I was going to say the subject is non genealogical - but the more I think about all this the more it has some relevance. I was also going to skip the northern Ireland counties - but while the British maps might differ to ours what I have to say about placenames doesn't... I've often thought to say that of course we do, when I'd see people posting messages about how the Irish don't have signposts - but over the last while I've learned something new :-) See, I remember laughing at someone I know who lives on a farm in the States when I saw that the address had a street name on it. I thought how on earth can a farm be on a 'street'? Here - our roads go from A to B. They do not have names like in the States- except in the villages, towns and cities. I know I've talked about American maps and how the roads are straight or straightish..and a block is a block....and it's different to Ireland. I have it all worked out now and those of you who will be arming yourselves with discovery series maps to make your journey around any part of Ireland in the future might do well to read this <g> It won't help - but you'll know what possibl to expect in some places. I've just spent the last while wandering around familiar and unfamiliar territory in my own county. I've been using my Discovery series maps - initially I'd just take off map in hand with a general idea of how to get where I was going - follow this road and then that kind of thing. That was all right when I was in the section of the county I am from...I only got lost a little bit and a few times. Yesterday I was in absolutely unfamiliar territory. Before I left, I wrote notes to myself about how many roads/dirt roads I'd have to pass before I'd get to the turn I wanted - things like that. Thought I was organised for a change - lol. Instead of having to squint at my map regularly all I had to do was count those roads to my left and right and I'd get where I was going. Aha!! Anyone who has seen the maps I am talking about will have noticed that the roads are indicated in different colours depending on the quality of the road. There are two yellows....of different widths. Well, I swear that whoever drew up those maps just made them different widths to amuse themselves. Sometimes they are noticeably different al right, but there is no consistency in the width from one part of the county to the other if you know what I mean. There are also 'grey' roads shown on the maps. Now, these can be a drive going up to someones house or a little road - a dirt road with grass growing in the middle of it, so if you are counting your left and right turns you have to judge whether that road you can see on this map is really someones driveway or not. Sometimes - they're even roads which used to be roads but aren't any more - they just are a gate into a field The yellow roads...well, they're minor roads...and the grey - they're dirt roads, but I'm telling you that if you come to a junction which has all three types at it...then you are absolutely and utterly entirely done for. It doesn't matter how when you look at the map you know that you are taking the road going X direction - I can promise you that at least two of them will look like the road you want to take and whichever one you do take -it'll be the wrong road!! Doesn't matter what the road looks like on the map or how easy it looks....and there will *NOT* be a signpost - no matter how hard you look, no one has taken it down, it hasn't been covred over by bushes and trees - no - there simply is no signpost to be seen, never was and probbaly never will be!! I know why this is too......See, when you come from an area you know the area and yes, we do signpost the bigger towns....but when you come from an area you never miss the signposts because you know where everywhere is....you don't notice that there aren't any signposts on these smaller roads.....you know that they are there on the bigger roads. It goes back to the days when the Irish were made up of clans and there was robbing and fighting going on. I just know it does. If you live in an area then you know the area and have no need for signposts tellig you where everything is. *But* if you belonged to a clan coming in to rob an area..then you don't know where everything is and the rest of us are hardly likely to signpost the way for you...and what's more - if you have a map, we'll have had someone working in the OS office who will have drawn it up in such a way as to confuse the non locals. Besides that bit: See, we have maps, and we have OS maps..and places have names...but the Irish...now we can be a contrary bunch, and we never took much to authority we didn't, and while I have seen people say that they've been to their ancestors home place...I've also met those who can't find it anywhere. I know my maps...and I know my phonetics...and I can tell you this there are places marked on the map for the part of the country I am from which we never heard of....in a way....we'd never have heard of it, if any of you came in with a strange accent and asked where the place name you've seen on the map is. We would have heard of it if any of us asked the other where it was in the way that we pronounce it and we call it - which may be a similar name to that which is on the map.....but not the same. If you know what I mean? See, the locals anywhere have their own set ideas about where everywhere is....and it doesn't matter what it says on any official map. Again, we can tell you that this house is in townland A..because we know it is - that's the address that Johnnie has used all his life and his parents before him and his grandparents before that. *BUT* officially - on *the maps* it's called something else....soemwhere that is really down the road from it - or we know it as being down the road from it. What I'm getting at here - is just because your ancestors said they came from townland A.....if you can't find any track of them tkae a peek at whatever official information is left for the townlands around that townland....just to be sure, even if it is in the next county. I mean if you look at the town of Portarlington - thats in Co. Laois...just sticking up into Co. Offaly.....the graveyard for Portarlington is actually physically situated in Co. Offaly. If you look at the town of Attanagh in Co. Laois - officially inside the Co. Laois border.....but a lot of the peoepl in the graveyard there are from Co. Kilkenny. Then, there's Carlow town...it spreads into Co. Laois Then, again, Roscrea is in Co. Tipperary - yet people from there are buried in graveyards in Laois..... I drove out of Stradbally in Co. Laois yesterday...and straight outside it there was a signpost for Carlow....now the maps show me that Carlow is way down the road.....and there was no evidence of a bit of Carlow sticking into that part of Laois...don't know why that sign was there and I found it confusing....don't know what any of you would have done. There are lots of places in the country where when you are driving along you sudenly notice a change in the quality of the road...it may only last for a mile or so...but usually it indicates that you've actually been driving through another county. The rest of the roads in that county may have potholes..but they'll make sure to keep the bit in the other county in good conditoin. A kind of Irish perversion <g> Or, you may even see a signpost saying welcome to County X and grab your map because you just know that county X is not on your route to wherever it is you're going and you'll think you took a wrong turn......don't worry - 5 mins down the road there will probbaly be another signpost saying welcom to County Y and that'll be on your route Happy travelling Jane :-)

