Janet, your comment below seems to indicate surprise that this list has many members outside of Britain. I do not belong to any English lists to know what the situation is there, but I do belong to several Ulster lists, and in each case they have a diversity of members who seem to cover many of the locations which are or were part of the British Commonwealth of Nations, plus the Americans. In each of those countries, there was a large immigration of people from Britain; and most especially from Ireland where impoverishment and persecution seem to have been amongst the strongest drivers for many of them to emigrate. Within the field of Irish studies, akin to the Jewish spread of population, one hears speak of "the Irish diaspora" -- the spread of the Irish around the world. (I personally find those in Spain and South America to be the most unexpected). As a result, many of us who are descendants of some of those in the Irish diaspora, are now seeking out our roots in the old country. My own personal experiences of visiting in Ireland over 30 years ago, was that "locals" are generally not overly interested in researching their family histories, being content with whatever stories they hear within the family throughout their lives -- but there are wonderful exceptions to this generalisation, as we find on each of these Irish lists: wonderful, knowledgeabe, helpful, and loving, locals. By contrast, over say the past 35 to 40 years, there has been an ever burgeoning interest throughout those diaspora areas, in tracing our own roots within our own countries, and then trying to make the big jump back "home" to Ireland, etc. And as you may well be a part of, there is that huge number of Irish who have for a very long time gone to Britain herself, most notably to the massive industrial cities of the north, and to Scotland; some of whose descendants are also avid members of these lists -- although I must admit that the noisiest ones on the lists do seem to be predominantly from the USA, Canada, Australia. (ha ha -- putting myself in here!) Welcome to the list if you are a newcomer; and I hope that you will soon see that some of the noisiest "foreigners" are amongst the most knowledgeable, helpful, and sharing, of people also. Regards: Ray in Oz. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janet" <wightway@clara.co.uk> ... > Janet. > PS Seems the membership of this List is outside Britain?