October 1, 1997 Irish & Scot Newsletter Green are the hills of Ireland and green they will always stay. Warm are the blessings wished for you and they'll always stay that way. Author Unknown NOTE: This months newsletter describes the last two counties in Scotland. If you missed a county you can download previous issues from the newsletter library as previously described. Future editions of the newsletter will have a section for Ireland and a section for Scotland. What will be in these sections? A very good question !!!! Each month will be different .... maybe a description of a battle, maybe history of a city or town, maybe a census or even just some travel information. The format will be free and open, always different and hopefully interesting and helpful. Watch for these new sections next month :) COUNTIES OF SCOTLAND - The following brief histories of the counties of Scotland are taken from "A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland" by Samuel Lewis, reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. ISBN # 0- 8063-1256-4 WEST LOTHIAN or LINLITHGOWSHIRE, a County, In the south of Scotland, bounded on the north by the Firth of Forth; on the east and south-east, by the county of Edinburgh; on the south-west, by Lanarkshire, and on the west, by the county of Stirling. It lies between 55 degrees 49 minutes and 56 degrees 1 minute (N. Lat.) and 3 degrees 18 minutes and 3 degrees 51 minutes (W. Long.), and is about twenty-one miles in length and twelve miles in extreme breadth; comprising an area of 112 square miles, or 71,680 acres ù 5675 houses, of which 5333 are inhabited and containing a population of 26,872, of whom 13,797 are mates and 13,075 females. This division of the country, sometimes called West Lothian from its forming the western district of the ancient and extensive province of Lothian, was at the time of the Roman invasion inhabited by the British tribe Gadeni. It afterwards became a portion of the province of Valentia, and the western boundary of the Roman conquests in this part. No district of the province abounded more with Roman works than this county. A Roman road from the village of Cramond extended along the shore of the Firth to Carriden; where, indeed, the wall of Antonine, of which a very considerable portion traversed the district, is supposed to have also terminated. Upon the departure of the Romans, great numbers of the emigrants from the Irish coast, who had established themselves in Cantyre, removed to these parts, and for a long period retained possession of their settlements, though much harassed by the Picts and others. After the union of the two kingdoms under Kenneth II., they became identified with the Scots; and in the reign of David I., this district of the Lothians was erected into a separate sheriffdom. With respect to ecclesiastical matters, the county was included in the archdiocese of St. Andrew's, and subsequently in the diocese of Edinburgh, of which it constitoted the archdeaconry of Linlithgow. It is now in the synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and comprises one presbytery and twelve parishes. The civil affairs are transacted at Linlithgow, which is the county-town and a royal burgh, where all the courts are held; the shire contains also the royal burgh of Queensferry, the burgh of barony of Bathgate, and the burgh-of-regality of Borrowstounness, with some smaller towns and populous villages. Under the act of the 2nd of William IV., it returns one member to the imperial parliament. The surface is for the most part pleasingly diversified with gentle undulations, and is intersected nearly in the centre by a range of eminences of moderate elevation. In the east and south the land is generally level; but towards the west are some hills, though of inconsiderable height, which are clothed with verdure, and crowned with woods. The principal river is the Almond, which has its source among the hills of Lanarkshire, and, intersecting the county in a north-eastern direction, flows into the Firth of Forth at the village of Cramond: it is navigable for boats and small craft for a quarter of a mile from its mouth. The river Aven, or Avon, after forming for some distance a boundary between the county and Stirlingshire, falls into the Firth to the west of Borrowstounness. The only lake of any importance is Linlithgow loch, about a mile in length and a quarter of a mile wide, comprising an area of 154 acres. It is beautifully situated among rising grounds richly wooded, and embraces much picturesque and romantic scenery. On the south bank are seated the town and palace of Linlithgow, the gardens of which latter extend