Dear FG listers I have lurked for many months and learned a great deal along the way. My thanks to you for your insights (and humour) on the topic of ancestral research. I am currently exploring my Weir family tree and have hit the proverbial brick wall. The line I am descended from is that of Robert Weir (c1800-1890) and his wife Anne Jane Dunstan (or Funstan – the handwriting on some certificates is not particularly legible). She lived 1796-1870. They were adherents of the Church of Ireland and according to baptism records of some of their children lived in 1) Tirmacspird and then 2) Glasmullagh. For the most part they attended Colaghty/Lack church – this is where most of the baptisms and marriages took place, according to register information kindly made available online. Robert and Anne Jane had at least six children, three of whom migrated to Australia in the 1850s-1860s. Of those who remained in Ireland: I have been told that their daughter, Anne Jane (b c1830), married a Mr Little, but I can find no record at all confirming her birth, marriage or death. Their son Robert (b c 1836) married Mary Irvine, and Mary and the children (as identified through baptism register entries) are listed in the 1901 and 1911 censuses as still residing in Glasmullagh (Mary’s status is given as ‘widow’). Beyond the marriage certificate, I have found no record to indicate what happened to Robert after marriage, or Mary and the children after 1911. Son John (b c1837 or 1838) married 1) Margaret Hamilton (from Drumharvey) and 2) Ruth Porter, and lived at Knockroe. Their son (Robert) and his wife Elizabeth (and their son Jack) were apparently still living at Knockroe in the 1920s. I have marriage and death certificates for John and Margaret and records for their children, but not for Ruth or her two children with John (Bella Catherine and James Samuel). I believe that James died in 1947 and is buried in the Tirwinney Methodist Church cemetery. While I’m curious about, and still searching for, the descendants of Robert and Anne in Ireland, the roadblock is Robert himself. I haven’t been able to find any marriage record or birth record for him, and so have not been able to identify who his parents were. I thought I’d try approaching this sideways, see if I could find Robert’s brothers or sisters (on the assumption he would have had siblings). In fact there are other Weirs in the area including John (of Meilroe, or Millroe – but where is this? I haven’t been able to find it on a map) who married an Annie Weir in 1893. According to letters sent to Annie prior to her marriage from William J Weir (our John’s son) when they both lived in America, Annie and William were cousins. But whether their fathers were first or second cousins is yet to be established. There are numerous difficulties raised by the fact that the Weirs were rather unimaginative in naming their children: every family seemed to have a Robert, William, David, James and John, with girls being Margaret, Anne Jane or Isabella. Is the list able to point me in the direction of information sources for Robert senior? I would be beyond grateful if you could. Rosalie O'Neale