This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/RkG.2ACEB/2964.1.1.1 Message Board Post: I know they were from County Meath. The family bible gives Mary Burke from Co. Meath Ireland and dates. I also have a very old St. Vincent's Manual that belonged to Mary Bourke (her writing/spelling) and she noted "East Bridge Port, Oct. 9 1851". The family legend is that the family owned horses in Ireland and was well-to-do. I have a handwritten document from Iowa on the family that says Andrew was a carpenter in Ireland and the census lists both him and Mary as having been born in Ireland, so 1843-5 is probably a pretty good guess as to when they came over. They moved west sometime after the birth of Catharine (1854) and before when their son Andrew is listed working as a farm laboror (1860 Iowa census). Looking for Burkes is like looking for the needle in the haystack, but it's fun to try!