westward along its margin; and at the north-west extremity is a small rivulet called the Loch Burn, which, after a short course, flows into the Avon. About four-fifths of the land are arable, and the remainder woodland, plantations, and waste. Though various, the soil is in many parts extremely fertile in the lower districts, a gravelly loam and in the higher park, chiefly clay resting on a retentive subsoil. Considerable progress has been made in draining, and great improvements have taken place in the system of agriculture; the lands have been inclosed with fences of thorn; the pastures are rich, and the dairy-farms under excellent management. The cattle are principally of the Teeswater and Ayrshire breeds, and the horses chiefly of the Clydesdale breed. There are not many sheep; they are the black-faced, with a few of the Leicestershire breed, which appear to thrive well. The ancient forests, which were very extensive, have mostly disappeared, and have been replaced by modern plantations, adding greatly to the general beauty of the scenery; they are of oak, ash, elm, beech, lime, sycamore, chesnut, and larch, Scotch, silver, and spruce firs. A large portion of the land is also laid out in gardens. The substrata are mainly coal limestone, and freestone. Ironstone is likewise found in abundance in some parts; Iead-mines were formerly wrought in the Bathgate hills, and the ore contained a considerable proportion of silver. The coal is extensively worked, especially in the vicinity of Borrowstounness; and there are large quarries of the limestone and freestone, which latter is of fine texture. Marl, and clay for the manufacture of bricks and pottery, are also abundant. In this county the seats are Binns House, Hopetoun House, Duddingston House, Dalmeny Park, Amondell, Kinnell, Houston House, Wallhouse, Lochcote, Bonhard, Kirk Hill, Middleton, Champfleurie, Balbardie House, Boghead, Polkemmet, Binny, Newliston, Dundas Castle, Craigiehall, and various others. Of the palace of Linlithgow the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots, which was deatroyed by fire in 1746, the walls, and some of the principal apartments, are still remaining. Among the principal manufactures are those of salt and of shoes; the spinning of cotton, and printing of calico, employ a considerable number of persona, and there are extensive tanneries, breweries, and distilleries. The chief commerce is the exportation of coal, of which large quantities are shipped from Borrowstounness. Facility of communication is afforded by turnpike and parish roads, kept in excellent order: among the former are the great north road to Edinburgh, the Edinburgh and Glasgow road, and the road from Lanark and Glasgow to Queens-ferry, where steamers convey passengers across the Firth of Forth. There are also the Union canal, the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway, and the Bathgate railway. The annual value of real property in the county is 109,322 pounds sterling, of which 82,842 pounds sterling are returned for lands, 21,149 pounds sterling for houses, 3561 pounds sterling for mines, 831 pounds sterling for quarries, and the remainder for other kinds of real property. Numerous vestiges remain of Roman roads, camps, altars, vases, coins, and other memorials of that age; also ruins of ancient castles, Druidical remains, monasteries, and other relics of antiquity. WIGTOWNSHIRE, a maritime county, in the southwest of Scotland, bounded on the north by Ayrshire; on the east by the stewartry or county of Kirkcudbright and by Wigtown bay; and on the south and west by the Irish Sea. It lies between 54 degrees 38 minutes and 56 degrees 5 minutes (N. Lat.) and 4 degrees 16 minutes and 5 degrees 7 minutes (W. Long.), and is about 32 miles in length and 29 miles in extreme breadth; comprising an area of nearly 480 square miles, or 305,000 acres, 7711 houses, of which 7440 are inhabited, and containing a population of 39,195, of whom 18,290 are males and 20,905 females. This county, which forms the western portion of the ancient district of Galloway, appears to have derived its name from the situation of its chief, or perhaps at that time its only, town, on an eminence whose base was washed by the sea. At the period of the Roman invasion of Britain, it was inhabited by the Celtic tribe of the Novantes, who seem to have in a great measure maintained their independence against the attempts of the Romans to reduce them to subjection. On the departure of the Romans, the province became part of the territories of the Northumbrian kings, under whose government it remained till the commencement of the ninth century, when it fell