During the years of the famine in Ireland, it seems that many people from Donegal settled in the northeastern Pennsylvania. My ancestor, Richard Dougherty, from Donegal was one of them. He settled in Beaver Meadow, Carbon county. While he wasn't a miner, he did work as the blacksmith for the mines. He made tools for use in the mines and shoes for the mules that pulled the cars of coal. So, even if your ancestor wasn't a miner, they may have found work in the coal region. Some of the small towns that had coal mines in Carbon County were: Coleraine, Beaver Meadow, Nesquehoning, Summit Hill, Lansford, Park View, Audenreid and Jeansville. All these towns had many people from Donegal. Ed