. At the present time it is almost confined to Counties Cork and Limerick; but in the form Hearn and Hearne it is also well established in Co. Waterford. In this connexion it should be observed that Hearn is a fairly common indigenous name in England, so that persons so called in Ireland may be immigrants from that country. The Bishop of Kerry from 1336 to 1347 is described in the records as Alan O'Hathern alias 0 Hachierane. The most noteworthy of the name in modern history were John Aherne (c. 1769-1806), United Irishman and intimate friend of Wolfe Tone, who, after the latter's death became an officer in Napoleon s Irish Legion; and John Aheron author of the first book on architecture printed in Ireland (1754). The Gaelic name O hUidhrin, that of an Offaly sept, has also been anglicized Hearne, Heron etc., though Heffron and Haveran are more usual forms in English. Giollananaomh O hUidhrin (d. 1420), who completed O'Dugan's celebrated "Topographical Poem," is usually O'Heerin in English. The Scottish Clans and their Tartans has the following information available for Clan Maxwell: MAXWELL Badge: A stag before a holly bush Motto: Reviresco (I flourish again). This powerful border family takes its name from the parish of Maxwell on the river Tweed near Kelso. 'Macca's Well' is named after Maccus, the 11th century king of Man. The two chief branches of the family are descended from Herbert Maxwell and John Maxwell, sons of Sir Aymer Maxwell whose brother had been Chamberlain of Scotland. The Maxwells seem to have been typical of the Marcher lords made familiar in traditional ballad and later romances, such as Sir Walter Scott's "Marmion". John, 3rd Lord Maxwell, was killed at Flodden. A feud with the Johnstons resulted in the murder of Sir James Johnston in 1608 and the execution of the 7th Lord, John Maxwell for this killing in 1613. His brother was made Earl of Nithsdale, but the 5th Earl came out for the Old Pretender in 1715 and was condemned to death. Whilst awaiting execution in the Tower of London, his wife helped him escape dressed as a woman. Our first contribution comes from ------ A friend I thought I'd forward this. It was in our Company E-mail as part of the Irish history month information on the Diversity BB. 1.) Considering drinking, behavior that Irish-Americans manifest on St. Patrick's Day because they consider it proof of Irishness. The annual Irish consumption, in liters per population, is the lowest in Europe (5.5). In France it is 13.2. Spain 12.5, in Italy 10.0, in Britain 7.3 The rates for mortality from cirrhosis of the liver (an excellent measure of excess consumption of the "creature") for Italy are 33.8 per 100,000. France 22.9, Spain 21.9, the U.S. 11.7, Scotland 7.5 England 5.2 and Ireland 2.9...So the Irish are neither heavy nor obsessive drinkers... 2.) On four different moral measures used in study of 20 European countries (in two different samples), the Irish are happiest of all peoples.... 3.) They work more hours per week than anyone else in the same studies. and display the highest rates of the need for achievement. 4.) They are no more sexually repressed than anyone else and (along with the Dutch) are most likely to approve of homosexual marriage ceremonies... 5.) Ireland is near the top of all the countries studied in respect for the rights of women.... 6.) They have the lowest superstition scores, only half as high as the British.... 7.) They are also the most tolerant of the peoples studied in their willingness to live next to people against whom there might be prejudice.... 8.) The crime rate, including the murder rate, in Ireland is the lowest in the world. This was posted March 15, just in time to help those of us with Irish leanings to have a reason to be proud of the Heritage of the old sod. Thanks for sharing this with us. Our next member contribution comes to us from another friend: Do you know where the statistics were invented and the first census was made? Scotland of course! The census was done by Reverend Alexander Webster collecting data with the help of local ministers and missionary charity schools and was completed in 1755. There were 1,265,380 people in Scotland in 1755! Here's the full text of the interesting genealogy-related tidbit in "Scotland's Story" by Tom Steel: "During the Enlightenment the Scots invented statistics, and the Reverend Alexander Webster produced the world's first census. The son of the minister of Edinburgh's Tolbooth Kirk, Webster excelled in mathematics. He succeeded his father and in 1753 was Moderator of the General Assembly. Then, with another minister, Robert Wallace, Webster tried to ascertain what nobody up to that time knew - the exact population of Scotland. The census, relying on local ministers to do the count, as well as collecting data from the missionary charity schools set up by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, was completed in 1755. Scotland's population amounted to 1,265,308. One half lived north of the River Tay, and nearly a third of the country spoke only Gaelic." Thanks for this interesting information.