I purchased a copy of "The Fermanagh Story" in June 1999 (last month) at L.W.N. Hall Booksellers in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. I don't know if they still have stock. But from the inside leaf it says "Fourth Impression--L.W.N. Hall, Booksellers, Enniskillen, 1990" implying that they were the last publisher. You might send them a letter. The price was 19.95 Pounds Sterling. Good Luck! Bill Barber Hudson, New Hampshire U.S.A. Researching: Barber, Prigge, Wright, Bird, White, Dundas, McBrien, Likely, O'Neill, Armstrong, Sheridan, Whiting, Tracy, Hayes, McGraw, Geary, Carrol, Smith, Nolan

IN reply to a message received from an Edgar Brally: Eshbralley is a townland in the Parish of Aghalurcher, barony of Magherastephana consisting of 261 acres. It is licated on the Lisnaske Estate and is in the Manor of Cornaskea owned by the Earl of Erne, (as of 1862). Brolagh, or Brollagh, in in the Parish of Inishmacsaint , barony of Magheraboy, consists of 577 acres and borders on Lough Melvin in south west Fermanagh. William J Flanagan Fermanagh County Host Spokane, Wa, USA

Hi to all. Just thought I would let anyone who doesn't know about it yet that the New South Wales (Australia)Records Office at http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/ has a searchable database of convict records on line now. It deals with tickets of leave etc and lists the ship that they came on as well. May be of interest to anyone looking for information about convicts. At present the link to the search page is in the Whats New box at the rhs top of their home page. Regards Kerry Johnston

What is the e:mail address of the bookstore in Dublin re: the "Fermanagh Story". What is the Fermanagh Story. I just saw mention of it today. Haven't been reading the e:mails for several weeks. Thanks. Anne in Seattle, WA, USA

Hi, I am new to this list and would like to post the names I am researching. My GG Grandfather John Kyle from Co Derry married Margaret Miller from Kesh, Co Fermanagh in 1849. Children; Thomas, Sarah, Isabella, Margaret,Mary, Esther, David (my line). I do not have any other information about Margaret Miller so any leads would be appreciated. Thanks a lot, Trish, New Zealand

John, I saw a "Blest" in the passenger list for July-Aug. 1872, NY. If interested, e-mail me. Maggie

Fred Hanna's Bookshop in Dublin emailed me earlier this month that "Fermanagh Story" has not yet been reprinted. The author said he expected it in September but Fred Hanna's said "Don't bet on it"!! Stay tuned. They will backorder it for you.

Hi Everyone, Does anyone know if this book has be reprinted as expected? Regards, Sandy Small _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com

---------- From: JGrimm5988@aol.com[SMTP:JGrimm5988@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 1999 10:47 PM To: FERMANAGH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: FERMANAGH-D Digest V99 #123 unsubscribe Unsubscribe

I found the following in "General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland": Woaghternerry; County, Fermanagh; Barony, Tirkennedy; Parish, Enniskillen; Poor Law Union, Enniskillen Good luck, Peggy O'Keefe

I need to establish where was Woaghternerry. The information that I have is that it was a townland between Enniskillen and Tempo. As I recall Tempo is adjacent and north - northeast of Enniskillen. I went to the Proni pages, found Woaghternerry on thelist of townlands, but couldn't find it in a parish. I also couldn't find Tempo on a list of parishes. I searched alll the parish lists and couldn't find Woaghternerry. I also looked at the parish map of Fermanagh County and re-checked all of the parishes that are located where it looks like Tempo should be, and couldn't find Woaghterinerry. I think modern spelling is Waterinerry. Also, does anyone happen to know what Church of England (Ireland) church was in Woaghterinerry? Yours, Dora Smith