into the power of the Picts, who continued, for a considerable time after the union of the two kingdoms by Kenneth II., to exercise a kind of sovereign authority in this part of Scotland. But amid all these changes, the original Celtic inhabitants retained their ancient customs, and preserved that natural impetuosity of character and indomitable spirit which caused them to be known as the "wild Scots of Galloway". From their heroic velour, they obtained from the Scottish monarchs the privilege of forming the van in every engagement at which they might be present; and under their own independent lord, who was killed in the conflict, they highly distinguished themselves at the battle of the Standard in the reign of David I. The last of the lords of Galloway was Allan, whose grandson John Baliol, succeeded to the Scottish throne on the death of Alexander III. After the decease of Robert Bruce, the county of Wigtown, with the title of Earl, was conferred by David II. on Sir Malcolm Fleming, from whose family the lands passed to the Douglases, by whom they were held till their forfeiture in 1453, after which they were divided among various families, the Agnews being created heritable sheriffs. Previously to the abolition of episcopacy the county was included in the diocese of Galloway; it's now in the synod of Galloway, and comprises the presbyteries of Wigtown and Stranraer, and seventeen parches. For civil purposes the county is under the jurisdiction of a sheriff-depute, by whom a sheriff-substitute is appointed, who resides at Wigtown, the county-town, where quarter-sessions are held in March, May, and October, and the sheriffs court every Tuesday. A court of quarter-session is held at Glenluce on the first Tuesday in August; and sheriff's courts for small debts are holden at Stranraer every alternate month, and at Newton-Stewart and Whithorn every three months. The county contains the three royal burghs of Wigtown, Stranraer, and Whithorn; the burghs-of-barony of Newton-Stewart, Garliestown, Glenluce, and Portpatrick; and several small ports and thriving villages. Under the act of the 2nd of William IV., the shire returns one member to the imperial parliament. The surface, though generally level, is diversified with numerous hills, some few of which attain a considerable degree of elevation. The coast is deeply indented with bays. That of Wigtown, on the southeast partly separates the county from the stewartry of Kirkcudbright; and the bay of Luce on the south, and Loch Ryan on the north-west, divide the western portion of it into the two peninsulas called the Rhynns of Galloway. Of the several rivers, the principal is the Cree, which has its rise on the confines of Ayrshire, and taking a south-eastern course partly separates the county from the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and falls into Wigtown bay; it abounds with salmon and is navigable for several miles. The river Bladnoch rises in the district of Carrick, in the south of Ayrshire, and after a southern course of several miles through the county of Wigtown falls into Wigtown bay. The small river Poltanton, or Piltanton, after a short course flows into Luce bay. There are various less important streams; and of the numerous inland lakes, which are generally of but small extent, the most interesting, from the beauty of the surrounding scenery, are those of Castle-Kennedy and Soulseat, in the parish of Inch. The woods, with which the county appear to have formerly abounded, have almost entirely disappeared; but of late years, the deficiency has been supplied by plantations, which succeed well. Scotch fir and oak thrive with care, and also spruce and silver firs under the protection of the pinaster introduced by the Earl of Galloway; but the most luxuriant trees are the beech, ash, elm, sycamore, birch, alder, plane, and larch, for which the land seems peculiarly favourable. The soil is generally a shallow hazel loam resting on a gravelly bottom, with large tracts of moss and moor occurring in several places, and considerable portions of fine pasture; the richest land is near the coasts. On the shores of Wigtown and Luce bays are extensive breadths of sands, at low water. Agriculture has been gradually improving, and the rotation plan is prevalent; the chief crops are oats, barley, turnips, and potatoes. The farms mostly vary from 300 to 700 acres, but some few are nearly 1500 acres in extent: the farm-buildings, formerly of very inferior character, have been much improved. The principal manures are lime, marl, seashell, and seaweed, of which last abundance is found on the coast. In many parts the lands have been drained