Hi Everyone, I hope everyone had a great New Years and I am following along with this great suggestion of introducing myself to my fellow listers. I am Joe Quirk originally from Guysborough, Nova Scotia, I moved from there at a very young age to Antigonish and from there to Toronto. I am now living in Keswick, Ontario which is about an hour north of Toronto. I have been able to trace back on my father's side with documentation to my great grandfather and I only have hand down information on my gggrandfather. I have been told his name was Michael, born about 1810 in either Ireland or the Isle of Man and came to Canada with two brothers, one that went to Newfoundland and the other to Cape Breton, but I have not been able to find out anymore about them. Great Grandfather - John Quirk born 1850 - died 1923 married to Jane McDonald 1856-1916 and they had 8 children, Alfred, Francis, William, James, Vincent, Louis, Mamie and Nellie Grandfather - Alfred Jan. 6, 1889 - Feb. 15, 1966 married Margaret Chisholm 1891-1969 and they had one child, Finlay my father If anyone comes across the Quirk surname from any of the eastern provinces I would appreciate the information. Thanks Joe Quirk

Hi Joe, I must have missed the post that suggested we introduce ourselves but I would like to do so as well. For the past two years I have been trying to trace some of the missing links into two Cadet lines of Clan Donald, those of Barrisdale and Kinlochmoidart.. From a very old Family Bible transported to, 'The Carolinas' a transcription was taken around late 1800's of the marriages and births in the family of Mary Margaret daughter of Coll MacDonell 2nd of Barrisdale and James MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart. Now we all know the difficulty of tracing 18th Century Scottish Catholic records during these Penal Years, and as the Bible record is a transcript of an old (now lost bible) it is not admissible evidence without corroboration from another source......and that brings me here to the CAN-NS-ANTIGONISH list. Both the Kinlochmoidart line and the Barrisdale lines connect into the MacDonalds who migrated to PEI and other Canadian areas, Mary Margaret was a cousin to Spanish John, and it is recorded in old letters that she and James went north from the Carolinas during the period 1772-1776 for family, which being troubled times in that period, indicates that the Family business must have been important. What I cherish is, that some of those researchers who descend from these Clan Donald lines may have also kept old family letters which may make mention of family coming from the Carolinas to visit, any Borrodale, Kinlochmoidart or Barrisdale descendants out there who would like to make contact? Val Smith Sydney Australia. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Quirk" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 3:17 AM Subject: [Antigonish] Introducing ourselves