Please forgive me if I posted this to this list on Friday; I don't even remember seeing a FERMANAGH digest, so my subscription could have not gone through, I could have forgotten to subscribe, etc. I posted this to a number of all-Ireland and Northern Ireland lists, too. Even though the book is most likely to be found in Fermanagh County. I am looking for information on my 2X great grandfather, Henry Nathaniel Lowe and his family. He was editor of the Fermanagh Times until about 1879, went bankrupt, lost his wife in 1881 and two sons right around then. Then I guess he left the county. Uncertain where he died, but he died in 1904. He also wrote a recently republished Fermanagh directory. His wife and two of his children are buried in the Anglican cathedral graveyard in Enniskillen. James McCanny aka Seamuas or Seamas Mac Cannaidh says he has some information on him in his book Fermanagh Books, Writers and Newspapers int he Nineteenth Century. James McCanny is away for the summer. Could someone please look up for me what is in this book about Henry Nathaniel Lowe and family? Also, family stories about Henry Nathaniel Lowe include that he made alot of money and then "lost and was robbed of it", and that he or his son who was barely if out of his teens when he left Ireland was "run out of Ireland for being a Mason". His father had worked for an Irish aristocrat as secretary or agent, and the entire direct male line seem to have had aristocratic pretensions. Henry and his son were both Masons, as I understand it. I am downright suspicious of why he would have gone to the Church of England CATHEDRAL with smaller Anglican churches right there. Maybe he got caught up in the Orange movement or something! It sounds like he had a picturesque life. There must be information on him in a number of sources. If anyone can find information on him anywhere, I would appreciate it. Yours, Dora Smith

Could someone please look up for me the family of Henry Nathaniel Lowe in Dundas' Enniskillen Parish and Town (1912). There is supposed to be something on them there. Thanks alot. Yours, Dora Smith

Greetings: I have just joined this list and am searching for the following: Frank Maguire & Sybil ? had at least one child - Patrick (Black Pat) Maguire who married Bridget McManus in the Enniskillen area. They had the following children:Francis, Mary Helena(1903), Philip, Isanna, Sarah Anne(Sadie), Patrick(Sonny), Agnes and Delia. Of these children only Patrick(Sonny) is still alive in the Enniskillen area. I would love to get in contact with more of the family and learn more about them. Any help at all would be appreciated. Thanks. Heather Murray, Canada hmurray3@home.com

I am looking for relatives and family connections to John and Jane McCartney (McCartny). They emigrated to Ohio about 1838-1839 with their three children Johnston (Johnson), Esther (Hester), and Rebecca from County Fermanagh. Esther is listed in the Mercer County, Pennsylvania 1850 census as having been born in Scotland. I would appreciate any help or information you might have.

In a message dated 7/16/99 10:11:40 PM, pelle@southernx.com.au wrote: <<Could anyone please tell me where I might be able to get information on Births, Deaths and Marriages in the Enniskillen area about 1800-1860. Any advice much appreciated.>> Civil registation for B & D anywhere in Ireland only started in 1864. Before that you must look at church records, which would be kept by parish. You would have to know the religion. Copies of some surviving C of I parish registers are available at PRONI. But many were destroyed in a fire in Dublin in 1922. RC records generally (with a few exceptions) start about 1830 or later. Many records, both RC and Protestannt, have been filmed by Heritage World in Tyrone. They will search them for a fee. As for marriages, the same thing applies to ALL marriages before 1845. Civil reg. of marriages for members of the C o I began in 1845 and are kept by district. You can write town hall in Enniskillen. Civil Reg of marriages for everyone else (Catholics, Presbyterians, Jews, Quakers) began in 1864 and are also at town hall in EK. Many of these records have been fimed by the LDS chucch and are available thru their library system. Hope this helps, Janet C-S

Hi Listeners, Could anyone please tell me where I might be able to get information on Births, Deaths and Marriages in the Enniskillen area about 1800-1860. Any advice much appreciated. Regards Essie in Sydney Australia.

I just learned that my 2X great grandfather, Henry Nathaniel Lowe, who lived in Enniskillen in the mid and late l9th century, was a newspaper editor. There is something about him in a new book about Fermanagh writers by James McCanny; there must be information about him elsewhere, too, especially as I have many hints that his life is colorful. My family have no definitive statement or record that he is buried in the Enniskillen Church of England graveyard with his wife and two of his sons. There is a story that he or his son Joseph, and it probably wasn't Joseph who went to Canada as a very young man following his sisters, was "run out of Ireland for being a Mason". As it has always been impossible to be run out of Ireland for belonging to any group, this must have been some story, if it happened. My first cousin, who told it to me, has the family manic depression - undiagnosed. It requires that his homeboys failed to stand by him on account of whatever actually happened. Further, my great grandfather made some remark in a letter to his son about "when your grandfather had made alot of money of which he afterwards lost and was robbed". That is not consistent with a bland newspaper editor's life! Both Henry Lowe and his son, Joseph were Masons, and had aristocratic pretensions. Joseph became a Unitarian, was a reporter or journalist or some sort, or that is how he described himself, wrote "naughty" light opera, was divorced in 1903 in Boston Massachusetts by his wife who had manic depression, and took their ten year old son with them, ended up in Brooklyn, New York, and is said to have gone "nuts" himself. I would greatly appreciate any information anyone can provide me about him, and also hints on where info on him would be. I have made a query to the Enniskillen library. Yours, Dora Smith

Would anyone have access to a recently published book about Fermanagh county writers by James McCanny? It is supposed to contain information about my 2X great grandfather, Henry Nathaniel Lowe, who was apparently a newspaper editor, and lived in Enniskillen or Tempo. I would like a copy of this, or the information about him and his family in it. Yours, Dora Smith