and inclosed, on the sheep-farms principally with stone dykes, and on the arable lands with hedges of thorn; and under the auspices of the Earl of Galloway and others, the various agricultural improvements that originated in the county of Dumfries, have been adopted almost to their full extent in this part of the country. Considerable attention is paid to the rearing of live-stock. The cattle are of the native breed, hardy, compact, and well-proportioned; and great numbers of them, both fat and lean, are sent to the southern markets. In general the sheep are of the black-faced breed; but a small kind of the white-faced, supposed to be of Spanish origin, is reared, and also some of the Linton, Teeswater, and Northumberland breeds: large numbers of sheep are pastured on the moorlands, in flocks of from l0,000 to 15,000. The horses, being of the true Galloway breed, are much esteemed; and large numbers of swine are fed, forming not only a profitable stock for home consumption, but also for exportation, not less than from 15,000 to 20,000 being annually shipped. The principal rocks are schistus whinstone, sandstone, clay-slate, and, in some places, greenstone, porphyry, and the basaltic formation. Iron-ore is understood to be abundant, but from the want of coal it is unavailable; and there are indications of copper-ore in the vicinity of Whithorn. The seats within the county are Galloway House, Craighlaw, Dunskey, Ardwell House, Dunragget, Balgreggan, Kildrochet, Glasserton, Monreith, Lochnaw Castle, Barnbarroch House, Penninghame House, Morton Hall, Corswall House, Physgill, Corsbie, amd Logan, with various others. From the scarcity of fuel, the manufactures are very inconsiderable. The principal public works are distilleries. Flax spinning for domestic use, and weaving by hand-looms for the supply of the district, are carried on to a moderate extent; and a portion of the females are employed in embroidering muslin. The chief trade consists in the fisheries off the coast, which are very extensive, and for which the numerous bays afford ample accommodation; and in the exportation of grain and other agricultural produce, black-cattle, sheep, swine, and wool, in the conveyance of which a considerable number of vessels are employed. Facility of communication throughout the interior is maintained by good roads in various directions; and of the steam-boats that frequent the ports, one plies between Portpatrick and Donaghadee on the opposite coast of Ireland. The annual value of real property in the county is 135,407 pounds sterling, of which 124,807 pounds sterling are returned for lands, 10,062 pounds sterling for houses, 507 pounds sterling for fisheries, and 31 pounds sterling for quarries. Among the antiquities are, some Druidical remains at Torhouse, where is a circle of nineteen atones of unhewn granite; similar relics at Glentarra; numerous ruins of castles, of which those of Sorbie are beautifully picturesque; cairns, tumuli, encampments and relics of Roman antiquity; the remains of the abbey of Luce, of which the chapter-house is still entire, and the ruins of ancient chapels and some other religious houses. SURNAMES OF THE MONTH - This month the Irish surnames taken from EDWARD MacLYSAGHT's book "IRISH FAMILIES Their Names, Arms & Origins", SciPrint Limited, Copyright Irish Academic Press Limited, ISBN # 0-7165-2364-7 are: (0)CASSIDY The O'Cassidys belong to Fermanagh; this, and the borders of adjacent counties, is their principal homeland today and it is there their sept originated. It provided hereditary physicians to the great Maguire sept and numerous O'Cassidys are recorded as ollavs and physicians to the Maguires between 1300 and 1600 A.D. The name first appears in the field of literature in the person of Giolla Moduda O'Cassidy (d. 1143), whose Gaelic poetry is still presented. One of the O'Cassidys, Rory, Archdeacon of Clogher, is said to have assisted Cathal Maguire in the compilation of the fifteenth century "Annals of Ulster". Equally deserting of literary renown is Thomas Cassidy (fl. 1740), expelled Augustinian friar and subsequently soldier of fortune and itinerant, whose racy autobiography has been likened to the work of Rabelais. He and others of the sept were sometimes called MacCassidy as well as O'Cassidy. After the plantation of Ulster in the early seventeenth century the O'Cassidys, like nearly all the leading Gaelic septs of that province, sank into obscurity. We find them only in such records as the presentments relating to priests under the Penal Code, chiefly in counties Fermanagh and Monaghan. Many, of course, emigrated: the grandson of one of these was William