Many of those who were Baptised Bridget/Brigid here in the Beara Peninsula, Co. Cork, Ireland, changed their names, mostly to Delia and Beatrice, when they emigrated to the States in the days when "no Irish or Blacks" need apply for jobs in certain areas. In fact, a number of years ago, a lady came to me searching for an ancestor of hers. I told her the name was Brigid. She looked at me as if I had two heads on me, as she believed it was Agnes. I told her to travel over a few miles to where other close relatives were living. There she found out that her ancestor was indeed Brigid (who obviously had changed her name to Agnes after emigrating). Variations of Cornelius here were Curney, Corney, Curley/Corley, and a very old Irish version, Cud. Jeremiah was also called Darby or Darb. Variations of Mary were Molly, Maem, Maymie, Minnie, Maenie, a very unusual version, Mayrick, and what I regard as a most beautiful version, a very, very ancient one, Muireann ---- from th old Gaelic version of the name for the Blessed Virgin Mary : Muire. Especially after the Famine, some of the old Gaelic surnames (put down as such in the Parish Records) were changed as follows: Rahilly to REILLY/O'REILLY, Lehane to LYONS, Mulliheen to MULLINS, and Houlihan to HOLLAND. Circa 1879. Jeremiah Houlihan, a copper miner from Allihies (with his wife and their 12 surviving children out of a family of 16) emigrated to faraway Butte, Montana. Jeremiah was the great-grandfather of Jeffrey Holland who was at one time President of the Brigham Young University in Utah , and later one of the twelve apostles of the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) worldwide. Once upon a time there was hardly a person in Butte, Montana, who hadn't a nickname. Among one of the milder versions there was that of a very popular barber known as Mickey the Bird. Mickey was so named because he was exceptionally light on his feet, being an accomplished stepdancer. I heard of a man with a very thin, sharp nose who was "christened" Split the Hailstone". Another man with a waddling walk was known as Paddy the Duck. A man with a slow, deliberate gait, who was very careful as to where he would place his feet while walking, was duly named Steal upon Birds. Back in Beara there was an old butcher who used keep a few rams in one of the rooms upstairs. He was known to all and sundry as Tady the Ram. Another man had very big, bushy eyebrows and, when he blinked, they looked like two sheeps' fleeces ---- which gave rise to his nickname, The Woolwagger. There was this man who had a large moustache, and he was was mighty fond of drinking porter. He was known as Cur (pronounced Coor ---- like a pigeon coo-ing). Cur is the froth that you would see on the top of a wave when it is "breaking" over a rock. Every time that Cur put his mouth into the pint of porter, his moustache came up out of it covered with "froth". Hence his nickname. A very, very, tall man was known as Hand me down the Moon. One of my own ancestors was Principal Teacher of the Castletownbere School. He was a thin, hardy, wiry man, wearing a goatee beard. He strode around the classroom like an oncoming hurricane, and some wag in the town "christened" him Fury the Goat. To be continued. ---- Riobard.