I have not had much luck tracing my Pennsylvania McKeevers and McFaddens back to Ireland, because it happened almost 200 years ago. In other cases, where I have an ancestor with an unusual name, I have had some luck finding someone a few generations back with the same unusual name and tracing back to that person or family. The first McKeever who emigrated ca 1790-1800 was Cornelius (aka Neal or Neil) McKeever. One of the first McFaddens might have been Manasses (aka Manus) McFadden. Is there any record of a family of McKeevers or McFaddens in County Donegal who used those names? They were all Roman Catholic, so they did not wait for the famine. My grandfather, who reasearched the family history, told my mother that they came from Donegal. So I am hopeful that he meant County Donegal in Ireland (and not Donegal Township in Butler County, PA). Was there something going on ca 1790-1810 that caused a lot of Roman Catholics to leave County Donegal (e.g. Wolfe Tone)? Or were there simply too many people for the resources available? Finally, I would be interested in any history of these families. I have heard that the McKeevers were descendants of Iver the Dane, whose descendants fought against Brian Boru, that they were originally from the highlands of Scotland, but ended up on an island off the west coast of Scotland (where the name is spelled McIver, but pronounced McKeever) and that they were frequent visitors to County Donegal. Thanks, Phil