Cassidy (18151873), Catholic politician in the United States and lifelong enemy of Great Britain. (Mac)CLANCY, Glanchy Clancy is a Mac name: the initial C of Clancy is in fact the last letter of the prefix Mac. In Irish it is Mac Fhlannchaidh, (son of Flannchadh, fldnn meaning reddish). The aspirated F is silent. In recent years some Clancys have resumed the prefix and become once more MacClancy. The alternative form Glanchy was often used in the seventeenth century and is still occasionally found. There are two septs of the name. The more important is that of Thomond: they are a branch of the Macnamaras of Co. Clare and were hereditary brehons to the O'Briens. They became established in north Clare, some distance from the main Macnamara country. The place name Cahermacclancy locates the area. They are still more numerous in Co. Clare and in the adjoining counties of Galway and Tipperary than elsewhere. The only other county in which they are found in considerable numbers to-day in Leitrim; and this is, as might be expected, since the second MacClancy sept belongs to that locality, the head of the family having been Chief of Dartry or Rosclogher. Up to the time of the final collapse of the Gaelic order the MacClancys were very influential in Co. Clare. Boetius Clancy (Boetius was a common Christian name in that family) represented Clare in the Parliament of 1585. One of the last of the hereditary brehons is said to have saved Murrough O'Brien (the then O'Brien chief) from the fury of his formerly devoted clansmen when he returned to Clare after accepting a peerage from Henry VIII in 1543. Boetius Glancy (sic) was one of the "nobility of the diocese of Killaloe" who sent a memorial to Cardinal Veralto, the Protector of Ireland, in1624. After the second siege of Limerick, in the defence of which city several Clancy's took part, many of them took service abroad as Wild Geese and distinguished themselves in the Irish Brigades. One settled at Nantes in France where he founded bursarships for the education of priests. One who did not leave Limerick, though he married a Protestant lady of an influential family, remained a staunch Catholic and his wife became one - a rare event for a Protestant in the height of the Penal Laws period. Peadar Clancy was one of the three prisoners (Dick McKee and Conor Clune were the others) who were murdered by British Auxiliaries in Dublin Castle, after "Bloody Sunday" in November, 1920. (0)CLERY, Clarke, (MacCleary, Clerkin) Clery, often spelt Cleary, is one of the Gaelic Irish surnames which has kept the prefix O to some extent in modern times. O'Clery is O Cleirigh in Irish probably derived from the word cleireach meaning a clerk or cleric. The name itself means descendant of Cleireach, who was of the line of the famous Guaire the Hospitable, King of Connacht. Cleireach was born about the year 820 A.D. some two centuries before hereditary names began to be generally used. That of O'Clery, however, was one of the earliest recorded surnames: it dates from the middle of the tenth century. The O'Clerys were the chief family in that part of the present Co. Galway which is covered by the diocese of Kilmacduagh, but their influence gradually declined and by the middle of the thirteenth century they had been driven out of their original territory and settled elsewhere. By far the most important of these branches was that which domiciled in Counties Donegal and Derry: Many of its members distinguished themselves as poets and antiquarians there. Since the Plantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century, and the consequent anglicization of what was formerly the most Irish of the Four Provinces, the common English surname Clarke has been very widely substituted for O'Clery there, and also indeed elsewhere in Ireland. Without a reliable pedigree or at least a strong family tradition it is therefore impossible to say whether an Irish Clarke is an O'Clery in disguise or the descendant of an English settler; but it is probable that most of our Clarkes are in fact O'Clerys. The branch which settled in Co. Cavan has almost disappeared (at least as Clery, though Clarke is fairly common to-day in Co. Cavan), but the third, which went to Co. Kilkenny, is still to be found in considerable numbers if not actually in Co. Kilkenny, in the adjacent counties of Tipperary and Waterford. Clery and Cleary are also found as variants of Clerkin (O Cleirchin) a sept located in the barony of Coshma, Co. Limerick. Clarke, with an estimated population of over 14,000 persons comes as high as thirty-second in the list of the hundred commonest surnames in Ireland (this of course includes