"Details of the lives of the unrecorded Roman Catholic majority in rural Ireland can be glimpsed only from ephemeral literature in English and from the Gaelic poetry of the four provinces." - Britannica article on Ireland, 18c history What do you do when confronted with the lack of genealogical records of this group? Anyone to confirm and/or suggest specific writers for Munster pre 19c? Btw, I learned that Desmond means DE South MUNster.

"Mike" <bakerdivert@lava.net> wrote in message news:11dvs0jjhi02u92@corp.supernews.com... > > Btw, I learned that Desmond means DE South MUNster. > Yes, and Thomond (Tuad Mhuhan) means North Munster

Mike wrote: > "Details of the lives of the unrecorded Roman Catholic majority in rural > Ireland can be glimpsed only from ephemeral literature in English and from > the Gaelic poetry of the four provinces." > > - Britannica article on Ireland, 18c history > > What do you do when confronted with the lack of genealogical records of this > group? Anyone to confirm and/or suggest specific writers for Munster pre > 19c? Dear Michael 'Irish literature' is an horrendous oxymoron. It is commonplace fact that the native Irishry became literate only upon abandonment of their barbarous Gaelic tongue for the delights of the beautifully cadenced English language. The idea that there was a flourishing Irish literature pre-dating Shakespeare, Chaucer and even Beowulf is simply preposterous and I will entertain no such notion. Yours, etc Sir Crispin Gaylord, Bt