Do a frequency and distribution of the surnames by using The Householders Index, (FHLC#919,001-7) a surname index of tax records in Griffith's Primary Valuation and Tithe Applotment Books or the CD-ROM Index to Griffiths Valuation. Griffith's identifies people between 1840 and 1864. Tithe Applotment covers the period of 1820 to 1840. This gets you to the parish level. These records give the names of the individuals (heads of households only), where they lived, the acreage, and the value of the land and building. These records do not give specific information about ages, birthplaces, and other members of the family. However, they point to the parish to search for baptismal and marriage information. The index is arranged by county in two sets of surname lists. The first list covers the whole county. The second set is arranged by civil parish within the county. Before you begin, you need to know the name you are searching for and the county where the person lived. You might find this information in obituaries, family histories, vital records, RC sacramental registers in the U.S., naturalization records, etc. When you have this information, you can use the 6-step plan outlined in the hand-out at the Family History Center (item 34070). The microfilms are listed under IRELAND-LAND AND PROPERTY-INDEXES. If you can't find you ancestor you may be looking for someone who was not a head of household or who did not own or lease taxable land. These urls are primers in beginning Irish research: http://www.bess.tcd.ie/roots_ie.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/ http://www.familytreemaker.com/issue4.html http://www.familytreemaker.com/00000384.html for Scotch-Irish http://www.familytreemaker.com/4_pocket.html http://www.bess.tcd.ie/roots/guide.htm http://proni.nics.gov.uk/research/family/griffith.htm Ellen