all persons of the name whether their origin be Irish or English). Clery (induding Cleary, O'Clery and O'Cleary) musters some 5,000 persons. The O'Clerys of the seventeenth century who left their mark on the literary history of Ireland are too numerous to mention individually. The most famous were Michael, his brother Conary and their cousin Cucoigchriche (sons of Lughaigh O'Clery the chieftain and historian), who with Fearfasa O'Mulconry compiled the "Annals of the Four Masters" which was fnished in 1636. A modern historian of the name was Arthur Patrick O'Clery (1841-1915), a Limerick man. Of the many distinguished Irish Clarkes we may mention Rev. John Clarke, S.J. (1662-1723), born at Kilkenny, the missionary to Irish and Scots soldiers in the Low Countries; Dr. Joseph Clarke (1758-1834), the Derryman who did so much for the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin; and in our own time Thomas Clarke (1857-1916), f~rst signatory to the republican proclamation in 1916 who was executed after the Easter Week Rising. Two sisters, Julie Cleary and Desiree Cleary (1781-1860), daughters of an Irish merchant in Marseilles, became respectively Queens of Spain and Sweden under Napoleon. There is another Gaelic surname which has become Clery in English in some places, though more usually MacCleary or MacAlary. This is MacGiolla Arraith, a branch of the O'Haras, who went with them to Co. Antrim and became established there. This month the Scottish surnames taken from Roddy Martine's "SCOTTISH CLAN AND FAMILY NAMES Their Arms, Origins and Tartans", Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh and London, 1992, ISBN # 1-85158-418-8 are: GRANT - A main branch of the 'Siol Alpine' of which Clan Gregor is chief. The originator of the Grants is said to have been Gregor Mar MacGregor, who lived al. the twelfth century in Strathspey. Sir Lawrence Grant, Sheriff of Inverness in 1263, is the first recorded ancestor, although it is believed that the family may have originated from Nottinghamshire, where their lands adjoined those of the Bissets, into which family they had married and who came north in the service of Henry III of England. The Grants of Freuchie were given a knighthood by James VI and I. In1704, Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, 5th Baronet of Luss, obtained a new patent with original precedence giving remainder of his title to his son-in-law, James Grant, who subsequently became 6th Baronet. Through the marriage of Sir Ludovic Grant, 7th Baronet and 20th Chief of the name, to Lady Margaret Ogilvie, daughter of the Earl of Findlater, the earldom of Seafield was later acquired by the gth Baronet. The 7th Earl was created Baron Strathspey in 1884, and when the 11th Earl died in 1915, the earldom devolved upon his only daughter and his brother succeeded to the Strathspey title and also the chiefship. GRAY - HUGO DE GRAY is recorded in Scotland in the thirteenth century and his family are believed to have come from Normandy. The surname is now common all over Scodand, but in 1377 the lands of Fowlis passed to the Gray family through marriage to a daughter of the Maule family, who had received them for military services from David I. Huntly Castle at Longforgan, now incorporated into an industrial school building, was built in 1452 for Lord Gray of Fowlis, Master of the Household to James II. At one time the title passed into the earldom of Moray. Francis, 14th Baron, who died in I842, was Postmaster-General for Scotland. HAIG - PETRUS DEL HAGE is recorded in the mid-twelfth century. The Haigs have lived at Bemersyde, near Dryburgh in Roxburghshire, since 1162, although the ancient prophecy attributed to Thomas the Rhymer: Tide, tide, whatc'er betide, There'll aye beHaigs at Bemersyde was proves untrue in 1867 when the direct line died out and the property was sold. In 1921, however, Bemersyde was purchased and presented to Field Marshal Sir Douglas, Earl Haig, as a gift from a grateful nation for his work in the First World War. Alexander Haig, who resigned from the Nixon Administration as Secretary of State, is a member of one of the American branches of the family. USEFUL WEB PAGES Below are some Web pages you may want to visit to help with your research. They contain a lot of useful information as well as links to other Web pages you can visit. If you like what you see here and want to go back, make sure you add them to your Favorite Places before you leave. Subject: "New Irish History Web Site" Please check out our new Irish history site called "The Wild Geese Today" at: www.thewildgeese.com. We are presenting Irish history, with an emphasis on, though