At 10:25 AM 3/28/05, Karen Bell <jessandrak@netscape.net> wrote: >I have been researching my Cowan ancestors who lived in Tipperary and >emigrated to Canada in 1827. > >We have recently discovered a document saying that they were originally of >Scottish descent which puts a whole new aspect on our research. We don't >know where to begin as we have no idea when the Cowan family left Scotland >for Ireland. If your COWANS came from Scotland, it is most likely that they crossed the Irish Sea to what is now Northern Ireland. From there, they could migrate south to Tipperary. COWAN was not an uncommon name in Wigtownshire, which is the southwest tip of Scotland -- about 20 miles across the Irish Sea from Co. Down. The Irish and Scots have crossed back and forth across the Irish Sea for many generations ( http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~leighann/county/travel.html ). Just to the north of Wigtownshire is Ayrshire, yet another jumping off point. To Wigtownshire's east are Kirkcudbrightshire and then Dumfriesshire. All of these shires and more sent migrants to Ireland. You may recall the June/July 2002 posts where a Cowan link to Stirling was revealed: look for cscunc and jcmaclay posts at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/COWAN/ -- http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/COWAN/2002-06/1024264775 is a good place to start. (I should clarify here that I'm using the old shire nomenclature. For instance, when Scotland reorganized its political boundaries in the last century, Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire -- or more correctly, the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright -- and Dumfriesshire became Dumfries and Galloway. Galloway was Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire.) I do a lot of research in Wigtownshire and a tiny bit in Kirkcudbrightshire and Ayrshire. (I'm sure I've bored most COWAN listers to a snore with my postings of COWAN birth-marriage-death transcripts from the 19th century Wigtown Free Press.) The SCT-WIGTOWNSHIRE listers have a terrific web site at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~leighann/index.html -- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~leighann/tutorial/research.html will get you started. Some of it applies to Scotland in general. Before 1841 when the first viable census was taken, research can be tough. Have you checked the online IGI at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=igi/search_IGI.asp&clear_form=true ? You might get lucky because Scottish parish records often yield clues, if not answers ( http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~leighann/oprs/intro.html ). Also, many of the Wigtownshire graves were transcribed some years ago before they became as unreadable as they are now. If you have some specific names, I can check the few transcripts that I have. Alternatively, you can request a lookup via: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~leighann/chapple/mi2.html . Other cemetery transcriptions are available, too. Just let me know if you're interested. Lastly, there are lots of Scottish mailing lists where you may get more help: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ . I know how hard you search may be because my MAXWELLs probably moved from Scotland to Northern Ireland during the Ulster Plantation and were in the U.S. by 1740. Needless to say, I've yet to place them in Ireland, much less in Scotland. So best of luck -- I'm happy to help more if I can. Mary Richardson