For those of you with an interest in my itinerary I am posting it here so that you may follow my progress if you wish. Although this does not fall in to the category of strictly genealogy it will give you a sense of the research journey I am about to embark upon . . . yes! sometimes it is all right to end a sentence with a preposition! I will not be responding to any e-mails as I am preparing for my research journey to Northern Ireland again and will be departing one week from today with much research material to organize before that time. I always welcome messages from my family - so do send any messages knowing it will be a one-way communication. I shall return on May 15th. My itinerary is as follows for any who are interested: Depart TVC Sunday, April 25 Arrive BFS (Belfast, NI) Monday, April 26 Travel to Coleraine - remembering to drive on the left side of the highway to 1 hr. north of airport to stay with SERVAS host family I have visited before in order to attend the North of Ireland Family History Society -Coleraine meeting there, research in Londonderry for possible ship's passenger list for "my" Francis FERGUS Two night stay here. Travel to Hamilton's Bawn, Co Armagh to stay with the ever-gracious hostess, Roberta FERGUS Barrons and her grown/single son. Roberta responded to my first FERGUS query in 1997 and has hosted me for two prior trips and again has extended her hospitality although we have not made a FERGUS connection. She is a retired teacher who now is substituting and volunteering tirelessly in her nearby community of the city of Armagh - which is considered to be the ecclesiastical city of all of Ireland as there is both the Church of Ireland Cathedral of St. Patrick AND the St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral on opposite hills overlooking the charming city. From here I will commute the 45- minute drive to Omagh, Co Tyrone to hopefully find the documentation for two gravesites I believe to be those of the parents of Francis FERGUS. It will be a difficult transition for me to drive in to Omagh for the first time after the devastation left by a terrorist bomb last August. I had walked along the very same route and in to each small shop on my way to the bank at the top of the hill to exchange dollars for pounds, then crossed the streed and walked back to the library. A total of 29 people were killed in this reprehensible act which was designed to tear apart the Catholic/Protestant town - however, as I believe, God used this for His own good and it has instead solidified the town. One of my friends here is Bill McGrew who transcribed and wrote "Tombstones of the Omey" listing all gravestones in the 15 cemeteries within a 5-mile radius of Omagh - and it one of these listings that may "belong" to us. Bill (who is in his 80's) will be going with me to the nearby Cappagh C of I Cemetery to show me the site which I could not find on my previous trip there, even though I methodically walked and read each stone - so perhaps this will be one of the unreadable stones now as the transcription to publication process has spanned 10 years and lichen and human have destroyed much in that time frame. Travel to Bushmill's - 1 hr. north and east along the north coast to stay with SERVAS friends/hosts at the very entry to the Giant's Causeway (spectacular natural site!) and check on possible arrangements to stay at the Causeway Hotel for first 2 nights of FERGUS June 2000 Tour. Staying 2 nights with Helene, Phil (just received his PhD and seeking job in Dublin), and baby Oonagh (2 yrs. old). Travel the Antrim Coast line along the Irish Sea through the magnificent Glens of Antrim - beginning at the spectacular and remote Torr Torr Head>Cushendun (designed by the same man who created the charming Portmeirion, Wales)>Cushendall (stopping at the Glenariff Waterfalls/Park)>Carnlough (a magnificent small fishing harbour where I will walk along the quay watching the men repair and stack their nets> Glenarm (taking a foray to Maud's Ice Cream plant for a taste, of course)>Ballygalley (isn't this a wonderful sounding name?)>Larne (where there is a a bronze memorial statue of immigrants standing in front of this large commercial harbour from where so many departed for America>continuing on to Whitehead where I will again stay with a SERVAS family of 4 (Davey is a barrister, complete with one of those silly wigs for court - Jeni is a practicing physician - Eion, same as Owen is an active 7 year old and along with his older brother who is 9 years old asks all sorts of curious questions about the U.S. They are not at all interested in television as there are too many other things to interest them in books, games, exploring the sea in front of their 3-story Victorian home where they watch the sea lanes leading in to Belfast - and where the Titanic was launched and sent for trial. This is a very interesting family! Jeni's father is a retired Church of Ireland pastor and it is he who has give me the needed recommendation to access records in Co Tyrone - one cannot access church records without having a recommendation! Also, Jeni's background if C of I (Protestant) while Davey is RC (Roman Catholic). >I will commute to Belfast to research at PRONI (Public Records Office of Northern Ireland), GRO (General Records Office), the Linen Hall Library (a glorioius library from the 1800's, ascending well-worn wooden treads to find librarians who search behind chicken-wired cupboards for well-worn records. I will stay here for 3 nights. Travel to County Down to Strangford Lough staying with Rosie and Rob Davison (he was the General Secretary for the North of Ireland Family History Society - of which I am a member and the North American represen- tative) for several days in order to drive in to the Repubic to meet with a large FERGUS family living in Dundalk, Co Louth. Oh, my, in my usual style, I have rambled on and on - and written as I think - hope you are able to follow this itinerary. Now you will get a sense of my anticipation and excitement to be going. In the meantime take a visit to the new website which is only partially complete. Ready, Aye, Ready! Cynthia ^.^.^. N E W FERGUS Research Worldwide website http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~fergus00/ ^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.