not exclusively, Irish military history. We have articles on the Irish at home and abroad for all periods and will be doing micro, people oriented articles most times, as opposed to the macro level Irish history that is found on most Irish history sites on the web. We believe that are thousands upon thousands of stories of our race, which has been so scattered over the world, which people will find of great interest. We have a broad network of knowledgeable writers and historians and material to draw on. We also will be including some topical articles of Irish interest from Ireland and where ever the Irish diaspora celebrates its roots. These are on a page we call "News from Gallowglass." Gallowglass was the pseudonym of a Civil War soldier who wrote articles for the Irish American. We also have another site we would like you check out. The Irish Brigade Association is an Irish history commemorative group out of New York city. We organize and support the commemoration of various events and support historic research of Irish history. The Irish Brigade Association site is at: www.thewildgeese.com/iba and is linked to The Wild Geese Today home page. JOSEPH GANNON XLYB48A@prodigy.com Subj: Re: GENIRE-D Digest V97 #3 For Wilma Jamieson: You can go on line with St. Mary's in Athlone, Westmeath. They have a savvy young priest their who has put all their records on computer. The email address is: http://ireland.iol.ie/littlebug/St. Mary/ He was very nice when I stopped by in January. Subj: Re: Proposed Ulster Genealogical Database Hi all I am considering setting up an Ulster genealogical database on the web, organised by family surname, but only for families originating from Ulster. This could be achieved by contributors sending me GEDCOM files which can then be used to generate linking web pages. These pages would then be uploaded to a server with a distinctive domain name, in this case: www.ulster.org.uk To view an example go to the following url: http://www.ulster.org.uk/genealogy/bradley/persons.html Do you consider this is worth doing? Roger To R. Bradley, I think its a good idea, check our my page for inclusion in your project, it includes O'Neil/O'Neal people from co Antrim, in Ulster. http://www.maui.net/~mauifun/oneall.htm Thanks, Jill ON THE WEB Subj: New book on Jacksons (Andrew/Stonewall) While home on holiday last week in Northern Ireland, I picked up a copy of a new book on the Jacksons - the back cover has the following summary :- Do you know the Jacksons? Here you will discover how the name travelled from its North Country roots into Ulster, then across the seas to America and Australia. This hard-working family was to produce an American President, a Confederate Commander together with two Australian Army generals and several Anzac heroes. D J McCartney has researched extensively into how the family progressed and has established the mutual links between Andrew Jackson, 7th President of United States of America and Thomas Jonathan, "Stonewall" Jackson. The Jacksons who remained in Ulster are traced using family trees, photographs and family recollections. Details of the book are :- The Ulster Jacksons (subtitled From Cumbria to The White House, Shenandoah and Australia) by D J McCartney Published by Carrickfergus Borough Council, Town Hall, Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, BT38 7DL (1997) ISBN 0 9529938 0 5 Paperback 240 pages I paid 7 pounds 50 pence sterling for my copy in the NPO book chain shop in Carrickfergus. I have only skimmed through the book but it looks very interesting. The author makes the point initially that much of the literature already written on Andrew and Stonewall Jackson either omits and is factually incorrect on their origins. This book deals mainly with their origins in the Carrickfergus area of Co Antrim, the related Jacksons that went to Australia and the related Jacksons that remained in Ulster. "DJ" is a local Carrick man in that he has lived in the town for many years (my mother worked as the school secretary in the school where he was headmaster, my sister was until recently a next-door neighbour of his) and is very interested in the history of the area. This is his third book. Neal ---- Neal Curran Tel: +44 (118) 9316630 Senior Systems Programmer Fax: +44 (118) 9753094 Computer Services Centre Formerly from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, The University of Reading Northern Ireland, Reading researching CURRAN in Counties Armagh/Tyrone and England RG6 2AF MOORHEAD/McAULEY in County Antrim Subject: Re: migration to Scotland from Ireland Elizabeth, John Strawhorn writes in his book 'Ayrshire The Story of a