Even though things are looking bad, never throw in the towel. A lovely couple from Arizona, U.S.A., arrived to me a few days before my (& Joan's) 50th wedding anniversary. They felt that they had the name of a mother ancestor, didn't know the name of her husband, but that the ancestors had four named children, the eldest who they thought was born in Castletownbere or somewhere around it in 1830 ---- all of whom had gone to the States by 1843. I didn't want to let them go back disappointed, so the following day, from the morning until 10 o'clock that night, I searched every parish in the Beara Peninsula ---- and eventually found the ancestors, not under the surname Harrington, but under one of the many Harrington Branch-Names under which every one of them was written into the Parish Records. The ancestors were from a different Parish to Castletownbere. The couple were staying in Kenmare and were to travel to Dingle the following day, but when they heard that I had found out where the ancestors were from, they decided to return to Beara instead and to walk the land that their ancestors had lived in prior to the Famine. They were thrilled to bits. People in and from the States often give Castletownbere as the place from which their ancestors were from. But Castletownbere is only a guideline. Castletownbere was a well-known seaport in the olden days, but the ancestors could have come from any Parish in the Beara Peninsula. And, more difficult still, most people like Sullivans/O'Sullivans and Harringtons were put into the Parish Records with their Branch/Names only ---- so finding them, unless one has alot of experience, is hard going. The passing years will make it almost impossible. ---- Riobard. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for home users. SPAMfighter has removed 1599 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len

I can attest to that. It took about ten years and a lot of brick walls but I made the connection, then made the trip and walked the land. One of my proudest memories from my trip (besides meeting my "family" the Harrington's FLOR, Jerome, Marie and Kitty and many of their extended family members) was when I finally got to meet Riobard to thank him for doing what he did that made it possible for me to put the pieces together and connect with my first cousin once removed, Jerome, Riobard gave me a hug and said "..I am proud of you for never giving up!..." Sandra (Harrington FLOR, O'Shea, Lynch, Sullivan) -----Original Message----- From: beara-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:beara-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Riobard O'Dwyer Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 8:24 AM To: beara@rootsweb.com Subject: [BEARA] Never give up. Even though things are looking bad, never throw in the towel. A lovely couple from Arizona, U.S.A., arrived to me a few days before my (& Joan's) 50th wedding anniversary. They felt that they had the name of a mother ancestor, didn't know the name of her husband, but that the ancestors had four named children, the eldest who they thought was born in Castletownbere or somewhere around it in 1830 ---- all of whom had gone to the States by 1843. I didn't want to let them go back disappointed, so the following day, from the morning until 10 o'clock that night, I searched every parish in the Beara Peninsula ---- and eventually found the ancestors, not under the surname Harrington, but under one of the many Harrington Branch-Names under which every one of them was written into the Parish Records. The ancestors were from a different Parish to Castletownbere. The couple were staying in Kenmare and were to travel to Dingle the following day, but when they heard that I had found out w! here the ancestors were from, they decided to return to Beara instead and to walk the land that their ancestors had lived in prior to the Famine. They were thrilled to bits. People in and from the States often give Castletownbere as the place from which their ancestors were from. But Castletownbere is only a guideline. Castletownbere was a well-known seaport in the olden days, but the ancestors could have come from any Parish in the Beara Peninsula. And, more difficult still, most people like Sullivans/O'Sullivans and Harringtons were put into the Parish Records with their Branch/Names only ---- so finding them, unless one has alot of experience, is hard going. The passing years will make it almost impossible. ---- Riobard. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for home users. SPAMfighter has removed 1599 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BEARA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I totally agree. Even though al I know so far is Mary C Sullivan and brothers James and Jerry and rough dates of birth and crossing I will search until I can no longer do it. Next year when I go to Colorado where my Mary C is buried I swear I am going to take a tape recorder and try to talk to her about what her sept and any other information she might like to add. It might be a crazy idea but who knows. It is said that she was a very tough and determined lady so maybe she will be determined I will find her. I am also planning to get all the Sullivan's in Leadville at the time John and Mary arrived and track them back as best I can. It is said a great many there at the time were from Beara. The big rush was over and the town was back to being quite a bit smaller than it was in the 1860s so maybe I will get lucky. Also a cousin says there is a Harrngton in his town that says he is related to us. If it is not just wishful thinking maybe I will get a clue there. God grant he stays among us for a goodly time to come. He is apparently in his late 80s or early 90s. Being that age he knows more than I do at any rate. Best luck to all of us and our ancestors, ~~C Sullivan Riobard O'Dwyer <beararesearchodwyer@eircom.net> wrote: Even though things are looking bad, never throw in the towel. A lovely couple from Arizona, U.S.A., arrived to me a few days before my (& Joan's) 50th wedding anniversary. They felt that they had the name of a mother ancestor, didn't know the name of her husband, but that the ancestors had four named children, the eldest who they thought was born in Castletownbere or somewhere around it in 1830 ---- all of whom had gone to the States by 1843. I didn't want to let them go back disappointed, so the following day, from the morning until 10 o'clock that night, I searched every parish in the Beara Peninsula ---- and eventually found the ancestors, not under the surname Harrington, but under one of the many Harrington Branch-Names under which every one of them was written into the Parish Records. The ancestors were from a different Parish to Castletownbere. The couple were staying in Kenmare and were to travel to Dingle the following day, but when they heard that I had found out w! here the ancestors were from, they decided to return to Beara instead and to walk the land that their ancestors had lived in prior to the Famine. They were thrilled to bits. People in and from the States often give Castletownbere as the place from which their ancestors were from. But Castletownbere is only a guideline. Castletownbere was a well-known seaport in the olden days, but the ancestors could have come from any Parish in the Beara Peninsula. And, more difficult still, most people like Sullivans/O'Sullivans and Harringtons were put into the Parish Records with their Branch/Names only ---- so finding them, unless one has alot of experience, is hard going. The passing years will make it almost impossible. ---- Riobard. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for home users. SPAMfighter has removed 1599 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BEARA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message