Last spring I requested advice on making a research trip to Ireland (County Tipperary). THANKS to all who responded. This message, Part 3 of 3, is intended to provide background on the families, I believe, are my Irish ancestors. Part 1 addresses the physical trip. Part 2(a&b) discusses the research that I conducted on the trip and is not necessarily included in this background. I am researching my grandfather's (Jeremiah (Jerre) Carey) line. He lived his adult/married life in Pueblo CO. The US census since 1900 has his place of birth as Niagara County, NY. He was married to Mary Bell (Isabel) McDonald (b. Williamstown, Ontario). The post 1860 -1880 US and New York census (eastern Niagara County) have him living with either his parents, Daniel and Bridget Carey, or his maternal grandparents, Martin and Eliza Tracy. They show him as having been born in Ireland. Daniel and Bridget immigrated to Gasport, NY (approx 1862), prior to the arrival of their children. A Martin Tracy, wife Eliza; daughters Catherine and Mary and grandsons; Michael, Martin and Jeremiah Carey arrived at the Port of New York in May 1863 (www.castlegarden.org). To date, I have yet to find a document that identifies a specific location in Ireland where the Carey's/Tracy's lived. However, by process of elimination, through the use of the Griffiths Valuation (GV) (www.askaboutireland.ie or www.failteromhat.com) and Church records found at the Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF) (www.rootsireland.ie) and LDS Family History Center (FHC) Library (www.familysearch.org), I have developed a strong circumstantial case that the two families came from the Roscrea and Bourney area of County Tipperary. The GV (c. 1851) has a Daniel Carey and a Martin Tracey living in the townland of Ballynough (approx.42 houses), County Tipperary. During a 2008 family vacation to Ireland, I visited the National Library (NLI) in Dublin. There, on film POS 2478 (Bourney/Cournaganeen), I found an 1855 marriage of Daniel Keary and Bridget Treacy (Boulerea). Subsequently, I was given directions, by the Heritage Center in Nenagh, to the Bourney Church near Clonakenny. Unfortunately, this church turned out to be Church of Ireland. Thus ending my search. Prior to leaving Ireland, I sent a blind letter to the Bourney Parish Priest. He, Father Kennedy (retired 2009), forwarded the letter to two families in the area who were still members at Couraganeen. They both replied, and one forwarded a copy of the letter to a person with Treacy roots. This person appears to be my 3rd cousin, Tess. As a result of my correspondence, Tess began her own research of the Treacy line. A follow-on query of Father Kennedy resulted in the identification of four children born to Martin Treacy and Eliza McDoole as having been baptized at Cournaganeen; John, James, Michael and Catherine. James appears to have died in NY in 1873. Catherine married Patrick Meagher (Mahar), Jan 1870, in NY. Eliza died Feb 1871 and Martin Apr 1884. On their headstone their name is spelled TREACY, the same spelling as is used in GV and records for Margaret and John in Irish records. IFHF records have three children born to Daniel and Bridget Treacy Keary/Carey: Martin Carey (Treacy, 1857, Derrymore, Roscrea); Mary Carey (Tracy, 1858, Roscrea, Roscrea); and, Jeremiah Kearey (see Part 2) (Tracey, 1860, Rosemary, Roscrea). The birth dates are consistent with the ages of Martin and Jeremiah Carey arriving in NY in 1863. Michael married Elizabeth Cary and Anna S. Tracey. Martin married Carolyn Potter They lived in Pueblo. His birth place is also shown as NY in Pueblo census. Other Daniel/Bridget Carey children, born in NY, married: William - Naomi Seaman; Katherine - Martin Hickey; Mary J. (Minnie) - Jeremiah Tracey; and, Ellen (Nellie) - David Mulcahey. I currently plan on visiting Niagara County in mid-September to see if I can find any documentation that ties these families to County Tipperary (or other location in Ireland). Any man can lose his hat in a fairy-wind.