County' "In the early 19th century the trickle from Ireland grew to a flood. By 1851 11% of the population were Irish born." A point that has become evident while searching the 1851 census from Kilwinning to Ardrossan. Hugh Subject: British Isles Genealogical Register (BIG-R) 1997 From: Chad Hanna After the huge success of the first edition (1994) of the British Isles Genealogical Register, the Federation of Family History Societies are pleased to announce the arrival of BIGR 1997, a project to compile a list of surnames being researched in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, the Channel Isles and the Isle of Man by family historians. Over 17,000 application forms received. Some 15,000 subscribers world - wide. Nearly _220,000_ surnames registered. England is published in separate county sections based on the pre - 1974 historic counties although some, e.g. Leicestershire & Rutland, or Cumberland, Westmorland & the Isle of Man have been combined. London entries with the Middlesex / Surrey sections. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are produced as countries. BIGR 1997 (in full) is available on microfiche from FFHS Publications Ltd, 2-4 Killer Street, Ramsbottom, Bury, Lancashire BL0 9BZ England. County Sections should be purchased from appropriate participating Family History Societies. A list is available on the web http://www.vellum.demon.co.uk/genuki/FFHS/netbigr.htm or from the above address, Family History News & Digest, Family Tree, or by sending a sae to Mrs C. McLee, 3 The Green, Kirklevington, N. Yorks TS15 9NW England. Chad Hanna Federation Internet Liaison Officer http://www.vellum.demon.co.uk/genuki/FFHS/ Subject: RE: Records destroyed in the Four Courts 1922 I recently attended a seminar on British/Irish genealogy. One speaker, Michael Gandy of London, who is a specialist on Irish records and esp Catholic ancestry in England, repeatedly attempted to drill into our thick skulls that PLENTY OF RECORDS EXIST IN SPITE OF THIS TRAGEDY. As a graduate in Local History (M.A. N.U.I. Maynooth) I agree wholeheartedly with Linda's comments, which apply equally to genealogists and to local historians. However, there is a real problem for genealogists who find that their ancestors were members of the Church of Ireland (Anglican). A number of parish registers of baptisms and burials were in the safe-keeping of the P.R.O. Dublin in 1922 and went up in smoke; for e.g., those who wish to establish that an ancestor was baptised in St Michan's Church, Dublin between 1800 and,say, 1864 (when state registration began) will find immediately that no records are extant. And this is so for a considerable number of Church of Ireland parishes. It is ironic that these records were taken into the P.R.O. Dublin because the local parishes agreed with the Keeper of the P.R.O. that they did not have adequate safes in which to store them. The sadest story of all is of the Parish Trustees of St Catherine's Parish Dublin (Church of Ireland) who sent 19 deeds of the parish estate dating from 12th to 15th centuries, for conservation in the P.R.O. in November 1919, to be returned to them when the work was completed. Yes, you've guessed it - they went up in smoke in early 1922. However, all is not lost; a very good transcript (Latin and English) was produced in the 1880s and a calender of the deeds was published in 1919. So Linda's lecturer was right. John Crawford Dublin FROM OUR MEMBERS Subj: Fwd: Advice on writing letters to parishes I work in adoption search in Ireland and I can tell you that the parish priests are slow to respond. It is difficult for people within Ireland to take up much time of a Parish priest. With each request I always recommend 2 international reply coupons and an international money order. Our addressed stamped envelope from USA is not something they can mail out of Ireland. For baptismal records - if we have the birth date we can approx. the baptismal as a day or 2 after [they didn't wait long to baptize in the old days] - we send $5.00 for the baptismal record and another $5 for a donation to the pastor's church. We generally retrieve them 1 or 2 at a time. The pace is Ireland is much different than in the USA and they may put the letter aside if it has multiple requests. So far we have not even tried it. Basic wording is all that is necessary - give him the facts you know & tell him you are doing genealogical research on your surname and you hope to one day visit the beautiful land of Ireland. Good Luck, Catherine O'Dea http://members.aol.com/Odea97/IRELANDGENEALOGY.html P.S. - we have found the priests in Dublin respond more quickly - faster paced life there.